Divide and Rule: No evidence of its association with British Rule in India!

 Since my school days, I have repeatedly heard:

"British rule had the policy of Divide and Rule."

There was something strange in this statement. It kept coming up in text books, newspapers, conversations, and later the internet pages but with no supporting evidence. As I grew up and my analytic thinking grew, I still had found no correlation between this statement and the details of colonial rule. I scratched my head but no...I could not associate the two. No link there. The whole statement was unsubstantiated. 

British rule in India

The colonial rule in India came in with the arrival of the East India Company to the ports of Calcutta and Bombay for trade. Gradually, they spread to other places and also conquered the small kingdoms that existed at that time. But though they conquered properties and ruled it, it was along with development. They brought in education, monumental buildings, hill stations, roads, trains, courts, and laws. Things were systematized that is typical of British administration. They made pro-female laws such as Sati abolition act, child marriage act, and Widow remarriage act. What social reformers such as Raja Ram Mohan Roy, Jyotiba Phule etc. wanted but could not achieve, the British administration did it. 

At no point during this entire rule was there a time when they favored a particular religious community of India. If they were good, they were good to all and if they were bad, they were bad for all. They did not do any favoritism to one religion over the other. When they could have divided people here, they did not do it. 

Read here retaliative politics helps nobody!

Indians and its society

We all know about the famous caste system of Indians. It was not by any chance a product of British rule. This means that Indians were already divided before the British company came here to rule. They ruled but there is no evidence to show that they divided Indians based on religion or caste. This Hindu-Muslim divide is an internal problem. When Muslims and Jinnah felt that they were not and will not be getting their due respect, they asked for a separate country. When on a land given to you for the sake of fighting for freedom you start singing religious hyms, it was natural that Muslims would feel hurt. The latter felt marginalized and hence demanded a separate nation. The British were on the verge of leaving the country at that time. They left the decision of one or two countries onto the leaders of new India. These leaders wanted one nation but if a section demands a separate nation, they could not resist it for long. If they did not comply the consequences might have been worse than what happened with the Partition which also was bad. So we have to stop blaming anyone for this Partition. If two siblings fight and separate, they are to be blamed for it and not any outsider!!!

There might have been some British authorities who might have fanned this Hindu-Muslim conflict but it was probably out of a feeling of revenge than the desire to continue to rule India. So Divide and Rule does not apply there. 

The current scenario

When there is no strong evidence to support the above statement, I think one should try to stop reiterating it. This blame game and negative feelings help no one. Besides, the next generation of British citizens are not responsible for the good or bad acts of their ancestors. So why bring up the past again and again? Why poison the mind of the young generation for the sake of vote banks and power? It fetches nothing and is a short-sighted approach to the whole issue. Besides, the amount of religious and caste division created after British Rule has surpassed all time now. 

And, the UK has given back to India more than what people claim they took away. They gave India development, educational institutes and foundation of good education, systematic approach, tourist areas such as hill stations, Victoria Terminus, and the like. Every year, enormous financial aid was provided to India by the UK. Now it is in the form of investments to create jobs in India. Besides, every year many students from India are provided free fully funded scholarships to do higher studies abroad in the UK. Commonwealth Scholarships is given to 800 talented students each year for such studies that would have a global impact. 

Further reading:

1. http://www.indiandefencereview.com/did-the-british-really-divide-india-to-rule/