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ABSTRACT
The British rule had a lasting Impact on the lives of the Indian people. They exploited the Indian territory for their own interests and left the land in more disorder and confusion than they found it in as (1) their attitude of superiority shattered the confidence of the people, (2) their agrarian revolution did not help improve yield and caused landholdings to become more fragmented, (3) the Indian industry was not protected and many traditional ones were ruined , (4) education was not made easily accessible , (5) construction of railways although improved transportation however was not done keeping the Indian interests but the British interests in mind and (6) the new political system which lacked personal element was not more effective than the old one.
KEY WORDS: The British, India, Pakistan, Colonization, the Indian people.
The Lingering Impact of Colonization on Pakistan: Negative or Positive?
Fifty-six years after independence, Pakistan remains very much a third-world country. These days the youth of the country sometimes express the belief that we would have been better off under British colonial rule for our undeveloped status clearly shows that we are unable to manage our own affairs. This is a dangerous trend of thought promoted by Western propaganda. This academic report aims to disprove this illusion and restore a measure of national pride in our history. In the course of this report, pre-partition Pakistan will be referred to as India and historical examples from the land forming the current states of India and Pakistan will be used in view of the shared colonial past.
It is true that colonial rule did promote the development of the subcontinent, yet often rule by an alien power proved a hindrance to development. In the eighteenth century, at the eve of the British takeover, India was more disorganized and helpless than it had been for centuries. The rulers were weak and the nation was ripe for takeover. The seeming ease with which the British managed to do this was partly due to the fact that no one viewed them as serious contenders for the Indian throne, so ridiculous was the notion of feringhi rulers. People assumed that East India Company only wanted India's vast riches. If the British had not...