Know Thy History!

Here is an article written in 1908, by an american named Jabez T. Sunderland and published in "The Atlantic". It's a really long article and takes considerable time to read. But what an article! It explains how india was robbed of her riches by the british and what caused the deteriation of the economy.

Here are Some of the startling facts i noted down from this artice. These are the facts we never read in our politically influenced history text books:

- The average daily income of the people of India in the year 1850 was estimated, as 4 cents per person,in 1882 it had fallen to 3 cents per person, and in 1900 actually to less than 2 cents per person.

- One cause of this is heavy taxation. People of India are taxed more than twice as heavily as the people of England and three times as heavily as those of Scotland.

- According to the statistics of 1905, the annual average income per person in India is about $6.00, and the annual tax per person about $2.00.

- For example, Salt Tax: the tax upon it which for many years indians have been compelled to pay has been much greater than the cost value of the salt. Because of this, the quantity of salt consumed has been reduced actually to one-half the quantity declared by medical authorities to be absolutely necessary for health.

- Another cause of India's impoverishment is the destruction of her manufactures, as the result of British rule. England had all power in her hands, and so she proceeded to pass tariff and excise laws that ruined the manufactures of India and secured the market for her own goods.

-Another burden upon the people of India which does much to increase their poverty, is the enormously heavy military expenses of the government. Britishers kept an unnecessarily heavy army in india, just to indulge in their further conquests.

-For such foreign wars and campaigns -- campaigns and wars in which the Indian pcople had no concern, and for which they received no benefit, the aim of which was solely conquest and the extension of British power -- India was required to pay during the last century the enormous total of more than $460,000,000.

And the list goes on.

And guess what all this resulted in: Deaths of more than 18,000,000 people in eight decadeds. All because of hunger and poverty. Startling but so true!

If you want to know more about this genocide, do take time out to read this article.