Reply #113: they were just as racist, I think [View All]

The British felt they had the right to rule over the subcontinent & Burma because of the "moral superiority" of their race, that the Indians were backward savages who needed Christian salvation--usual bullshit, same reason they were messing around with the Arabs, Africans, and anyone else as well. They got taught their lesson when Indian resistance against their carefully built structure of empire was dismantled and were driven out after committing massacre after massacre, though failing to learn the basic fact that other people don't like some self-rightous assholes with guns and a flag bossing them around (hence their involvement in the re-colonizing of Iraq).

The insidious conspiracy of Pakistan is a footnote to this; during the periods of stuggle near the last century of the raj, the British created an organization of middle class Muslim lawyers and businessmen to help them maintain the empire, called the Muslim League. During the last European war/"WWII", the Congress Party and other organizations were in full revolt against the occupation, the Muslim League was to be rewarded with a state of their own after the war ended. Jinnah never thought there would be conflict, but the real stupidity of dividing states along ethnic/religious lines came right upfront with mankind's 2nd favourite pasttime, mutual slaughter for stupid reasons pushed on by opportunistic politicians and various other elite-class assholes (used to be the #1 favourite, now overtaken by soccer).

Kashmir was supposed to go to the new state--or if I was in charge of things, totally independent of the two under Sheikh Abdallah and not used as a battleground for 2 sets of opportunistic nationalists to vent their diversions on--, but through creative jerrymandering that would make the Texas Governor stand back in awe, the province went de facto to Indian possession before a vote to determine the status; 55yrs later, no vote, but plenty of war and a dandy police state. Personally, my opinion is that it should be independent on the caveat that Pakistan (and to a lesser extent China) also fuck off of it as well, though out of principle I don't think that should be imposed by any "Western"-backed pressure for that usually implies less worthwhile motives on the side (my insipid eurocentricism shines through again). :shrug: