Dr. Shashi Tharoor, Member of Parliament,
Shri Thomas John Muthoot,
Sahodaree Sahodaranmaare,
Ellaavarkkum Ente Namaskaaram,
I am delighted to address you all after releasing Dr. Shashi Tharoor's latest Book, ‘An Era of Darkness’, published by Aleph Book Company.
As we all know, Dr. Tharoor, who represents Thiruvananthapuram in the Lok Sabha, is one of the most prolific writers and silver tongued orators of our time. With fifteen books including three works of fiction and hundreds of articles to his credit, Dr. Tharoor ranks amongst the most readable writers of Asia. Therefore, it is with a great sense of pride that I performed the release of the book in Kerala, which has already received a tremendous response from the readers in different parts of the world.
More than a book that recounts the impact of historical events, An Era of Darkness is an eye opener to the readers, in terms of their understanding of history. Most of us have known about the British rule in India mainly through the books of history and our understanding of the impact of that rule is linked to our feelings against its oppressive nature. The long years of Freedom struggle and our final victory are matters close to our heart and they evoke more of patriotic feelings rather than sharp and rational thinking on the economic impact of that oppression. One can rightly say that Dr. Shashi Tharoor in this book opens our eyes to the intentional manner in which the British carried out its conscious and deliberate bleeding of India, which was one of the richest countries in the 17th century, to one of the poorest in the 20th century.
Incidentally, it was one of the debates at the Oxford Union in 2015, in which Dr. Tharoor had established that Britain owes compensation to its former colonies, which sowed the seeds of this book. Dr. Tharoor admits in the book that he was surprised to find many well educated Indians wondering at the magnitude of the economic plunder of India during the British Raj. It revealed how little even our well educated citizens knew about the real damage done to us by different invaders in the past. I understand that it was this revelation that prompted Dr. Tharoor to expand the debate into a historical interpretation of that era of darkness, which had succeeded in spreading darkness even in the eyes of coming generations. I am certain that this book will change our perceptions and even force us to wake up from our historical amnesia.
English historian and scholar E.H. Carr has observed that history is a continuous process of interaction between the historian and his facts, an unending dialogue between the present and the past. As we read through the pages of Dr. Tharoor's Book, we feel the strength of this unending dialogue between the author and the historical events. What has impressed me greatly is the intelligent way of establishing his findings by quoting well established and esteemed Western historians like Will Durant, who cites the British exploitation of India as the 'greatest crime in all history.' Again, it is the British economic historian Angus Maddison who becomes the author's source to establish the economic downfall of India in the hands of the British, for whom, India had become the greatest source of revenue in the 19th Century. This methodology is also a shield against allegations of native bias in the interpretation of historical facts.
Though our anger against the British Raj is justified, we also ought to consider the encouragement received by the British from Indian rulers. Another sad eye opener in the book is the list of Indian princes and rulers who mortgaged their integrity to the British. There were some who even became active collaborators of the British take-over of India. Tharoor cites the example of Prince Ranjit Singhji, the cricketer who burned up a month's revenues in a fire work display for a visiting Viceroy, at a time when his State was choked in the grip of a cruel famine.
One of the highlights of the book is the account of an Indian diamond, smuggled out of the country by Thomas Pitt, the then Governor of Madras. The author feels that it may have been snatched from a deity or a palace and sarcastically shows how this smuggled jewel became the financial spring-board to a British dynasty that produced two Prime Ministers, namely William Pitt, Senior and Junior.
But, this book is not just a succession of angry revelations; it also tells us how the Indian resistance succeeded in certain economic areas, in spite of oppressive exploitation. Dr. Tharoor cites the textile Industry as an example of one that made a come-back after the British destroyed it. In 1896, Indian mills had produced only 8% of the cloth used in India, but, by 1913, it increased to 20% and by 1936, it had bounced to 62%, to reach 76% by 1945, when the Freedom Struggle was at its peak.
It is also interesting to see Dr. Tharoor making his policy clear in this interpretation of history. He writes that the past is not necessarily a guide to the future, but helps explain the present. In fact, that is what he has done in the most lucid style; he has revealed the darker side of the impact of the oppression and rudely awakened us from our sleep induced by a historical amnesia. The book silently tells us that patriotism should not remain a momentary experience, to be forgotten soon; instead, it should evoke the will to excel socially and economically.
History may be written by the winners, but Dr. Tharoor's ‘Era of Darkness’ is a warning to those who frame history by indicating that interpretations cannot be far behind.
Dr. Shashi Tharoor deserves our wholehearted appreciation for the extensive research and reference he has done for writing this book. I congratulate him on his success in this project and wish the book all success. I hope that it will be widely read all over the world.
Ellaavarkkum Ente Aashamsakal
Nanni
Jai Hind
