India’s History: from Colonialism to Present Day

Harrison Hite

Laboring under the iron fist of the Raj, Indians were exploited by Britain

Mohandas K. Gandhi led the nation out from under the fist of the Raj via the nonviolent Swaraj (home rule) movement.

Jawaharlal Nehru took over as the first prime minister after India gained it’s independence, and moved towards industrializing the nation

In the late 60’s, his daughter Indira Gandhi (no relation to Mohandas) came to power

Pre 1970’s: an opressed people and a savior

Jawaharlal Nehru was a stauch believer in industrialization, allowing India to jump forward as a nation from it’s traditional roots in order to become a player in the new world order right out of colonialism

He realized that in order to become fully free from the commonwealth, a goal which India eventually achieved, he needed to catapult his nation to prominence via education and technological reforms

Analysis: the road to modernization

In the 1970’s, the Indian government encouraged a green revolution in India in order to halt food shortages

The indian economy had been dependant on agricultural imports since the 1950’s, and the green revolution ended this dependence

The green revolution was in response to the continuing leash of British neocolonialism, the idea of India not being able to grow enough food to support it’s people was taken as a reason to justify outside “support”

The 70’s: A Green Revolution

Up to this point in postcolonial Indian history, all of the modernizations that had been made, first by Nehru and subsequently by Indira, had been with the idea of destroying the remnants of neocolonialism in India

However, from this point forward, India was left alone in terms of colonial ambitions, therefore, this is the critical turning point from industrialism to avoid recolonization to industrialization to become a world power

Analysis: reasons behind the decisions

Indira Gandhi, the ruler of India for most of the 1970’s, was defeated in the elections of ‘77 and was assassinated in the early 80’s

Indira’s oldest son Rajiv Gandhi came to power after his mother was assassinated

Rajiv started the real work of preparing India for globalization, by relaxing restrictions on foreign trade and expanding their production and use of modern technology

Late 70’s and Early 80’s: the end of Indira Gandhi

Rajiv should receive the majority of the credit for India becoming a BRIICS nation as it is today, because the baseline work had been done to avoid recolonization by Nehru and Indira, but Rajiv Gandhi was the real hero in that, to use a metaphor, although his predecessors grew India to a size where it would not be eaten, Rajiv made the choice to grow India even further, to where it could join it’s former colonizers at the table, and no longer be a 2nd class nation

Analysis: Rajiv as a posthumously acknowledged national hero

Although Rajiv Gandhi made many modern reforms, not everyone in the nation favored his path towards modernity. Also, a political scandal showing him embezzling funds for his ministers was exposed to the public

He was assassinated by a suicide bomber in 1991 A succession of political powers came to power

during the 90’s, some of them experimenting with nuclear energy, prompting international pressure from the U.S. and other nations to halt their nuclear proliferation

Late 80’s and early 90’s: the end of Rajiv Gandhi

This is indeed a relevant topic beyond the borders of India, but it appears as if “the first world” is assumed to have good intentions when developing nuclear power, but should any previously 3rd world nation attempt to develop nuclear power in order to modernize, it is assumed that they secretly wish to develop nuclear weapons, therefore their nuclear programs are shut down via international efforts. Therefore, in reality, this justification is an underhanded manner of attempting to maintain the status quo, although there are times in which it is arguably necessary.

Analysis: a final push against BRIICS

In the 21st century, the Indian economy expanded rapidly due to the aggressive policies adopted by the prime minister and his aides.

This caused the Indian’s GDP to grow rapidly, and prompted the “rise of the rest” theory promoted by major political figures around the globe, such as Fareed Zakaria.

The 21st century: Economic liberalization

India may be here to stay in the global economy, coming up to a level with previous nations, or it may be stopped in it’s tracks by rulers in the future who don’t have the countries‘ best interests at heart. However, it is too soon to tell what path India will take, because it is difficult to see reliably into the socioeconomic future

Analysis: a permanent fixture, or too soon to tell?

India’s Main Problem Moving Forward: Education

An analysis of possible Solutions

Pros: Indian students are

willing to learn more readily than certain demographics in the U.S., because education more directly correlates to higher paying jobs in India than it does in the U.S.

Cons: Positions are reserved in

Universities for the “scheduled castes”, which denies more highly qualified people from attending Universities

Teachers are government employees, therefore they have tenure, and they slack off rather than teaching

The Problem: Education

Imagine if Harvard were required to admit the most “hood fabolus” students they could find, until a full 15% of their student body was “ghetto fine”. This is essentially what caste scheduling has done in India. 15% of the poorest, least educated students make up the student body of every Indian institution.

Scheduled Education

Since teachers are government Employees, it is extremely difficult for them to be fired, even if they are not working up to the standards that they pledge to. A teacher who never shows up to teach class is paid exactly the same and receives the same benefits as a teacher who actually does their job.

Tenure for Teachers

As higher education becomes more and more necessary, Indians need a solid foundation to be able to attend universities and graduate programs, especially if they wish to study abroad

Higher Education

A medical School/research hospital in India, which doesn’t look comparable to what exists in the United States.

Create a hierarchy to enforce teacher truancy (this should in turn fix the 15% problem)

Make Indian Universities more attractive to Indian students, so that they may stay in the country to achieve their higher education

Possible Solutions