Fox News anchor and conservative political commentator Tucker Carlson invoked the fury of many online when he made offensive comments about British colonisation in India. On his show Tucker Carlson Tonight, he claimed that the British empire “took their colonial responsibility seriously. They didn’t just take things, they added.”
“When the British pulled out of India, they left behind an entire civilisation – a language, a legal system, schools, churches and public buildings, all of which are still in use today.” Carlson goes on to use the Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus in Mumbai as an example of colonial architecture.
“After 75 years of independence, has that country produced a single building as beautiful as the Bombay train station that the British colonialists built? No, sadly it has not.” Further, Carlson also blatantly denies that the British ever commited genocide against its colonies. He credits them with the abolition of Sati, seemingly unaware of Indian reformer Raja Ram Mohan Roy’s role in the movement.
Author and politician Shashi Tharoor also shot back at Carlson on Twitter.
I think @twitter ought to have an option for something to press when you can’t respond without losing your cool. For now I will content myself with😡 🤬 https://t.co/6tWpUuSuMR
— Shashi Tharoor (@ShashiTharoor) September 13, 2022
The user who originally shared Carlson’s video rightly pointed out that colonisation drained India’s wealth. Many of our most magnificent monuments were built before the arrival of the British. The news host’s comments show how unaware most of the global north is about the histories of the global south. Moreover, it is an unnecessary comment in extremely bad taste.
Heated debates about imperialism and colonialism recently took social media by storm in the wake of Queen Elizabeth II’s death. People from colonised countries expressed anger at being asked to mourn the Queen, or show respect to the royal family. Nations with traumatising histories of exploitation, slavery and war are not wrong for lacking sympathy for the institutions the Queen enabled. She herself is no descendant of colonisers, neither was she a bystander. She actively participated in it. The British stole the Kohinoor diamond from India. It now belongs to Camilla, the new Queen Consort of the United Kingdom. Let alone reparations, many still refuse to recognise these widely known impacts of colonisation. While the Queen’s death is a grave event that has left the UK in deep grief, many around the world will never share that same sentiment, and for good reason.
And I KNOW y’all ain’t tryna guilt people who are making memes about this, btw.
The crown is an ancient relic of colonialism and a constant reminder of how hard nations in Africa, India , Asia, and the pacific were screwed up by Western European kingdoms trying to get rich.
— MaceAhWindu (@MaceAhWindu) September 8, 2022
Even 75 years later, India, among other nations, is still battling the consequences of colonisation. One of them is the indoctrination that refuses to leave the minds of people. It is shocking that such comments by popular news hosts with the ability to influence millions can go unchecked.
