INDEPENDENT INDIA as you so screamed did not just pop up with the ideas of democracy from their Asian history.
India was on the road to being just as broken and poor as Bangladesh (or East Pakistan for you) had the British not influenced it.
Facts are facts. French and Spanish and other European Imperialism left a complete wake of squalor and chaos from the plunder of natural resources, etc.
But the resultant civilization in Singapore, Hong Kong, United States, Canada, Australia and yes, India are a stark contrast to Vietnam or Guayana, even compared to Sierra Leone.
And I'll put the Islam-infested civilization in Pakistan that just helped the British thwart the recent AQ attack against Islam-infested ALGERIA, for example, any day of the week.
Here's an interesting blog I googled for ya....
Sure 'foreign' colonization was ugly. Sure, the internecine wars of conquest between 'native American' Maya etal were bloody and terminal, too.
If I understand you correctly, it seems that you believe British colonialism is worse or no better than any other imperialism, whil I believe that there is a recognizable difference, and indeed, the coincidence and contrast of the resultant prosperity and freedom is interestingly correlated with which evil power you had the luck to be colonized by...
| Parent | Colony | GDP per Capita | Freedom (1=free, 5+ = not free |
| GB | United States | 37.8 | 1 |
| GB | Bermuda | 36 | 1 |
| FR | Louisiana | 33.3 | 1 |
| FR | Quebec | 30.5 | 1 |
| US | Alaska | 30.1 | 1 |
| GB | Canada | 29.7 | 1 |
| GB | Australia | 28.9 | 1 |
| GB | Hong Kong | 28.7 | 1 |
| US | Hawaii | 28.2 | 1 |
| GB | New Zealand | 21.6 | 1 |
| GB | Malta | 17.7 | 1 |
| GB | Bahamas | 16.8 | 1 |
| GB | Barbados | 16.2 | 1 |
| GB | Cyprus | 16 | 1 |
| US | Virgin Islands | 19 | 1.5 |
| GB | British Virgin Is. | 16 | 1.5 |
| GB | South Africa | 10.7 | 1.5 |
| GB | Grenada | 5 | 1.5 |
| GB | Israel | 19.7 | 2 |
| FR | Mexico | 9 | 2 |
| GB | Botswana | 8.8 | 2 |
| GB | Ghana | 2.2 | 2 |
| FR | Mali | 0.9 | 2 |
| US | Philippines | 4.6 | 2.5 |
| GB | Jamaica | 3.8 | 2.5 |
| GB | Lesotho | 3 | 2.5 |
| GB | India | 2.9 | 2.5 |
| FR | Senegal | 1.6 | 2.5 |
| GB | Antigua & Barbuda | 11 | 3 |
| FR | Seychelles | 7.8 | 3 |
| GB | Sri Lanka | 3.7 | 3 |
| GB | Kenya | 1 | 3 |
| FR | Madagascar | 0.8 | 3 |
| FR | Fiji | 5.8 | 3.5 |
| FR | Burkina Faso | 1.1 | 4 |
| FR | Niger | 0.8 | 4 |
| GB | Nigeria | 0.8 | 4 |
| GB | Zambia | 0.8 | 4 |
| GB | Singapore | 23.7 | 4.5 |
| GB | Malaysia | 9 | 4.5 |
| FR | Gabon | 5.5 | 4.5 |
| GB | Uganda | 1.4 | 4.5 |
| FR | Morocco | 4 | 5 |
| FR | Djibouti | 1.3 | 5 |
| GB | Brunei | 18.6 | 5.5 |
| FR | Tunisia | 6.9 | 5.5 |
| FR | Algeria | 5.9 | 5.5 |
| FR | Mauritania | 1.8 | 5.5 |
| FR | Cambodia | 1.7 | 5.5 |
| FR | Togo | 1.5 | 5.5 |
| FR | Chad | 1.2 | 5.5 |
| GB | Swaziland | 4.9 | 6 |
| GB | Egypt | 3.9 | 6 |
| GB | Zimbabwe | 1.9 | 6 |
| FR | Haiti | 1.6 | 6 |
| FR | Central African Rep, | 1.2 | 6 |
| FR | Congo | 0.7 | 6 |
| FR | Vietnam | 2.5 | 6.5 |
| FR | Laos | 1.7 | 6.5 |
| GB | Sudan | 1.1 | 7 |
| GB | Cayman Islands | 35 | NR |
| GB | Falklands | 25 | NR |
| FR | French Polynesia | 17.5 | NR |
| GB | Gibraltar | 17.5 | NR |
| US | Puerto Rico | 16.8 | NR |
| FR | Martinique | 14.4 | NR |
| FR | French Guiana | 8.3 | NR |
| US | American Samoa | 8 | NR |
| FR | Montserrat | 3.4 | NR |
"India was on the road to being just as broken and poor as Bangladesh (or East Pakistan for you) had the British not influenced it. "
How so? To me it sound like a very silly comment thats without British enslavement we would never have succeeded in anything. What evidence you have to prove that?