as an American Indian now living in Indonesia, I was surprised to read recent article Mr. Rooseboom comparing colonial experiences of Indonesia and India and showing the British in a better light than the Dutch. Indonesian Unfortunately, in my time here, I have often heard lament that it would have been better if they had not been colonized by the Dutch, even to hear that from the mouth of former President BJ Indonesia, Habibie at a recent conference. The reality, of course, is much more complex, and here, I hope to provide a different angle than Mr. Rooseboom.
India and Indonesia have been, by the people, the two greatest colonial possessions in the world in the 18th and 19th century, and both were highly desired by European powers. After failing in their quest to colonize and exploit the precious resources of the East Indies, the British East India Company decided to try his luck further west, India. While the Dutch may use repressive tactics to subjugate local populations - the invasion of Bali and the murder of the royal family is an example - the British were much more sinister, using a policy of divide and rule, which the effects are still felt today
both countries were heavily exploited for their resources -. with almost all the profits go to Europe. The British, however, took a step further, turning vast areas of agricultural land formally self-sufficient in Bengal in vast opium planting, fixing monopsony famine prices for poppies, turning the precious opium, and shipping project for East Asia and the benefits in England. In China, opium addict million and hastened the ruin of the once magnificent economy that countries in a European client state. Is it really surprising that even today China is taking Western advice with healthy skepticism? Or that the Indian farmer is still fighting today to overcome the burdens of the past?
M .. Rooseboom points to the infrastructure of the left in Colombia, including the railways, and few educational efforts, it must be said, never included women or members of lower castes. What must be realized is that India, like Indonesia, had an Aboriginal education system which was devastated by the colonial policies. After independence, India had a similar rate of literacy than that of Indonesia, perhaps the most symbolic peoples highly educated. Today, the literacy rate in Indonesia is higher than India. And trains? They were built to exploit the resources first and exercise second British control, not empower Indians who had no say in their construction or use.
The Dutch inflicted similar damage economically, but nothing can compare Indonesia with British rational division of social policy. In an effort to manage the people, the British drew the borders drawn by religion. The 105 partition of Bengal divided Bengali Hindus and Bengali Muslims, who speak the same language, wear the same dress, and are not as clearly divided (large minorities lived in peace in a mixed environment). Later, Punjabi Punjabi Sikhs and Muslims were divided between Pakistan and India, a score that was imposed on the population and led to millions of deaths.
Can you imagine if the Dutch had done the same thing here? Creation of a separate state for Muslims and Javanese Javanese Christians? European ideas of race, religion and ethnicity were not consistent with pluralistic societies like India and Indonesia. Nor does the system of nation-state, but that's another story.
Indonesia should give thanks that the Dutch do not divide society so well. India is recovering, but the Pakistan border remains tense, and even today, Hindus fleeing Bangladesh, whose population Hindu minority has decreased by 25% after independence only 10% today. I am often amazed at how easily Indonesians from different religious backgrounds and ethnic mix. In India, which is too rare, except in cases of interest, as the hometown of my mother from Hyderabad, who rarely sees ommunal violence. Hyderabad was also never under direct British control, so never went through the same types of destructive policies that divide much of the rest of South Asia.
The truth is that there is no such thing as good and bad Colonialism Colonialism. Pre-colonial India and Indonesia had vast empires, incredible accomplishments in the arts, literature and culture. Malay Archipelago sailors connected through complex networks of trade, while the spices flowed from the Malabar Coast of southern India in the world. The British and Dutch stunted growth in both countries, and subjected them to horrible, destabilizing the operation. The wealth we see today in the old buildings decorated with Amsterdam and London is directly connected with poverty still visible in Jakarta and New Delhi.
Comparing the Dutch and British in India and Indonesia are similar to try to judge different shades of injustice. The truth is, there is just an injustice when people exercise control over the other and exploit them for gain, no matter how altruistic rhetoric. In time, I believe that India and Indonesia will be able to recover damages caused by Europe, but it will be a long and difficult process, and we should always remember that it does not have to be that way.
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