Over a century of exploitative colonialism in India (between 1765 and 1900), and the UK could extract $64.82 trillion from the country. Out of which a whopping $33.8 trillion went to the richest 10 percent, enough amount to carpet whole of London in notes of 50 British pounds for over four times.
These statistics are a part of the rights group Oxfam International’s global inequity report which is released every year on the first day of the World Economic Forum Annual meeting in Davos. It is titled ‘Takers, not Makers’ and was released early hours on Monday before the annual meeting of the world’s richest and powerful began. The report has cited on the basis of various studies and research papers claiming that ‘the modern multinational corporation, bankrolled by rich shareholders is a product of colonialism.’
Oxfam stated, “Legacies of inequality and pathologies of plunder, pioneered during the time of historical colonialism, continue to shape modern lives. This has created a deeply unequal world, a world torn apart by division based on racism, a world that continues to systematically extract wealth from the Global South to primarily benefit the richest in the Global North.”
Oxfam has calculated that during the period between 1765 and 1900, the richest 10 percent of Britons could extract wealth from India alone, that accounts to $33.8 trillion (adjusted to present day amount). Moreover, the extraction also majorly benefitted the emerging middle class in the UK which received 32% of the income. It said, “In the UK, a significant number of the richest people today can trace their family wealth back to slavery and colonialism, specifically the compensation paid to rich enslavers when slavery was abolished.”
The modern multinational corporation is a creation of colonialism, which is pioneered by corporations like the East India Company which became a law in itself giving birth to many colonial crimes. It added, “In the modern day, multinational corporations, often occupying monopoly or near-monopoly positions, continue to exploit workers in the Global south, particularly women workers, on behalf of rich shareholders primarily based in Global North.”
According to the report, global supply chains and export processing industries represent modern colonial systems of southnorth colonial extraction. Workers in these supply chains frequently exercise poor working conditions, a lack of collective bargaining rights, and minimal social protection. The wages provided in the global south are 87 – 95% lower to the wages in the global north for equal skill work. Targeting institutions like the WTO and World Bank for the perpetuating inequities, Oxfam said, “The inequalities that these countries face today is significantly of colonial making.”
The long lasting impact on India
The Oxfam report details the impact of the extraction on India in the long run. Britain adopted protectionist policies targeting the Asian textiles, that could systematically impair India’s industrial growth potential. India’s share in the global industrial output dropped significantly from 25% in 1750 to a minimal 2% in 1900.
Rather lasting impact has been the societal divisions deeply uprooted during the colonial regime, be it caste, religion or the language alone. The report pointed out that only 0.14% of mother tongues in India are used as a medium of instruction. Also, the Bengal famine that resulted in nearly 3 million deaths, “Grain import restrictions during World War II, underpinned by racist thinking, appear to have significantly contributed to or caused the Bengal famine.”
The British and Dutch colonies were majorly ‘drug pushers’ who backed opium trade to consolidate control over colonies. Oxfam has accused the British of industrial scale poppy cultivation in the marginalized areas of Eastern India that was later on exported to China. This led to the Opium war.
The public services, including infrastructure, education and health continue to get affected back in the Global South. The report has cited ‘biopiracy’ as in neem and further exploitation of the natural resources.
Oxfam stated in the end that the global inequality remains deeply rooted in the historical practices of extraction and exploitation. Furthermore, calling the colonialism’s impact as “a fruit from the poisoned tree.”