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75 Years of Indian Independence: Looking Through the Lens of a British Asian

train on train track

This month marks 75 years of Indian independence from British rule and the partition which led to the creation of Pakistan (and later Bangladesh).

As I write this article, I remember the stories my grandfathers (the late Charan Singh Mattu and the late Menga Ram Gill) told me of being born and raised in this era – some were sad whilst others were about finding moments of happiness in dark times.

Photo of my grandfather Menga Ram Gill

Photo of my grandfather Menga Ram Gill

Photo of grandfather Charan Singh Mattu (top left with family, including my dad top-middle)

Photo of my grandfather Charan Singh Mattu (top left with family, including my dad top-middle)

The crooked finger and the motorcycle diaries

Grandpa Menga said the origin of his crooked finger was the result of getting it caught in a trapdoor when he was hiding from British soldiers.

He told me that his elders saw British soldiers approaching their village and they hid the children (including him) in a hole underground. On his way down the hole Menga said his finger got stuck in the trapdoor and it broke.

Grandpa Charan spoke about the adventures he had in the British Army as a cook. This included serving alongside a comrade who later became a Bollywood superstar. He also recalled his time in a biker gang of White soldiers and Indian soldiers.

He said their mutual love of motorbikes brought people from vastly different worlds together. Just for that one moment in time they could be equals to their White counterparts. When the bike rides were over, sadly, it was back to reality and the grunt work that was given to Indian/indentured workers.

These stories were fascinating to hear even though I was too young to understand the gravitas of what my grandfathers were telling me. However, it was a real honour to hear Charan and Menga speak their truths.

Most South Asian elders, including my parents, don’t talk about life before or after British rule; perhaps the trauma runs too deep and it’s easier to look ahead than look back?

Here is brief summary of what I have learned.

The British Raj

The British Raj (1858 to 1947) was a period of direct rule by the British Empire over the Indian subcontinent. Although this time was beneficial for the British Crown – with British businesses (East India Company) booming across both South and East Asia – it was a grim time for those conquered and often exploited for their goods and services.

When the Indian Independence Act of 1947 was passed, it created two new states, India and Pakistan. The prospect of freedom was welcome news to Indians; however, many did not foresee what events were about to unfold through the partition.

The Partition – the largest mass migration in history

For many Indians, the announcement of a ‘partition’ (the division of India into two separate states) triggered riots, the rape of women and children, mass casualties, and families being torn apart through a colossal wave of migration.

Millions of people of people left their homes to move to ‘safer territory’ (Pakistan for Muslims and India for non-Muslims). The effects of partition and the British Raj still resonate to this day with families being permanently separated, tensions emerging between the two states of India and Pakistan, and an absence of historical knowledge from a South Asian perspective.

In my experience, it’s just not the Indian way to recount past trauma or talk about mental health. Sadly, this means that trauma is often internalised and a lot of our history gets swept under the carpet; and British South Asians like me never get to know the full extent of our struggles or the strength of our people.

Modern Britain

family posing for photo

If you want to learn more about South Asian history, I highly recommend that you watch Back in Time for Birmingham in which the Sharma family relive 50 years of South Asian history.

This programme will give you a sense of what it was like for South Asians to move to Britain and create a life for themselves. How, in spite of adversity (including racial abuse or being given the worst possible jobs) their sense of family and unyielding resilience to survive and build a community pulled them through.

I also recommend Empireland: How Imperialism has shaped Modern Britain by author and journalist Sathnam Sanghera.

This book, which is now a Channel 4 television series, takes a closer look at the legacy of British imperialism through historical archives, personal stories, and social commentary on modern Britain.

TV show Empireland

Sathnam said his notions of India and British imperialism came ‘almost entirely’ from western writers and teachers who often ‘whitewashed’ history by editing out the ‘darker parts’ of colonialism. He believed he was educated to ‘look down’ on his ethnic heritage.

Empireland grew out of a documentary Sathnam made about the 1919 massacre in Amritsar, Punjab, India. This massacre resulted in 379 unarmed Sikh civilians, attending a peaceful gathering, being killed by the British Indian Army.

Empireland is also available in schools across Britain. It has undergone a re-write following the toppling of the British Slave Trader Edward Colston’s statue.