One pound a year for 200 years: Britain's moral debt to India

Economic Times

21 hours ago

Independence Day 2025: Shashi Tharoor spoke at Oxford Union in 2015. He argued Britain owes India reparations for colonial exploitation. Tharoor highlighted the human cost of British rule. Millions of Indians suffered famines and fought in wars. He emphasized the need for Britain to acknowledge its moral debt. A token payment would symbolize acceptance of historical injustices.
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When Shashi Tharoor rose to speak at the Oxford Union in 2015, the air in the chamber was thick with centuries of unresolved history. The motion before the house was as clear as it was provocative: This house believes Britain owes reparations to her former colonies.A diplomat, writer, and parliamentarian, Tharoor also became something more — the voice of a historical memory that often softens in British public life. He didn't come to haggle over figures or balance sheets. Instead, he put before the house what he called Britain's 'moral debt' to India: the duty to admit the truth about an empire that had fattened its coffers by starving others, that had built its splendour on the dismantling of another civilisation's wealth, dignity, and self-reliance.Tharoor demanded an acknowledgment - not only of the material theft but also the human cost.'This is not about writing a cheque the size of the national debt — even a symbolic payment, a single pound a year for the next 200 years, would be a start. Because reparations are as much about acknowledgement as they are about money.'Tharoor's argument began not just with numbers, but with faces — the millions of Indians who suffered under British rule, a toll often ignored or glossed over in British narratives. Colonialism was not a distant administrative system but a brutal reality that left deep scars on countless lives.Between 15 and 29 million Indians died in famines during British rule, disasters not caused by natural calamities alone but exacerbated by deliberate policies and indifference. The 1943 Bengal famine, which claimed an estimated four million lives, became the symbol of imperial cruelty. Despite warnings, British leaders diverted grain and resources elsewhere. 'When warned that people were dying, Winston Churchill peevishly scrawled in the margins: 'Why hasn't Gandhi died yet?' This, ladies and gentlemen, is what passed for enlightened statesmanship,' said Tharoor.The empire's human cost extended beyond famine. Indian soldiers fought in vast numbers during the world wars — 1.3 million in World War I alone, with tens of thousands killed or wounded. Their sacrifices were immense, yet their contributions were met with little gratitude or compensation. India funded the wars financially, bearing the burden of a conflict that was not its own.Tharoor painted a picture of a system that drained a people's dignity and humanity. It was not merely economic theft; it was a profound moral failure. He pressed for Britain to confront this history, not only through monetary reparations but by publicly acknowledging the suffering it caused.For Tharoor, the question of reparations was not simply financial — it was profoundly moral. The idea of a token payment, a symbolic gesture like a pound a year for 200 years, was about admitting the truth and accepting responsibility for a history of suffering and injustice.Arguing that more than financial reparations, it's the moral debt which is important, Tharoor said, "As far as I am concerned, the ability to acknowledge your wrong that has been done, to simply say sorry will go a far far far longer way than some percentage of GDP in the form of aid. What is required it seems to me is accepting the principle that reparations are owed. Personally, I will be quite happy if it was one pound a year for the next 200 years after the last 200 years of Britain in India."Such acknowledgment matters because it confronts the ongoing legacy of colonialism — a legacy that still shapes relations between Britain and India. Reparations would not erase history, but they would represent a commitment to justice and healing. Tharoor pointed to examples elsewhere in the world where reparations had been made — Germany to Holocaust survivors, Japan to Korea, and Britain's own compensation to New Zealand's Māori people. He argued that acknowledging moral debt requires courage but no personal guilt; it is an essential step towards reconciliation.In his closing, Tharoor challenged Britain to move beyond empty words and embrace accountability. 'You cannot oppress, enslave, kill, and loot for 200 years, and then pat yourself on the back because the survivors are now democratic,' he said.Today, Britain and India speak of trade agreements and cultural partnerships. But as Tharoor's speech continues to echo into the world, these modern arrangements are layered over a past that has never been fully acknowledged. Until Britain turns and faces that past — honestly, without defensiveness — the ledger will remain open.