>>> glorifying larceny. India total contribution to world GDP when British rule began was 26%. It was 1% when they left.
I don’t doubt that. But the difference in world economics between those two dates make for a very different interpretation. The industrial revolution pumped up western GDP. India and other non-European economies were simply left behind.
In any event, if the Brits hadn’t been there the French would have expanded their Indian territories and conquered. And for that matter if not the British or French, then the Dutch. The British Raj was imperfect but certainly preferable to the alternatives.
That is like saying Soviet Union was a good thing for Russia, Eastern Europe and erstwhile Soviet Republics because the alternative would have been Nazi Germany.
Nope. For Indians the only alternative is independent India not a matter of choice between two evils or a dozen evil for that matter.
Besides it wasn't just industrial revolution. Britain would not have become the empire it became without the wealth of her colonies with just inventions alone. And yes raj bhatia is 100% correct to say India before British constituted 26% of world economy and 1% after the British.