British atrocities in the 1800s on Indian weavers - a brief note


Indian woman weaver Assam. www.indianetzone.com


woman weaver in Tamil Nadu, India, onlytravelguide.com


Yet the 1757-1947 Indian Holocaust and the 1942-1945 Bengali Holocaust have been erased or neglected from British history – thus, for example, there is absolutely no mention of these enormous atrocities in recent Anglo histories such as “The Story of India” by Michael Wood (BBC, 2007), “The Britannica Guide to India” (Robinson, 2009), “A History of the English-speaking Peoples.

 

Indian historian Amaresh Misra claims in his 2 volume work “War of Civilizations: India AD 1857” that the British killed 10 million Indians in retaliation for 2,000 British killed in the 1857 rebellion (the so-called Indian Mutiny). Amaresh Misra : “It was a holocaust, one where millions disappeared. It was a holocaust in the British view because they thought the only way to win was to destroy entire populations in towns and villages. It was simple and brutal. Indians who stood in their way were killed. But its scale has been kept a secret" (Randeep Ramesh, “ India 's secret history: “a holocaust, one where millions disappeared…” Author says British reprisals involved the killing of 10 million Indians spread over 10 years”, Guardian, 24 August 2007 ). However, British writers in a process of continuing, holocaust denial put the number of Indians killed at about 10000,


The unscrupulous British company through breach of trust, denial and outright cheating slowly brought havoc on the entire once self-reliant, proud Indian weaving community and finally made them kneel before them and finally saw to it that they were penniless and pushed them to abject poverty.

 

“We must starve for food” In 1823 the British East India Company and the rulers received a petition from 12,000 weavers stating ..................

Our ancestors and we used to receive advances from the Company and maintain ourselves and our respective families by weaving Company’s superior assortments. Owing to our misfortune, the aurangs have been abolished ever since because of which we and our families are distressed for want of the means of livelihood. We are weavers and do not know any other business. We must starve for food, if the Board of Trade do not cast a look of kindness towards us and give orders for clothes.''


Skilled Indian weaver in a village.globosapiens.net


Proceedings of the Board of Trade, 3 February 1824. The rulers never had mercy on them.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2007/ahug/24/india.randeeprames

 http://gpolya.newsvine.com/