Out-of-step English Teacher. Interested in intellectual history of modern India.
Joined May 2008
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Thinking to develop this as a #Thread about #Missionary and #Christian contribution to the development of #ModernIndianLanguages #IndianLanguage
Most #IndianLanguages owe their current state of advancement to the work of #Christian #missionaries—#linguists, #lexicographers and #Bible #translators.
From #JohnNewton and #LeviJanvier in #Punjab to #HermannGundert in #Kerala it’s missionaries all the way!
Ashish آشیش ਆਸ਼ੀਸ਼ आशीष retweeted
UN Elites Get Paid Fortunes to Keep Poor Countries Broken — The White Savior Grift Exposed
They couldn’t make it in a real economy… so they became UN “experts.” Live large in low-cost countries, play white savior, and keep the grift going.
Jack Hadfield @JackHadders & @david_oldbolt David Oldroyd -Bolt
Ashish آشیش ਆਸ਼ੀਸ਼ आशीष retweeted
Such ignorance, @MichaelRosenYes
Caribbean sugar did not generate vast wealth for Britain nor did it drive industrialisation
As I had to explain to KehindeAndrews, sugar amounted to 2.5% of net British national income
Coal, sheep farming, the woolen industry, and iron were far more valuable
In 1770, the peak year for sugar, sugar only accounted for 3% of capital formation. If sugar was such a hot commodity it would have accounted for a FAR higher %.
In fact, Scottish & Irish flax and linen were much more of a revenue generator for the British economy than sugar
The reality is that the contribution of sugar to the British economy was the same as for barley and hops - and I don't recall anyone saying that beer was fundamental for the Industrial Revolution.
My debate on @triggerpod
unavailable
Ashish آشیش ਆਸ਼ੀਸ਼ आशीष retweeted
हमारे प्रधानमंत्री मोदी और ट्रंप में ये फर्क तो है .
⁉️ क्या हार में क्या जीत में,
किंचित नहीं भयभीत मैं,
#Trump तो इसी मोड़ में दिखाई दे रहे हैं।
Tv news स्टूडियो से कॉल गया और ट्रंप ने कॉल रिसीव किया फिर जो लाइव सवाल जवाब हुए वह अमेरिकी लोकतंत्र की सबसे बड़ी खूबसूरती है।
Ashish آشیش ਆਸ਼ੀਸ਼ आशीष retweeted
To give another government money for something that happened 200 years ago is a very different question. @martinplaut
Ashish آشیش ਆਸ਼ੀਸ਼ आशीष retweeted
‘You don’t think your ancestors, who were forced into labour, deserve an apology?’
‘No…’
Reform’s Suella Braverman tells @tomswarbrick1 that it’s ‘thanks to the British empire’ that some countries are ‘flourishing’ now.
Ashish آشیش ਆਸ਼ੀਸ਼ आशीष retweeted
No one alive in Britain today should apologise for slavery. Lament it, regret it, but do not apologise for it. @NigelBiggar Lord Nigel Biggar.
Ashish آشیش ਆਸ਼ੀਸ਼ आशीष retweeted
My ancestors worked as indentured labourers under the British Empire in Mauritius in the 1800s.
Yes it was brutal and harsh.
And it gave my ancestors the chance to earn a wage, acquire property, receive an education and benefit from healthcare- all possible thanks to the British Empire.
We cannot keep teaching our young people a one-sided view of history.
I trace the history in my book, ‘Patriot: Empire, betrayal and hope’.
‘You don’t think your ancestors, who were forced into labour, deserve an apology?’
‘No…’
Reform’s Suella Braverman tells @tomswarbrick1 that it’s ‘thanks to the British empire’ that some countries are ‘flourishing’ now.
Ashish آشیش ਆਸ਼ੀਸ਼ आशीष retweeted
This is an excellent read. It places the idea of slavery in the context of societal ideas, values and beliefs. The fact is that under the influence of leading evangelical Christian campaigners, the transatlantic slave trade was banned by Britain, orchestrating a dramatic change in these ideas and values. This should be celebrated, as with the vast treasure the U.K. then expended to put a stop to this vile trade. This should be a cause for celebration in this country and abroad, not shame or guilt.
The stupidity of demanding an apology for slavery spectator.com/article/the-st…
Ashish آشیش ਆਸ਼ੀਸ਼ आशीष retweeted
Beautiful St James’ Church, Old Delhi, the regimental church of Skinners Horse.
Ashish آشیش ਆਸ਼ੀਸ਼ आशीष retweeted
I did my MPhil thesis on the modern Commonwealth. I concluded it has two modes: complaining Britain isn’t giving it enough money and attention, and complaining Britain is being overbearing and neo-colonialist.
Slavery was an evil in which people from every continent and region participated. We should be honest about the whole history, not select the parts that are politically convenient today, especially given Britain's leading role in ending the transatlantic slave trade.
If Caribbean countries are asking Britain for a formal apology for Britain’s role in the transatlantic slave trade, will they also be asking the same of the descendants of African kingdoms, rulers and merchants who captured, sold and profited from the trade?
On demands for reparations, whether through cash or debt relief, we have been down this track before. Twenty-five years ago, Jubilee 2000, Drop the Debt and Make Poverty History argued that cancelling the debts of poorer countries would give them a fresh start. More than $100 billion of debt was eventually written off, but many of those countries have since built up even bigger debts. Labour are already spending too much on Britain's welfare state, now is not the time for Andy Burnham to be providing global welfare.
There is no reason British taxpayers today should be held financially responsible for things that happened generations before any of us were born. And I have even less patience for political elites in commonwealth countries who don’t know how to make their own citizens prosperous now looking for another opportunity to blame Britain.
As Prime Minister, Andy Burnham should be Britain’s greatest defender. Instead, he is writing articles saying we need to confront our history (as if we haven't done enough of that) and considering another formal historical apology. Tony Blair already expressed Britain’s deep sorrow and regret for our role in the slave trade nearly twenty years ago. There is no need to do so again.
This is all another navel-gazing distraction. The Commonwealth should be looking forward, not endlessly backwards. That means economic partnerships to make us all richer and deeper military and security cooperation against common threats. If every Commonwealth summit becomes an exercise in presenting Britain with demands for cash then we need to start asking if it is worth the effort.
Ashish آشیش ਆਸ਼ੀਸ਼ आशीष retweeted
Slavery was an evil in which people from every continent and region participated. We should be honest about the whole history, not select the parts that are politically convenient today, especially given Britain's leading role in ending the transatlantic slave trade.
If Caribbean countries are asking Britain for a formal apology for Britain’s role in the transatlantic slave trade, will they also be asking the same of the descendants of African kingdoms, rulers and merchants who captured, sold and profited from the trade?
On demands for reparations, whether through cash or debt relief, we have been down this track before. Twenty-five years ago, Jubilee 2000, Drop the Debt and Make Poverty History argued that cancelling the debts of poorer countries would give them a fresh start. More than $100 billion of debt was eventually written off, but many of those countries have since built up even bigger debts. Labour are already spending too much on Britain's welfare state, now is not the time for Andy Burnham to be providing global welfare.
There is no reason British taxpayers today should be held financially responsible for things that happened generations before any of us were born. And I have even less patience for political elites in commonwealth countries who don’t know how to make their own citizens prosperous now looking for another opportunity to blame Britain.
As Prime Minister, Andy Burnham should be Britain’s greatest defender. Instead, he is writing articles saying we need to confront our history (as if we haven't done enough of that) and considering another formal historical apology. Tony Blair already expressed Britain’s deep sorrow and regret for our role in the slave trade nearly twenty years ago. There is no need to do so again.
This is all another navel-gazing distraction. The Commonwealth should be looking forward, not endlessly backwards. That means economic partnerships to make us all richer and deeper military and security cooperation against common threats. If every Commonwealth summit becomes an exercise in presenting Britain with demands for cash then we need to start asking if it is worth the effort.
Ashish آشیش ਆਸ਼ੀਸ਼ आशीष retweeted
This is a well proven lie. I’m amazed (or am I?) that a Cambridge professor is peddling this sort of ahistorical nonsense.
This quoted post is unavailable.
Ashish آشیش ਆਸ਼ੀਸ਼ आशीष retweeted
Apparently, being cited by someone on the ‘hard right’ is now enough to make you guilty by association.
That is the Guardian’s case against me. It has published an article about my opposition to the Church of England’s £100 million slavery reparations scheme, smearing me through supposed links with Restore Britain and associating our campaign with wealthy financiers.
Yet its evidence of my ‘hard right’ connections amounts to a Restore Britain paper citing my work. As for Paul Marshall, he has never funded our campaign.
What about my arguments against reparations? What opposing reasons and evidence did the Guardian offer? None whatsoever.
Read my response to the Guardian at The Biggar Picture: nigelbiggar.co.uk/p/my-answe…
Ashish آشیش ਆਸ਼ੀਸ਼ आशीष retweeted
I know it’s important to have coherent national narratives, but the one I saw described in the newish panels in the Red Fort museum in Delhi are off the scale. This is one of many such.
Ashish آشیش ਆਸ਼ੀਸ਼ आशीष retweeted
Brilliant
When the British sought to end the slave-trade in the 19th century, African rulers resisted.
The Asante Kingdom, in what is now Ghana, was a major participant in the West African slave trade, including the transatlantic trade.
The ancestors of the President of Ghana, John Dramani Mahama, who is LEADING the campaign for reparations from Britain, were probably slave-owners. I am not saying this facetiously; it is what the history suggests (thank you @NigelBiggar)
Ashish آشیش ਆਸ਼ੀਸ਼ आशीष retweeted
.@NigelBiggar .@History_Reclaim .@robert_lyman I learned yesterday that there is a phrase in Brazilian Portuguese, "Para ingles ver". Colloquially, it means 'just for show'. Literally, however, it says, 'for the English to see'. It refers back to the 19th century, when the British were pressing Brazil to abolish slave-trading and the Brazilians were just pretending to.
Ashish آشیش ਆਸ਼ੀਸ਼ आशीष retweeted
राक्षसा विविधा वाचो आहरन्ति महावने ।
हिंसाविहारा वैदेहि न चिन्तयितुमर्हसि ॥
(रामायण सर्ग ४५, छन्द १९-२०)
लक्ष्मण उवाच: हे वैदेही, आप चिंता न करें, इस बड़े वन में वे, जिनका मनोरंजन ही हिंसा में निहित रहता है, नाना प्रकार की बोलियां बोलते रहते हैं ।
