Shashi Tharoor. News18
The debate over how Britishers exploited India and its resources has been going on for ages. One such debate from 1957 is gaining traction where a young Indian student named Padmanabha Gopinath can be seen taking down a British host single-handedly after she claimed that ‘India was friendly towards Britain’. The video of the same has been shared by industrialist Anand Mahindra who went on to laud the student’s knowledge and confidence while speaking on the cause of India back in 1957. Mahindra also mentioned Congress MP Shashi Tharoor to ask him about Gopinath’s whereabouts.
The 2-minute 20-second video was shared on Twitter on Friday and so far, has grabbed the attention of many. Mahindra while sharing the video wrote, “This was going around furiously on social media yesterday. Wonderful to see someone so vigorously champion the cause of India back in ’57! Shashi Tharoor, I’m sure you have seen this and perhaps know what became of Mr. Gopinath…”
As the video plays, we can see the host beginning by asking about the concept of ‘prejudice’ to which Gopinath went on to define it as a “willful ignorance which is dictated by emotion.” Furthermore, as the host claimed that she believes ‘all great men are English’, the student took a jibe by saying how most Englishmen think that history begins with the signing of the Magna Carta whereas history dates 3,000 years back in the valley of the Indus River.
Take a look:
‘It is the credit of Indians that it maintained cordial relations with Britain’.
Later, as the host claimed that ‘India was friendly towards Britishers’, the student gave it back by stating that the credit goes to Indians who believe in maintaining good relations with Britain.
“Your policy of saying that all these countries wished for it. It was you who was putting the wish in their mouths and there was not much they could have done,” he added.
Gopinath also went on to debate over the Sarawak rainforest and the exploitation of Indian ‘material wealth’ by the British empire.
Notably, as several social media users reacted to the old video, Shashi Tharoor also reacted to it with an affirmation and provided more details about the student.
“I *was* born by then! And I know the brilliant bespectacled Indian student, who went on to be a star official at the International Labour Organization. He is now retired & living in undeserved anonymity”, he wrote.
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