Comments on: Colonial Authenticity http://larison.org/2007/08/10/colonial-authenticity/ n. the principle of good order "Observe the strange inversion of all order and sense! Dignity debased; how vilely is the function of a consul prostituted!" ~The Craftsman Sat, 20 Mar 2010 07:44:07 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.0.4 by: razib http://larison.org/2007/08/10/colonial-authenticity/#comment-7482 Fri, 10 Aug 2007 22:28:33 +0000 http://larison.org/2007/08/10/colonial-authenticity/#comment-7482 <i>India was also a real country before the British colonized it, whereas Iraq was a colonial contrivance from the outset</i> this is like saying europe was a real country before the EU. or africa was a real country before colonization. europeans share a broad cultural sensibility, but that doesn't negate a lot of regionalism. the more important point for india was that the english speaking elite had a sense of unity which transcended caste and region (though not religion, obviously). with the rise of hindutva, which is the vehicle for the non-english speaking sub-elites in north india, the consensus is fragmenting. India was also a real country before the British colonized it, whereas Iraq was a colonial contrivance from the outset

this is like saying europe was a real country before the EU. or africa was a real country before colonization. europeans share a broad cultural sensibility, but that doesn’t negate a lot of regionalism. the more important point for india was that the english speaking elite had a sense of unity which transcended caste and region (though not religion, obviously). with the rise of hindutva, which is the vehicle for the non-english speaking sub-elites in north india, the consensus is fragmenting.

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