Billionaire businessman Elon Musk is facing backlash after lauding the British Empire for ‘ending’ global slavery. The remarks have drawn sharp criticism from several quarters while many on X lauded the SpaceX and Tesla CEO for helping in promotion of a “more balanced understanding of history”.
“Not many people these days know that the British Empire was the driving force behind ending the vast majority of global slavery. Slavery or de facto slavery was standard practice throughout the world from the dawn of civilization until a few hundred years ago. It is even discussed at length in the Bible, for example,” he opined on X.
The remarks have prompted a sharp rebuttal from many Indians on the social media platform.
“India went from being worlds largest GDP to world’s poorest country under British rule. I don’t know where it lifted the standards of living…not in India at least,” wrote one user.
“Sure. They rebranded slavery as ‘indentured labor’…they were very good at marketing,” jibed a third.
“Have some shame. The British Empire was one of the most cruel, disgusting, and violent empires to have ever existed on this planet. Anyone justifying it is mocking the millions who were killed by the empire,” wrote another outraged user.
Another user contended that a massive number of Indians were “forced to work at plantations” in various parts of the world as “bonded laborers” without any rights during this era.
“Some years ago, I met a gentleman from Fiji, and he told me how his grandfather was abducted a century ago when he was on the way to the holy city of Varanasi. He was put on a boat to Fiji and forced to work on a plantation, and could never go back to his family waiting for him. There is really nothing redeeming about the abusive British occupation of India,” the X user added.
“Probably net negative for India but positive most other places,” concluded another social media user in response to the post.
