On May 10th 1857, soldiers of the British Indian Army rebelled in Meerut and captured the Cantonment there. A day later the victorious soldiers triumphantly marched into Delhi. Their war was to liberate the country from the rule of British colonialists ruling under the aegis of East India Company. They proclaimed Bahadur Shah Zafar as the leader of their uprising who, though advanced in age, agreed to their urgings. This first pan-India war of independence against colonial rule shook the foundations of British colonial rule in India which was saved by the oppressive traitorous feudal kings and served by usurious mahajans. It was the last act of the independent feudal kings and the advent of Indian peasantry on the national scene. They displayed great bravery, made unprecedented sacrifices, forged unparalleled unity to throw out colonial rule particularly the unity of the people cutting across social divisions, especially between two largest religious communities, Hindus and Muslims, in the then India which united in their common aspirations despite difference in religious persuasions.

1857 and its aftermath has shaped Indian history and society since then and remains relevant to this day. Significance of two aspects stands out in particular. India continues to be happy hunting ground for the imperialist capital of the former colonial powers of the west who dominate the different aspects of the economic life of the country. The Indian rulers, continuing the inglorious tradition of the despised feudal kings who saved the colonial rule in 1857, are serving the interests of imperialist capital, parroting the imperative need for this capital for India’s ‘development’ and designing to increase further the stranglehold of imperialist capital on the country. The policies are being framed not in the interest of the Indian people, but in the interest of foreign and domestic corporate. Indian rulers are gifting the natural resources of the country to the foreign MNCs and Indian compradors at throw away prices. The great feast of loot and plunder is on which is being hailed as a great saga of development by their apologists and beneficiaries even as the lot of the common people continues to worsen. The only economics they know and practice is the economics of neocolonial dependence and exploitation. British colonialists and later different imperialists in league with the rulers subservient to them, are continuing to exploit our rich natural resources, labour power and to control Indian market. Continue reading →