British, Masters Of Colonialism
By Junaid Khan
22 September, 2005
Countercurrents.orgThe idea on which the foreign policy of the West is based is the spread of capitalism and to make this view point dominate the whole world. Colonialism is a tool for spreading capitalism to the world and forcing it on others and a master of this tool is Britain.
The most important principle of the foreign policy of Britain is that there are only national interests and no friends and enemies. After the Capitalist revolution Britain has been controlled by rich capitalist families who have formulated her foreign policy ever since. A 1950 foreign office document entitled "British overseas obligations a regional survey" reveal Britain post war colonial interests and priorities. It mentions the different colonies in context of their wealth and resources. About Africa it says that "Africa is an important source of raw material in peace and war whereas South East Asia a substantial economic asset. Colony of Malaya alone has a surplus of $145 million ". The report goes on to mention Middle East as a very important region noting that the oil produced is very essential for the economic interest of Britain. A denial of this region to Britain would result in loss of 150 million pounds annually.
Often colonial exploitation has been disguised in the guise of development. A 1945 memorandum by the foreign office clearly mentions that: "We have to devise techniques for bringing influence to bear upon other countries' internal decisions". A very interesting example of the kind of exploitation that was carried out reveals that between the years 1946-1951 the total colonial development and welfare expenditure throughout the empire was 40 million pounds or 8 million pounds per annum. On the other hand colonial sterling balances gained from the empire and held in London was 150 million pounds. In 1951 West African marketing board had 93 million pounds on deposit in London. Colonies were given or lent 40 million pounds and 250 million pounds were taken from them. This was disinvestment on the grand scale and the extent of British imperial exploitation for its own interest at the expense of the 3 rd world populations.
Another foreign policy strategy was the deception of independence shrewdly designed by Britain to protect her economic and political interests in the changing world circumstances. This kind of fake independence helped in changing the formal into informal empire and extended the life of colonial control.Yet another brutal face of Britain was unmasked in Malaya and Kenya. Malaya (Malaya is now split into two countries; Malaysia and Singapore) which was very rich in rubber and tin and was a source of cheap raw material was crushed b/w 1948 and 1960 when Britain waged a military campaign against insurgents. Dictatorial police measures, collective punishments of villages and forced labor were some of the methods used to crush the resistance. Along with that more than half million pounds of bombs were dropped in an attempt to crush opposition to British rule.
Similarly Kenya became a British colony in 1920 which ultimately resulted in extreme poverty and exploitation of Africans and deprivation of their lands by the hands of Britishers. The exploitation occurred to the extent that the Kenyan natives would work on lands and only get one-fifth the compensation the white settlers got (on the average) for the same amount of work. Thirty-two years of barbaric colonialism resulted in a violent nationalistic uprising called the Mau Mau uprising (1952-56). During the three years of civil war, over 30,000 men, women, and children were imprisoned in concentration camps where forced labor was practiced and hangings were common. This resulted in many losing their homes and their land as a result. Although only 100 Europeans were killed, the war took lives of over 13,000 Africans.
Even today the policy of colonialism continues. The active support of the war in Iraq is based on a deep strategic and economic interest which finds its roots some 85 years back. After World War I Britain and France fell like wolves on the carcass of Ottoman Caliphate. To secure oil for its Navy, Britain created Iraq and placed puppet rulers on Iraq in the form of King Faisal and Faisal II. Uprisings against the tyrannical regime were crushed through bombings and gassings.
Again Britain finds itself fighting for its interest this time with America. Browne a chief executive of British Petroleum and Labour member of House of Lords warned Washington not to carve up Iraq for its own oil companies by saying "We have let it be known that the thing we would like to make sure, if Iraq changes regime, is that there should be a level playing field for the selection of oil companies to go in there if they are needed to do the work there".
As always, accompanying the exploitation is the inhumane treatment of people and ruthless attacks against insurgency. This includes keeping prisoners naked, sexual degradation, sleep depravation, hooding and starvation. Similarly the attack on Afghanistan was driven by the vast resources in Central Asia where a similar treatment was meted out to the prisoners and civilians.In contrast to the materialistic centric approach of Capitalism, Islam seeks to remove the injustices of the man made legislation. The Islamic Caliphate when it existed never exploited or colonialized people. The Caliphate never launched a war with the objective to usurp the resources of a land or to secure job for its citizens, to gain contracts for its companies or to line the pockets of the ruling class. The Caliphate never looked at people as conqueror and conquered or winners and losers but as citizens. This is how a state established in Medina expanded to Persia, North Africa, Central Asia, South Asia and South East Asia. Even today the people of these lands being part of one Ummah, long for the return of the Khilafah. The movements working for the re-establishment of the Khilafah find mass support in these regions. It seems as if the days of colonialism are numbered and a global Islamic state on the lines of the Caliphate is imminent.
Junaid Aslam Khan
House # 443, Street NO 41, G-9/1
Islamabad.
Email: [email protected]I am an engineer by profession and currently working in the technical field
