Western Imperialism Exposed

In this video, Hassan Nisar, one of the best columnists in Pakistan dispels the myth of "western imperialism" within the Sub-continent, Pakistan and India

Since critics often make use of western colonial history as a pretext for demonizing Western European culture, for those of you who don't understand Urdu or Hindi, I am posting a translation of what he is saying about this key and often misunderstood issue.

Translation:

Just think about it; who are the ones that have carved the world that we live in today ?

Let me call it upon your attention, that the first and only railway station in the country [built by the British] went operational in Lahore only 149 years ago in 1860. Then the British went on to introduce the first motor car just 114 years ago; then, 101 years ago, they introduced the first aeroplane; 109 years ago, they introduced electricity; and just 47 years ago the west introduced the first television set.

Please, try to conceive your life without these few utilities. Minus these few things [the above and injections], have you even thought how people used to live before that ? Even a genius like Ghalib [the most famous poet in sub-continental history] was left perplexed and bewildered when he saw the British using Match-Sticks.

"What kind of nation has appeared before us, which carries fire within its pockets ?!!!", Ghalib asked in astonishment.

Have you even ever thought how people used to clean their clothes 70-100 years ago ? What did they have when there were no soaps, or when there was no shampoo or any tissue papers ?....And these are very minor things.

Today, when the lights go out for load-shedding, there is just so much tumult, clamour, noise and objection against the limited supply of electricity in this country. Electricity is something your grand-parents didn't even know about !


So, the world that we are living in today is all the product of Western-European labour and hard-work.

I am not joking here; often, when I turn on a light bulb, I pray to God, asking the Lord to grant Thomas Edison mercy and compassion. People like him are a blessing to all of man-kind.

In the old days when people used to go do the Hajj, it took ages to go to and from Mecca; and for those that did embark on this journey, it wasn't even expected that they would ever return back [He said this because of the risks involved in such a long and treacherous journey].

Have you ever contemplated how comfortable and easy it has become today to go and do the Hajj ?  How blessed are these westerners who have taken all these Non-European nations [sub-continent, Africa, Middle-East e.t.c], who were using nothing more than mere donkey carts for transportation just half-a-century ago, and have given them the utilities of modern day technology like trains, cars, planes e.t.c.