The world mourned the death of Queen Elizabeth II, the British Empire’s longest-serving monarch, but some Africans and other non-Brits used the occasion to highlight the atrocities committed by the British empire on its colonies.
Many countries, after her death, raised their voice to become free from Britain’s identity. Many former slave colonies that are now independent countries but still recognise Britain’s King or Queen as their head of state also wonder why it is like that.
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While we all know that these remarks are surely controversial, one US anchor (not even a UK anchor) got so hurt by these kinds of remarks that he went to another extent to defend the disputable history of the British Empire. He even involved India in it, in a very arrogant and negative way.
His comments sparked widespread criticism not only from common people but also from India’s prominent entities like Congress MP Shashi Tharoor. So, let’s find out what he said and why he actually got angry about his comments:
US TV Anchor’s Anti-India rant didn’t go well with netizens
It all started when an African American professor at Carnegie Mellon University, Uju Anya, tweeted a celebratory remark on the death of Queen Elizabeth II. She tweeted,
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“I heard the chief monarch of a thieving raping genocidal empire is finally dying. May her pain be excruciating.”
Despite the fact that she later deleted her post, her comments went viral and thus became a hot topic of discussion.
However, these comments didn’t go down well with many other pro-Queen people. Among them is Fox News anchor Tucker Carlson, who broadcast his opinions in support of the queen and mentioned India as an example. On a live show, he said,
“When the British pulled out of India, they left behind an entire civilization, a language, a legal system, schools, churches, and public buildings, all of which are still in use today. Here’s the train station the English built in Bombay, for example.”
He went on to say,
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“After 75 years of independence, has that country produced a single building as beautiful as the Bombay train station that the British colonialists built? No, sadly, it has not. Not one.”
He finally concluded his monologue by saying,
“Slander the ruler, discredit the entire period she lived in. And that’s exactly why they’re attacking Queen Elizabeth tonight—not because she was a bad person, she wasn’t a bad person, but because she lived during a better time.”
India Twitter might be interested in that one…
“After 75 years of independence has [India] produced a single building as beautiful as the Bombay train station the British colonialists built? No sadly it has not.
We will never see [again an empire] so benign as the British.” pic.twitter.com/EiAsOo737f
— Arnaud Bertrand (@RnaudBertrand) September 12, 2022
Tucker’s comments angered MP Shashi Tharoor
His comments didn’t go well with anyone, given the fact that many of his own countries criticised him and others reminded him that the British gained their place in the world through their colonial empire, which was founded on genocide, enslavement, and robbery.
The wealth and stature of the monarchy were acquired at the expense of colonies like India. The Kohinoor, the most priceless gem the queen wore on her crown, was also an Indian creation.
Tucker’s remarks were so controversial that even Congress MP Shashi Tharoor lost his cool and angrily reacted to them. In response to Tucker’s video, he wrote on Twitter, quoting Entrepreneur Arnaud Bertrand’s tweet,
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“I think @twitter ought to have an option for something to press when you can’t respond without losing your cool. For now I will content myself with (two angry face emojis)”
I think @twitter ought to have an option for something to press when you can’t respond without losing your cool. For now I will content myself with😡 🤬 https://t.co/6tWpUuSuMR
— Shashi Tharoor (@ShashiTharoor) September 13, 2022
What do you think about Tucker’s comments?
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