India’s post-independence trajectory closely mirrors the arguments in Walter Rodney’s How Europe Underdeveloped Africa, where he systematically explains how European colonialism ensured Africa remained economically dependent, culturally weakened, and politically manipulated. Sai Deepak’s India That is Bharat further builds upon this by exposing how India, despite political independence, remained mentally and institutionally colonized.

The silent support for missionary expansion, minority appeasement, and political engineering ensured that India, much like Africa, remained internally divided and externally controlled, preventing its full civilizational resurgence.

1. Rodney’s Core Arguments and Their Parallels in India

A. Colonialism & Economic Dependency

Rodney’s Argument for Africa:

• European powers systematically extracted wealth from Africa through resource exploitation while preventing local industrialization.

• The economy was structured to serve foreign interests, making African nations dependent on the West even after independence.

Parallel in India:

• British policies, like heavy taxation, land revenue systems, and destruction of indigenous industries, ensured that India remained a raw material supplier rather than an industrial power.

• Even after independence, Nehruvian socialism and the License Raj maintained the same dependency on Western financial institutions (IMF, World Bank).

• Missionary-backed NGOs and Western corporate influence ensured that India’s economic policies aligned with foreign interests rather than self-sufficiency.

Reference from India That is Bharat

• Sai Deepak argues that post-independence India did not fully decolonize its economic policies, and instead, Western frameworks of development continued to dictate Indian policymaking, much like what Rodney describes for Africa.

B. Cultural Subjugation & Knowledge Suppression

Rodney’s Argument for Africa:

• African history and traditions were erased or distorted to justify European rule.

• Western education systems ensured generations of Africans saw their own heritage as inferior while glorifying European civilization.

Parallel in India:

• British-created Macaulay education ensured that Indians distanced themselves from Sanskrit, Vedic knowledge, and indigenous sciences.

• Even post-independence, history textbooks glorified Mughal and colonial rule, while ancient Hindu, Buddhist, and Jain contributions were minimized.

• Missionaries and “secular intellectuals” actively demonized Hindu traditions, just as Rodney describes European missionaries doing in Africa.

Reference from India That is Bharat

• Sai Deepak explains how colonial-era distortions continued in post-independence India because the elite ruling class (educated under British systems) refused to decolonize education, legal systems, and policy frameworks.

C. Political Engineering & Elite Capture

Rodney’s Argument for Africa:

• European rulers appointed puppet leaders in African nations post-independence to ensure that economic and political control remained in Western hands.

• Native elites who collaborated with colonial powers were rewarded, keeping power concentrated within a small, privileged group.

Parallel in India:

• The Nehru-Gandhi dynasty and Congress-controlled institutions ensured political power remained within a specific elite class, restricting alternate nationalist movements.

• Minority appeasement politics ensured that vote banks were controlled, similar to how European colonialists used tribal and religious divisions to maintain control in Africa.

• Anti-Hindu narratives were pushed aggressively while secularism became a tool for selectively suppressing majority voices.

Reference from India That is Bharat

• Sai Deepak describes how the Indian Constitution, despite granting sovereignty, was built on Western frameworks that ensured continued elite control over governance and lawmaking.

2. The Silent Role of Missionaries and Cultural Dilution

Rodney explains how missionaries were not just religious entities but active agents of colonization, paving the way for political and economic dominance by changing local identities.

How This Played Out in India:

• Post-independence, missionary activities expanded exponentially, with churches receiving foreign funding to push conversion efforts, particularly in tribal and rural areas.

• Christian educational institutions shaped elite thought, reinforcing anti-Hindu sentiments while celebrating Western and Abrahamic ideas as superior.

• Just as Africa saw indigenous religions labeled as “savage”, India saw Hinduism falsely equated with caste oppression and regressive practices.

Example:

• In Tamil Nadu and Kerala, missionaries aggressively promoted the “Aryan vs. Dravidian” divide, pushing the false idea that South Indians were originally a different race, much like the “divide-and-rule” strategy Rodney details in Africa.

3. North-South Divide and Language Politics as a Continuation of Colonial Strategies

Rodney’s Argument for Africa:

• European rulers intentionally created ethnic divisions to prevent a unified resistance against colonialism.

• Local elites were bribed and empowered to push separatist agendas while ensuring long-term Western influence.

Parallel in India:

• British-backed Dravidian movements in South India promoted the Aryan-Dravidian racial myth, creating permanent regional tensions even after independence.

• Anti-Hindi movements in Tamil Nadu were not grassroots movements but politically engineered to weaken national unity.

• North-South economic disparity was exaggerated for political gain, just as regional disparities were manipulated in post-colonial Africa.

Reference from India That is Bharat

• Sai Deepak points out that language policies were deliberately weaponized to fuel regional tensions, ensuring that states remained more loyal to their linguistic identities than to the broader Indian civilizational identity.

4. The Impact of These Hidden Truths on Modern India

• India, like Africa, still struggles with colonial-era governance structures, economic dependencies, and external ideological influences.

• The Hindu identity is constantly attacked, similar to how African indigenous identities were erased under colonial rule.

• Western-funded NGOs, educational institutions, and media continue pushing narratives that weaken civilizational unity.

• India’s real history is still not fully reclaimed, with education systems continuing to glorify colonial perspectives.

5. How Can India Reverse This Damage?

Based on Rodney’s Analysis & Sai Deepak’s Recommendations:

1. Complete Decolonization of Education –

• Remove colonial distortions from textbooks.

• Reintroduce Indian knowledge systems (Vedic mathematics, Sanskrit texts, ancient sciences).

2. Reclaim Cultural and Religious Spaces –

• Stop government control of Hindu temples.

• Regulate foreign funding of missionary NGOs.

3. End Vote Bank Politics & Minority Appeasement –

• Ensure equal laws for all religions instead of special privileges for specific groups.

• Recognize and reverse politically engineered divisions (North-South, Dravidian vs. Aryan, caste-based politics).

4. Strengthen Civilizational Identity Over Regional Identity –

• Promote Bharatiya history over Western-imposed narratives.

• Encourage Indian languages over English dependency without forcing Hindi imposition.

Conclusion: Rodney’s Analysis Holds True for India Too

Walter Rodney’s How Europe Underdeveloped Africa and Sai Deepak’s India That is Bharat both expose how external forces controlled and weakened native civilizations through economic policies, cultural suppression, and political engineering.

India’s path to true independence lies not just in economic growth but in reclaiming its history, culture, and civilizational unity, much like what Rodney argues for Africa.