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Comment by SHIT_TALKER | Hacker News Reader

The British created your grandparents' country and you should be thankful to them for it. It was nothing but fortunate for India to have sensible men like Charles James Napier working to put an end to barbarism like Sati:

A story for which Napier is often noted involved Hindu priests complaining to him about the prohibition of Sati by British authorities. This was the custom of burning a widow alive on the funeral pyre of her husband. As first recounted by his brother William, he replied:

"Be it so. This burning of widows is your custom; prepare the funeral pile. But my nation has also a custom. When men burn women alive we hang them, and confiscate all their property. My carpenters shall therefore erect gibbets on which to hang all concerned when the widow is consumed. Let us all act according to national customs."[1]

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_James_Napier#Service_i...

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The fact that colonialism had some beneficial side-effects does not make it right and does not oblige anybody to be thankful.

Napier is one of my favorite historical figures, but wasn't sati banned based on the requests of (native) Hindu reformers, and Napier merely spoke in favor of the ban when other Hindu priests complained? It seems like a stretch to argue that it was Napier who worked to put an end to sati.

None of the other sensible men like Napier gave such a pithy and powerful quote on the topic.

Ah, yes, pithy and powerful quotes! I should be thankful for colonialism for providing pithy and powerful quotes. Take up the white man's burden of speechwriting.

Seriously, there are much better arguments for the position you're espousing. I can come up with half a dozen without trying. If you're really interested in contributing to discourse, try making them.

The topic was the banning of Sati. It was just one example of the benefits of British rule. That it is such a salutary example is why I mentioned it. You are welcome to keep crying on Twitter that people said things you don't like but I have nothing further to say to you.

It's not even close to salutary. You can't defend your point, that's why you have nothing further to say to me. You are wrong on the facts, and you don't even know how to lose an argument graciously.

What argument is there to be had with someone who will not even admit the elimination of the ritual immolation of widows as a salutary benefit of colonial rule? There's clearly no reason involved in such a stance but simply reflexive chauvinism.

What you say is true to your name. Take a look at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f7CW7S0zxv4

What utter nonsense. Do the Romans likewise owe reparations to the Turks, French, Spanish, and English?

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