1
India’s milestone of 1 Billion doses for its Covid vaccine proved its capabilities regarding its own healthcare. It’s a huge leap forward for India which was decimated by the British, who caused horrific epidemics that killed over 81 million Indians in the last century alone.
2
In the 1800’s, Britain built vast networks of badly designed irrigation canals to squeeze profits from Indian agriculture. The canals changed the salinization of water bodies, allowing the Cholera bacteria to thrive. Historically, Cholera was never an epidemic in India.
3
The canals became breeding grounds for cholera & flooded over nearby land, picking up cholera from infected villages & spreading it. Britain's haphazard construction & disregard for India’s natural ecosystem caused the first Cholera epidemic at Jessore (Bangladesh) in 1817.
4
To make things worse, the British forced farm laborers to settle along the canals. They forced semi-nomadic, starving workers to adopt a fixed agricultural lifestyle in small unhygienic settlements, creating a perfect environment for the Cholera epidemic to spread.
5
Statistics & data linking disastrous canal programs in Punjab & Bengal to Cholera outbreaks were purposely suppressed by the British to protect profits, even as millions of Indians died. They insisted it was not contagious, touting the lie that Cholera was “timeless” in India
6
British showed their racism & bigotry as they blamed “vice, lethargy & filthy habits of Indians” for Cholera. Christian missionaries said Hinduism & the “degradation” of idol worship caused it. Kumbh Mela & Puri’s rituals were demonized as epicenters of the epidemic.
7
Western "scientists" wrote horrifyingly racist & Hindumisic accounts of how Cholera was born when despair molested the Hindu “goddess of filth” & infected the Ganga. Hindu religion & pilgrimages were blamed directly for an epidemic that India had never faced before the British
8
The "Angel of mercy” Florence Nightingale said “British had a civilizing & sanitizing mission in India, the land of domestic filth, where plague & pestilence were the ordinary state of things”. India was marked as the root of diseases like Cholera to justify racist superiority
9
British historian, Sheldon Watts, estimates over 25 million Indians died of cholera under British rule, decimating India’s economic & demographic growth in the 19th & 20th centuries. But the British blamed Cholera on India's "uncivilized" Hindu religion, temples & priests.
10
In 1894, bubonic plague erupted in Hong Kong, but the British purposely ignored it to ensure their profitable opium trade from Indian ports to China was not affected. Ships from Hong Kong carrying plague infected rats were allowed into Indian ports ensuring its spread in India
11
An Indian doctor from Bombay, Dr. A.G. Viegas was the first to officially confirm a case of Bubonic Plague in India. But the British fiercely opposed him, trying to cover up the epidemic. They dismissed his correct diagnosis saying Indian doctors were irrational & inferior.
12
British soldiers tried to isolate Indians in forcible house searches looking for the infected, manhandling them like beasts. In railway inspections, women were stripped in public view. Mass incidents of sexual harassment, insults & abuse by British created huge resentment.
13
These horrific intrusive “containment” measures by the British included sexual harassment, destruction of property, defiling temples, breaking Hindu idols, & burning of Hindu books. Terrified Indians refused to go to hospitals or be inoculated out of distrust & fear.
14
So many atrocities compelled the Chapekar brothers in Pune to assassinate officials Rand & Ayerst to show their protest. Distrust & fear of the racist British medical system led to widespread infection, resulting in more than 16 million Indian deaths due to the Plague.
15
As Indians reeled from deadly epidemics, Britain was busy exploiting India's land for profits & export, causing terrible famines. Rotten grains from dirty warehouses infected by rats were distributed to starving Indians as "Famine Relief" spreading the Plague across all India.
16
Millions of Indians died, too weak from starvation to fight epidemics. But the British were intent on frantically expanding the railways to transport & siphon off India’s food supplies. Unplanned construction wreaked havoc creating new environments for epidemics like malaria.
17
They built embankments for roads & railways, ignoring drainage patterns, causing water logging & floods that became nurseries for malaria. Britain's insatiable greed created unplanned irrigation canals further spreading malaria, despite their own scientists' warnings.
18
Malaria became the most common killing epidemic in India. Railway travel was a cesspool of infection. Over 20 million Indians died due to Malaria, as a direct consequence of Britain's colonial greed. Empire. Again they blamed India’s climate, Hinduism & people as the cause.
19
In 1918 infected WW1 soldiers caused the Spanish Flu epidemic. Britain allowed a ship from Mesopotamia carrying infected soldiers to dock in Bombay. Soon the Influenza epidemic spread like wildfire through railways & postal system. The white Sahibs ran away to the hills.
20
As the British in India lived in spacious bungalows with servants, they were hardly affected. Indians living in crowded, unhygienic cities were devastated by the Flu. Smaller towns had no hospitals & Indian Vaidyas were discredited by the British, so millions died from neglect
21
By then the British had drained all of India’s food supply to feed its soldiers in WW1. Indians faced another horrifying famine even as they battled Influenza. Weak, starving Indians dropped like flies as the epidemic swept through the country leaving death & horror.
22
The devastating effect on Indians can be seen from statistics. More than 20 million Indians died due to influenza alone. Total deaths in World War I were less than 20 million. From 1817-1920, pandemics caused entirely by British policies, had a catastrophic impact on India
23
India’s fight for survival under the brutal, racist British regime reveals that their murderous lust for wealth directly caused pandemics which killed over 81 million Indians. This number does not even include another 20-30 million killed by the famines that Britain created.
24
India’s milestone 1 Billion Covid vaccinations is proof of its incredible resilience. We survived deadly pandemics equal to many Holocausts at racist British hands. Today we stand self-reliant in control of our own health, guided by the strength & spirit of an undying culture.
25
References

• • •

Missing some Tweet in this thread? You can try to force a refresh
 

Keep Current with Savitri Mumukshu - सावित्री मुमुक्षु

Savitri Mumukshu - सावित्री मुमुक्षु Profile picture

Stay in touch and get notified when new unrolls are available from this author!

Read all threads

This Thread may be Removed Anytime!

PDF

Twitter may remove this content at anytime! Save it as PDF for later use!

Try unrolling a thread yourself!

how to unroll video
  1. Follow @ThreadReaderApp to mention us!

  2. From a Twitter thread mention us with a keyword "unroll"
@threadreaderapp unroll

Practice here first or read more on our help page!

More from @MumukshuSavitri

12 Oct
1
From 1609-1616, the British sent ambassadors William Hawkins & Sir Thomas Roe to the court of Jehangir to get access to trade routes & permissions. Their description of Jehangir’s daily life reveals a lot about how responsibly the Mughals took the role of “nation builders”
2
Jehangir’s day started with Islamic prayers, followed by a couple of hours attending public court, then 2 hours sleep, food & harem time. From 12 - 3 in afternoon, he would revel in watching games where gladiators & animals fought against each other to satisfy his bloodlust.
3
During his afternoon diversions, the bloodthirsty Jehangir would sometimes kill men with his own hands. If gladiators did not entertain to his satisfaction, the Mughal king had “fun” punishments like watching gladiators' bellies ripped open by bears or stomped by elephants.
Read 10 tweets
2 Oct
On Gandhi Jayanti, I present to you flowers of wisdom from the Mahatma's own lips.

Gandhiji on Rape:
Gandhiji on how Hindu or Sikh women who were raped during Partition should behave.
Gandhiji on how Hindus should face death cheerfully if attacked.
Read 6 tweets
25 Sep
1
Manyavar’s recent ad featuring Alia Bhatt demeans the Hindu marriage ritual of Kanyadan by claiming it objectifies women. In reality, no other marriage ceremony in the world honors & reveres the bride as completely as the Hindu Vivah (marriage) ceremony.
2
Apparently Manyavar never bothered to research the tradition of Kanyadan before labelling it regressive. Hindu literature is full of references showing that rituals in the Vivah Samskara are designed to empower both bride & groom as equal partners in a life of spiritual growth.
3
Undoubtedly, patriarchal distortions crept into Hindu marriages, due to the dark age of Islamic rule when women were raped, molested & killed relentlessly. Social evils like child marriage & dowry arose due to the desperation of Hindus to marry their daughters & protect them.
Read 26 tweets
18 Sep
1
The British Empire’s long list of crimes against Bharat includes slavery, racism, religious intolerance, plunder, & more. But did you know that the British systematically forced 1000s of Indian women to become sex slaves under the guise of “prostitution” for their soldiers?
2
In 1898, Elizabeth W. Andrew & Katharine C. Bushnell wrote “The Queen's Daughters in India”, revealing unforgettable details about how the British devised a system of prostitution & official brothels to use Indian women as sex slaves for soldiers of the British Military.
3
When the British first took control of Bharat, they built “Cantonments”, as separate mini towns for the residences of British soldiers & officers. Cantonments were not governed by the civil laws of India, but separate British laws allowing them to abuse the rights of Indians.
Read 25 tweets
10 Sep
1.
Did you know that the success & “Golden Age” of the Roman Empire was primarily dependent on trade from India? It is estimated that by 1st c. CE, trade from India was financing almost 30% of the Roman Empire’s total income.
2.
When Mark Antony was defeated at the Battle of Actium in 31 BCE, Queen Cleopatra prepared an escape to India with the treasure of the Ptolemais. She planned to escape accompanied by Caesarion, her son by Julius Caesar.
3.
She had enough troops to guarantee the continuance of her royal court in the safety of India & made preparations to launch her ships into the Red Sea by dragging them across the Suez Isthmus. But the Nabataeans of Arabia were her old enemies.
Read 21 tweets
10 Sep
1.
Today’s humble Bhog for Ganeshji:

Paneer Dahi & Coconut Roast
Saunf Baby Alu & Gobhi Dum
Kala Chana with Saag
Tomato peach chutney
Spicy Sorshe snow peas (with mustard paste)
Lauki Moong Daal
Chana Dal Dhoka (Steamed & fried cake)
2.
Sweet dishes :
Patisapta (Rice flour pancakes with khoya & coconut filling)
Gurer Payesh (Jaggery kheer)
Mohan bhog (Suji halwa)
3.
Fruits
Puran Poli

May you all enjoy the bliss & sweetness of Shree Ganesha’s grace.🙏🙏😊
Read 4 tweets

Did Thread Reader help you today?

Support us! We are indie developers!


This site is made by just two indie developers on a laptop doing marketing, support and development! Read more about the story.

Become a Premium Member ($3/month or $30/year) and get exclusive features!

Become Premium

Too expensive? Make a small donation by buying us coffee ($5) or help with server cost ($10)

Donate via Paypal Become our Patreon

Thank you for your support!

Follow Us on Twitter!

:(