How British Colonialism causes Divorce

Charlotte Gill, who appears to be British Canadian, writes in the Guardian of being reconciled with her Sikh father who got divorced from her Irish Catholic mother when she was 16. It appears that at University she

came to understand that our little family saga was just a tiny reflection of a much larger intercultural story. If the Raj hadn’t colonised India,

and Ireland and Canada. America, to which Charlotte's family had emigrated when she was a kid, too had once been a Colony. Then they kicked out the Brits so as to concentrate on massacring the indigenous population and bringing in African slaves. 

nobody would have abandoned Punjab.

or Ireland. Also Canada would be French speaking. 

My dad would never have arrived in London, never met my mother, and I wouldn’t exist,

Imperialism does indeed lead to the emergence of multi-ethnic metropolises. However, affluent Welfare States are also likely to be magnets for immigration from poorer countries. 

at least not as the living evidence of their remarkable union, which had been rare and even dangerous at the time

Mixed race marriages are more common amongst first generation immigrants precisely because the pool of eligible partners is smaller. Back in the Sixties, when her parents got married, there was some prejudice against Irish people as well as 'Pakis' from the sub-continent. However, in many parts of London, this problem had disappeared by the Nineties. Indeed, darker skinned kids were the majority in some Boroughs and it was the turn of the White kids to run scared. 

Why did Charlotte Gill's parents get married? The answer is that they were both upwardly mobile Doctors and, perhaps, came from socially more conservative backgrounds. It should also be borne in mind that the Irish freedom struggle had been the template for the Indian freedom struggle. That's one reason the Irish flag looks like the Indian flag upside down. It is also why the Indian Constitution has Directive Principles and affirms a doctrine of 'autochthony'. Few in Europe, or, indeed, in England, would remember the name of Da Valera, the Irish Premier. But Indians remember him as being close to great leaders like Netaji Bose, Vithalbhai Patel and V.V Giri. 

Sadly, both the Irish and Indian freedom struggles resulted in Partition and a prolonged period of economic stagnation which fuelled a big 'brain drain' as well as the migration of less skilled people. Ireland was able to reverse depopulation after joining the EU and turning itself into a vibrant knowledge economy. India took longer to liberalize its economy and there has been some reversal of the 'Brain Drain' in sectors like IT and Financial Services. Sadly, in the Punjab, the pressure to emigrate has, if anything, increased.  

Charlotte explains that she became estranged from her father as a teenager because he tried to prevent her from banging every drug addled layabout or hooligan she could find on the streets. This was very wrong. Fathers should display great pride in daughters who have had five children by different fathers by the time they turn 17. Sadly, British Colonialism caused Sikh fathers to take a dim view of any such outcome- at least as far as their own daughters were concerned. Fuck you British Raj! Fuck you very much!