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In 2015, Member of Parliament Shashi Tharoor’s speech on the British Raj’s dodgy track record in India went hugely viral. Since then, the Congress leader has written a book on the subject, An Era of Darkness, and has been touring the world to talk about it. In the past, Tharoor has spoken about Britain’s “historical amnesia” and the refusal to mention the colonial past.

In a new interview, the author and politician targets the development of the Indian Railways, which is often seen as one of the biggest contributions to India by the British during the Raj, calling it a “gigantic colonial scam”.

“There were no benign or beneficial motives for the British East India Company when they started the railways,” Tharoor begins and quotes a memo written by Lord Dalhousie: “The important role that India could play as a market for British goods and as a market for agricultural raw materials for Britain would be facilitated by the railways.”

He added, “So from the start it was apparent that the British wanted to build the railways for their own purposes.”

“Indian taxpayers paid for the entire construction for the Indian railways, but the profits were entirely made by the English,” Tharoor said. “It was private profit at public risk.”

He also highlighted the different costs for India. Constructing a mile of railways cost £18,000 to Indian taxpayers, while it cost £2,000 in the United States. Racism also continued to reign on the British-run Indian railways, from segregated compartments to jobs.

Tharoor ended with a call to the English to remember this colonial history. “You know London is made up of all these magnificent buildings,” he said. “You ought to know what paid for them.”