“The country has come into its own … As a rising power, India can gain a lot from the U.K. The British monarchy “holds precisely zero relevance to Indians today - they are of no importance,” said Kapil Komireddi, author of “Malevolent Republic: A Short History of the New India.”īritish rule shaped the country in significant ways, but India has since overtaken the British economy in size. But among most regular Indians, the news was met with an indifferent shrug. The queen’s death provoked sympathies to a deeply respected figure from some while for a few others, it jogged memories of a bloody history under the British crown. The renovated avenue now boasts a black granite statue of Indian freedom fighter Subhas Chandra Bose, in the place where a mold of King George V, Elizabeth’s grandfather, once stood. It was also a clear sign that the country, once the largest of Britain’s colonies that endured two centuries of imperial rule, has moved on. His speech last Thursday was the latest in a concerted drive to purge India of its colonial relics. READ MORE: ‘I cannot mourn’: Former colonies conflicted over Queen Elizabeth II’s death Instead, under the newly named Kartavya Path that leads to the iconic India Gate, “a new history has been created,” Modi beamed. Rajpath, formerly called Kingsway, was a “symbol of slavery” under the British Raj, he said. NEW DELHI (AP) - Just hours before news of Queen Elizabeth II’s death spread, Prime Minister Narendra Modi delivered a fiery speech urging India to shed its colonial ties in a ceremony to rename a boulevard that once honored King George V.

Malevolent republic