I came across this fascinating piece of research a while ago but almost forgot to post it here.  From The Colonial Legacy – Myths and Popular Beliefs, some thought-provoking excerpts:
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While few educated South Asians would deny that British Colonial rule was detrimental to the interests of the common people of the sub-continent – several harbor an illusion that the British weren’t all bad. Didn’t they, perhaps, educate us – build us modern cities, build us irrigation canals – protect our ancient monuments – etc. etc. And then, …