Elon Musk's Emoji Reply on British Colonisation of India Sparks Outrage on Social Media:

Billionaire Elon Musk has once again found himself at the center of controversy—this time for an emoji response to a post downplaying British colonisation in India. The post, which claimed that “there is no such thing as colonisation,” argued that if Indians who migrate to England are considered English, then the British who came to India were Indian too. It concluded that “the English did not rule India,” essentially reducing colonisation to cultural blending or migration. Musk’s engagement with this post, albeit only with an emoji, triggered a massive backlash on X (formerly Twitter). Many Indian users were quick to call out the misinformation, pointing out the stark and painful realities of British colonial rule in India. Social media users highlighted a critical distinction that the post completely ignored: the difference between colonisation and immigration. One user pointed out the contradiction in Musk’s stance, noting, “Oh, so now you don’t care about the difference between illegal invasion and legal immigration with visas? Interesting. Thought you were sharply against illegal immigration, maybe we were mistaken.” Several posts reminded readers of the devastating impact of British rule, particularly the Bengal Famine of 1943, which occurred under Prime Minister Winston Churchill’s watch. The famine, worsened by wartime policies, food exports, and refusal of aid, led to the deaths of an estimated 3 million Indians while grain was shipped to support British war efforts. Others responded with sarcasm, using Musk's logic to highlight how absurd the original claim was. “By this logic, when Germans set foot in France in 1940, they became French,” one user noted. “Similarly, Americans became Afghan and Iraqi in 2003. And now, Russian troops in Ukraine are Ukrainians. So, there's no need for them to go back.” In an attempt to clarify the flawed comparison, one user even asked Grok, the AI assistant on X, whether migration and colonisation are the same. Grok's response was clear: while the post made a rhetorical comparison, it ignored key historical facts. According to Grok, British rule in India—from 1757 to 1947—was not about assimilation or cultural exchange. It involved military conquest, systematic economic exploitation (some estimates put the loss at $45 trillion in today’s terms), and the imposition of foreign governance. This cannot be equated with modern Indian immigration to the UK, which typically involves legal citizenship and integration, without any intent to dominate or rule. The backlash against Musk’s seemingly minor interaction highlights the sensitivity around historical narratives, especially those involving colonialism and national trauma. In India, the British colonisation is remembered not just for the transfer of power, but for nearly two centuries of resource extraction, repression, and cultural erosion. This incident has reignited conversations about the importance of historical accuracy in public discourse and the responsibility of influential figures like Elon Musk to avoid amplifying misleading or insensitive narratives—even unintentionally.

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