Blame it on the Brits?

General mantra is that the colonization of the British is responsible for many of India’s woes. Even the caste-tensions are blamed on the British. Some of my colleagues have told me that the castes were not created by the British, of course, but the British formalized and documented and imposed caste distinctions that were otherwise not really followed. By doing this, they achieved divide-and-conquer powers, by pitting castes against one another. Adam’s school friends have also commented about the deleterious impact of the British. But THEY said that the British were responsible for smearing caste distinctions, and therefore breaking down age-old roles and responsibilities, and therefore causing chaos. So I am not certain whether the British exacerbated or reduced caste distinctions, but the British are nonetheless blamed for making things worse…