Billionaire Elon Musk's emoji reply to a post on the colonisation of India by the British has sparked outrage. The post which the Tesla owner replied to falsely claimed that “there is no such thing as ‘colonization.’”
“If Indians set foot in England and become English. Then the English who set foot in India became Indian. Therefore the English did not rule India,” the post said.
Musk replied to the post with a “🤔 (thinking)" emoji, drawing reactions for the distortion of historical fact.
The post which Musk shared passed off colonisation as simple migration or cultural blending, thus negating the suffering of Indians and the British governance of India as its extension.
‘Difference between colonisation and immigration’
{{/usCountry}}The post which Musk shared passed off colonisation as simple migration or cultural blending, thus negating the suffering of Indians and the British governance of India as its extension.
‘Difference between colonisation and immigration’
{{/usCountry}}After the post and Musk's subsequent reply to it blew up on social media, Indian users highlighted that there was a “difference between colonisation and immigration”.
“Oh so now you don’t care about the difference between illegal invasion and legal immigration with visas? Interesting,” a user said on X. “Thought you were sharply against illegal immigration, maybe we’re mistaken,” the user added.
The users further highlighted the Bengal famine during the British colonial rule “During the British Raj in 1943, India faced the Bengal Famine. (Winston) Churchill’s wartime policies, export of food, and refusal of aid worsened the crisis. Millions of Indians starved to death while grain was shipped abroad,” a user posted on X.
While some pointed out the facts, others were tongue-in-cheek with their replies. “By this logic, when Germans set foot in France in 1940, they became French…Similarly, Americans became Afghan and Iraqis in 2003. And now, the Russian troops occupying Ukraine are Ukrainians. There's no need for them to go back,” one user said.
Another asked X AI chatbot Grok to answer if there was any truth in this comparison. The AI assistant answered that while the comparison was a “rhetorical point equating migration with colonization”, it overlooked “key differences”.
“British rule in India (1757–1947) involved military conquest, economic exploitation (e.g., draining ~$45T in modern terms per some estimates), and imposed governance, not mere settlement or assimilation. Modern Indian immigration to the UK often involves legal citizenship and integration without ruling authority,” Grok said, citing journals.