The Invisible Conquest
India isn't conquering foreign lands. It's colonizing itself. We've been taught to recognize colonialism by its most obvious features: ships arriving from distant shores, foreign flags planted in native soil, resources flowing back to lands across oceans.
But what if colonialism evolved? Coz the most effective systems of control rarely announce their presence.
India stands as a fascinating case study: a neo-colonial project operating inside its own borders. Not an empire seeking new territories, but a Protestant-Islamic Republic determined to "civilize" those it sees as internal others.
The old colonial playbooks—Turko-Mongol forced conversions, Portuguese religious inquisition, British economic extraction—all generated resistance. Coz people fight back when their culture faces direct assault.
So the colonizers adopted their playbook.
Instead of external conquest, we see internal reformation. Instead of physical force, cultural shame. Instead of stealing resources, stealing identity.
The brilliance of this system lies in its invisibility.
When you make people ashamed of their heritage, they'll discard it willingly. When you frame ancient wisdom as obstacles to progress, people will abandon their roots without a single soldier at their door.
This is colonialism 2.0—no ships required, no foreign troops needed.
But do we have the clarity to recognize it? And what might we do in response
