I am French and we are a country with a great past - but not looking ahead.
I feel the same as you about both the British and the French.
Add India to the list.
The right-wing in India are obsessed about our past, and worse, desperate to associate everything about it with "Hindu religion" or "Hindu culture" despite the huge influence of Buddhism, Islam and the imperialists (largely the British who finally got the upper hand on our sub-continent).
"We were the richest country in the world till we were looted by Muslims and Christians."
"We had brilliant Hindu brahmin scientists who excelled in mathematics, medicine and astronomy / astrology.
"Look at these huge ancient temples built with extraordinary artistry that have survived for centuries."
And so on, are proof of our "great past" that they believe automatically should earn us the respect of the world.
In their obsession with the past, they totally disregard the achievements of modern independent India just because our freedom movement were lead by people like Gandhi and Nehru who opposed their idea of a theocratic-fascist state, and chose to create a secular state that treated everyone as an equal and gave every citizen equal rights.
For a country that won its independence in a non-violent manner from the most powerful empire of the world, and a country that has lifted millions of its citizens from poverty and is today self sufficient in agriculture (one of the largest in the world), and one of the few countries with an active and self-sufficient space, nuclear and defence program we have really made a lot of strides.
But for the right, India is not "respected" by the world because anti-Hindus chose secularism and thus since "we Hindus" don't respect our "Hinduness", the world also ignores Hindu cultural achievement and denies us our true place.
The right-wing in India are obsessed about our past, and worse, desperate to associate everything about it with "Hindu religion" or "Hindu culture" despite the huge influence of Buddhism, Islam and the imperialists (largely the British who finally got the upper hand on our sub-continent).
"We were the richest country in the world till we were looted by Muslims and Christians."
"We had brilliant Hindu brahmin scientists who excelled in mathematics, medicine and astronomy / astrology.
"Look at these huge ancient temples built with extraordinary artistry that have survived for centuries."
And so on, are proof of our "great past" that they believe automatically should earn us the respect of the world.
In their obsession with the past, they totally disregard the achievements of modern independent India just because our freedom movement were lead by people like Gandhi and Nehru who opposed their idea of a theocratic-fascist state, and chose to create a secular state that treated everyone as an equal and gave every citizen equal rights.
For a country that won its independence in a non-violent manner from the most powerful empire of the world, and a country that has lifted millions of its citizens from poverty and is today self sufficient in agriculture (one of the largest in the world), and one of the few countries with an active and self-sufficient space, nuclear and defence program we have really made a lot of strides.
But for the right, India is not "respected" by the world because anti-Hindus chose secularism and thus since "we Hindus" don't respect our "Hinduness", the world also ignores Hindu cultural achievement and denies us our true place.