On the 16th of November, I was invited by a friend to attend a book-reading event in the heart of Munich, Germany. Lukas Bärfuss a Swiss writer and dramatist was hosting Suzanna Arundhati Roy and Ilija Trojanov to discuss their novels and India. She goes by Arundhati Roy because she does not use the Christian component of her name. some text was read, Lukar Bärfuss in Munich and Arundhati Roy in India started chatting online. The audience was not allowed to ask Mr. Bärfuss or the other authors questions.
In little time at all, Lukas Bärfuss was doing his best to distort the truth. That she said Kashmir was never a part of India was among her claims, he said. To think that Mr. Bärfuss would say “It is a fact” in support of this statement astounds me. My late grandfather, Mr. Chet Ram Kohli, served in the court of Jammu and Kashmir’s Maharaja Hari Singh. He was metaphorically speaking known as his right-hand man for development and industry because he was a very well-educated individual. My mother, who will soon turn 92 years old, is likely one of the last surviving witnesses to the atrocities that occurred in Srinagar, Kashmir, in 1947. We were frequently told anecdotes by people who had witnessed the changes there firsthand. We learned as kids that on October 26, 1947, Jammu and Kashmir officially became a part of India when Maharaja Hari Singh signed the Instrument of Accession[1]. The public can access this report on the Internet. Neither of the two speakers realises this. Humans are inherently born with ignorance and an unwritten norm guides us through our lives that we are individually responsible for easing through knowledge and discourse. We are equally within our rights to shut our eyes to or reject such changes and maintain that ignorance is the universal truth.
The Kingdom of Bavaria in Germany was an Austrian vassal state until the 1870s when it formally joined the German Empire via an Instrument of Accession. Mr. Bärfuss does not dispute this, but he does insist that Kashmir is not geographically or politically a part of India. A group calling themselves “Reichsbürger” rejected the idea that Germany was a legitimate nation and challenged the legitimacy of the country’s democratically elected government. They even went ahead and created their flag and passport, which are both distinct from the German flag and passport.
Ms Roy’s assertion is no different than that of this radical organisation denying India its sovereignty and lawful rights as per international law. The German government did not sit back, watch, and allow freedom of speech to be used as a cloak for demagogy. A few hundred persons were arrested and the entire “Reichsbürger” hoax was effectively shut down. The German state’s ability to enforce the law[2] expeditiously is impressive. Pictures of Yasin Malik, a terrorist who was convicted of killing innocent civilians in India, laughing, and holding hands with Ms. Roy have been making the rounds online. She seems to wilfully ignore or exacerbate the law enforcement agencies’ concerns about these terrorists. Yasin Malik is connected to Hafeez Saeed, a Pakistani terrorist on India’s most wanted list who is listed as a terrorist by the United Nations. Among the many massacres he is responsible for is the 26/11 attack on Mumbai, India, in 2008. Had this happened in Germany, she would have been arrested for criminal association with a terrorist. Unfortunately, Indian law is still based on the English common law of 1855, and its implementation is sluggish and lethargic at best. She continued by saying that authors and journalists are being assassinated every day by the current government in India under Mr Modi, and Mr Bärfuss seemed so sure that he didn’t even press her for specifics. Incredulous, he can only shake his head. People are so easily duped that it’s scary. I need to know who among India’s writers and journalists has been murdered. The audience was not allowed to ask questions else, at this stage, I would have asked her: if everything is that horrible and dangerous, why is Ms Roy not seeking safety in Europe, perhaps Switzerland where Mr Bärfuss could sponsor her? Ms Roy claimed that the BJP administration led by Mr Modi was abusive to Muslims, yet Muslims are not leaving India for Europe, the United States, or the 57 Islamic countries that would certainly welcome them with open arms. If Muslims are being abused why is India, the only nation that grants funding specifically for Muslims for their pilgrimage known as the Haj? I agree that Ms. Roy downplayed the existence of widespread discrimination in India. The Hindu temples are taxed whereas the Christian churches and Muslim mosques are exempt. These commentators seem unconcerned by the fact that priests and Imams are paid monthly salaries whereas Hindu Pundits and Pujaris are not. Why do we whine about religious freedom but not exempt Hindu shrines from taxation? Because secularism is ingrained in Hindu culture from birth, the concept of a secular state is paradoxical for Hindus. Indira Gandhi, India’s late prime minister, inserted the word “secularism” in the constitution retrospectively, which deserves to be removed. She had done it for personal political gains and Muslim vote bank appeasement. This cosmetic tautology for Hindus is unnecessary. The Prophet Mohammed’s relatives wouldn’t have fled to India if it weren’t the case. The oldest Jewish community in southern India would not exist and the Christians would not have moved to India. India has been a haven for people of all faiths throughout history, thanks to its Hindu traditions.
She skipped right over the facts and claimed that Muslims from Afghanistan had invaded and conquered India without any resistance, causing anger and a subsequent attempt to rewrite history on the part of the country’s Hindu majority. The textbooks have been updated to reflect the reality that the Hindu rulers triumphed, and the Muslims were defeated. She also skipped the fact that the first 7 ministers for education in India were all Muslims. To assume that they had portrayed the history correctly is a fantastic assumption. Around 1000 A.D., after the first Muslims sought shelter in India, Islamic invaders to the west of India began plundering the country due to its wealth, education, and relative calm. After some time, she claims India was never a country it was the English who founded it. What were the Muslims invading India for 800 years before the English established their colony there in 1800? Circular arguments like this plagued the entire evening. It is human nature to interpret anything new and unfamiliar from the previous knowledge that one possesses and most of it is self-referential. Ms. Roy does not make any allusions to herself or draw inspiration from her familiarity with India. She has a colonial mindset because she uses Western standards and notions to evaluate Indian civilisational values. In the sixteenth century, a small group of Europeans took the first steps towards establishing modern nation-states[3]. India is not in Europe, hence the notion that it did not exist before 1947 is accurate. This is a classic example of the fallacy of post hoc ergo propter hoc. From Vietnam to modern Iraq and China in the north, remnants of the Indian civilization’s existence thousands of years before the sixteenth century are still visible. Husseini Brahmins[4], sometimes known as Husseini Hindus, is an intriguing phrase. The third Imam was honoured by a large Hindu pilgrimage to Karbala, in Iraq, I assume they went on foot from India. They still share in the Muslim day of mourning, Ashura, today. The Brahmins were (and still are) incredibly tolerant and knowledgeable. All the many religions in India would not be able to live together peacefully if it were not for Hindu values. Many people are fuming with rage against the Hindus and the RSS. Everywhere Islam has spread, entire nations have quickly converted to the faith and begun calling themselves the Islamic Republic of… with no tolerance for others an ailing economy. Pakistan, Afghanistan, and many more countries around the world can serve as examples. Hindus are unique in this regard and have resisted forced conversion to Christianity and Islam for over a thousand years. The proponents of Islam have very often used extreme violence and other methods of intimidation. The Christian missionaries used and still use underhand tricks with false promises of cures for serious diseases, magical trances, or small gifts like a 5kg bag of rice. The resistance infuriates those who want to convert the whole of India. Some reactions are highly emotional while others are simply ranting about the caste system, Brahmins, British colonialism, the RSS, the BJP and Mr Modi as nationalists or other social issues to undermine the greatness of this sole surviving ancient civilisation that has continued its traditions for centuries. It has survived vicious attacks and will continue to do so, and that is also one reason why most radicals love to associate the RSS with the Nazis, even if the only similarity is the khaki shorts its members wear. Mrs Roy’s reactions are nothing new to Hindus: denigrate Hinduism, whether it makes sense or not, just say something horrible. I have the impression that this has become a lucrative business that is also financially rewarding. Indian law enforcement agencies have often taken seemingly poor activists with immense amounts of money or undeclared assets to court for accepting large sums of money from foreign non-governmental organisations (NGOs).
Why can’t I refer to my home as it has naturally come to be known, and why must some alien idea or standard characterise my culture? Having foreigners dictate standards in my home country is anathema to me.
Despite her eloquence while discussing Hindus, I concluded that Ms Roy lacked intelligence because she stuttered and did not answer her host’s basic questions. The pressure to maintain an air of intellectual superiority is an illusion that will lead you into dangerous pitfalls. My impression is that her knowledge only extends to one motivation: animosity. She tries very hard to appear level-headed, but her loathing for Mr Modi, the BJP, the RSS, the Hindus, the Brahmins, and India shines through. As is typical of populist gatherings caught up in heated debate, many listening nod along as if on hallucinogens, failing to challenge the speaker. In Indian culture, Brahmins have been held in high esteem for their wisdom for millennia. Imagine we started denouncing all the professors at the universities and condemning them for being privileged. For the better part of a decade, I studied Psychology at a distant university in Germany, where I dedicated most of my time to investigating human behaviour. My best guess is that she has two problems: first, she may be experiencing what psychologists call the Dunning-Kruger effect, a cognitive bias in which people who lack expert understanding of a topic tend to exaggerate their competence. The second phenomenon is people isolating themselves. Overestimating one’s talents leads to the first parameter, which is low self-esteem, weak self-confidence, or social anxiety. It has no takers and no recognition, which may be why such people provoke the authorities: to get their names in the papers, pictures alongside wanted terrorists and feel important.
Ms Roy’s hatred for the Hindu faith is obvious, and she will resort to any lie to spread it. The third fallacy she proposes is the idea that the Hindu caste structure is to blame for the rise of Christianity and Islam among Hindus. They voluntarily converted to Christianity and Islam. I would have asked a simple follow-up question like, “Who did they go to, to be converted to Christianity?” She doesn’t realise that many Chinese intellectuals up to the year 800 A.D. and Megasthenes, a Greek envoy visiting India in around 310 BC claimed in his book Indica[5] that there was no discrimination in India. Caste is derived from the Portuguese word “Casta” and is not found in our sacred texts. Saint Francis Xavier, a Portuguese priest or missionary, was dispatched to Goa, India, by the Pope in the 1540s. He ordered the mass execution of Hindus and invented iron stencils to sever the breasts of female victims who refused to convert to Christianity. He gave up trying to convince the Brahmins and went home discouraged because he reported that he had not been able to convert a single one in his life. This anti-Brahmin sentiment dates back to ancient times. Forced conversion and brutality on the innocent are common methods used by Christians and Muslims in India to assert their hegemony.
When I look at Mr. Bärfuss, I wonder why he is discussing the Caste system in India, given that no significant community suffers from it in any systematic way. If a society has a problem and it isn’t an institutionalised ailment, that society will figure out a solution. The caste system has not caused any Holocaust or slaughter of natives as in the USA, Australia or South Africa or the massacre of millions of Congolese as at the hands of the Belgians. The caste system has not sheltered treasures of despots such as Marcos of the Philippines Mubarak of Egypt or Mobutu Sese Seko of the Democratic Republic of Congo and international criminals in numbered accounts. Preaching morality to an old civilization while carrying the weight of contemporary crimes against humanity on your shoulders is disingenuous. Discrimination is unacceptable, and people in India have been and will continue to work to find solutions. When will it stop happening? Even today, not a single Jewish institution in Germany operates without a police guard, despite the country’s overall decency and the enormous efforts made to educate the school children about the horrors of Nazi crime and make regular school visits to the concentration camps of Dachau, Buchenwald, etc. The German government and its people are not to blame for this present hatred. A similar situation exists in India, where there may be people who despise others of different faiths, yet no police stand guard outside of Mosques or Churches. There is no systemic bias, and no one in India has a hyphenated discriminatory title because of his origins as in the US. India, if it needs guidance, should study the examples set by countries without a similar burden of history. From those who have diligently safeguarded human life and property, rather than those who were steeped in slavery or colonial atrocities or who fail to educate their children about the malice of their predecessors. Lessons like these, delivered casually by pretend intellectuals, are a sham disguised as a book club meeting.
To some extent, I can relate to her frustration. For as long as she could remember, she had done and said whatever she pleased, including shaking hands with terrorists, disputing India’s right to sovereignty, and levelling several baseless charges. No one complained until recently (2014) since people in power in the country have been doing it since 1947 for their benefit and financial gain. Here comes Mr. Modi, an honest democrat whose sole concern is the well-being of the Indian people. He simply wants Hinduism, our old civilisational values, to be restored to its rightful place in our culture. His care for mankind doesn’t stop at India’s borders. When some international pharmaceutical companies were charging poor countries exorbitant rates for their vaccines during the recent pandemic and tying them down with restrictive contracts, Mr Modi was giving them away for free. Ms Roy is undoubtedly feeling insecure now that the chaos has subsided, and her influence has dwindled to a handful of rogue pseudo-intellectuals who will nod in agreement to anything she says.
I’ve found that many Europeans when told that Mr Modi is a nationalist, react with shock. I thank God and may bless him, I’m glad he is. Many people across Europe, the Anglosphere, and the rest of the world identify nationalism with Hitler in Germany, Franco in Spain and Mussolini in Italy and the atrocities committed during this period. For them, the nationalists are not democratic, they are hegemonic and merciless and destroy anyone who thinks differently. Think of the colonisers, the Chinese under Moa, the Soviet Union under Stalin and the Third Reich under Hitler. This association is justified for the Europeans and others who suffered under such disasters, is it justified to use the same paintbrush on Indian civilisation?
India, on the other hand, is not hegemonic; she is fiercely democratic and the world’s most religiously diverse country. Indians have always been nationalistic and concerned about the well-being of their people. The European size of Nationalism does not fit India. Similar to many ancient cultures, it celebrates life and the environment in the natural world. It doesn’t put people atop the food chain, where they gobble up everything in sight before pointing fingers at everyone else and demanding that they cut back on their consumption. India as a culture holds to the principle of and engages in the act of reciprocal appropriation with the natural world. We even pray and thank Basil plant as “Mother Tulsi” before we pluck a leaf. There is a reason why the word “antisemitism” does not appear in any of India’s estimated 216 official languages. Christianity and other foreign doctrines have introduced conceptions and distortions like those utilised by Ms Roy into Indian society. The fact that India and the rest of the subcontinent lacked a capable leader before Mr Modi is by far the country’s largest challenge. If this is not the case, then the Indian people should be told what benefits they received from the English colonial criminals or the Muslim invaders responsible for the destruction of an estimated 40,000 Hindu temples and the deaths of an estimated 180 million Hindus over many years. The work by K.K. Mohammed[6] provides proof for several specifics of the temple destructions. People who suffer from confirmation bias disregard scientific data and other facts, which is why Ms. Roy continues to attract a small following in Europe. When they discuss Muslims in India, it is always from a biased perspective. Muslim extremists slaughtered men, women, and children in Kashmir in 1992, forcing half a million Hindus to flee the region. A film has been studiously made by Mr Vivek Agnihotri to document and capture these occurrences; it is called The Kashmir Files. Unfortunately, Hamas has just reenacted similar atrocities in Israel.
Something the Europeans don’t realise is that Indians are fiercely democratic and that is because of its Hindu traditions. A majority of Indians, several hundred million, voted for Mr Modi in a democratic election, and his opponents are directly undermining democratic norms while talking a good game about human rights and democracy. What intellectual slander. In the 1970s Mrs Indira Gandhi, a well revered leader of India was democratically voted out of office by the people because she violated their confidence by creating an emergency. Like many of her fellow Indian politicians, she eventually figured things out. India has more than 945 million eligible voters[7]. People above the age of 100 who travel great distances and wait for hours only to exercise their right to vote are a sight to behold. No Ms. Roy or Mr. Bärfuss could ever understand the depths to which the Hindus carry democracy in their genes. That is what makes India calm, and anyone who spreads alarm about Hindutva is disregarding the primary contributor to stability in India. According to some studies by Salvatore Babones, a US American sociology professor at the University of Sydney, Australia, no country with an income below US$ 10,000 per capita sustains democracy. India was doing it even below US$ 1,000 per capita. That is because of its ancient civilisational traditions. From Israel up to India many countries provide an income of more than US$ 10.000 per capita but are not democratic. Why?
Ms Roy proudly brought up Winston Churchill, praising him even though he caused a famine in Bengal in the 1940s that killed an estimated 4 million Indians. Even though his officers begged him not to, he insisted that the grain be shipped from India. She continues by attacking the heroic and well-liked independence fighter Veer Savarkar for nothing more than his praise of Hitler. First of all, Indians did not witness the Holocaust, and no sane person would condone such a tragedy or the suffering of the Jewish people. The second point is that any Indian who was able to harm the English was held in the highest esteem. However, Ms. Roy’s limited perspective blinds her to the fact that the Church she frequents supported Hitler and may have remained silent during the Holocaust in Germany, even though, unlike Veer Savarkar, the Church was pervasive there. Mr. Bärfuss doesn’t care that the Nazis stashed loot and cash from Jewish homes and companies in Switzerland. For decades, the Swiss government refused to admit it, and then, for a brief period, the Jewish community in New York ceased doing business with Swiss banks. The Swiss government suddenly discovered the missing funds in their banks and returned several billion dollars to Holocaust victims.
Uninformed people love talking about RSS[8] a self-help group. This is common in radical circles and on nights like these. They use a wide variety of derogatory terms without providing any supporting proof. They say the gang is just like the Nazi’s youth army. It is the same instance of post hoc ergo propter hoc, RSS was formed in 1925 and the youth army was created in 1943. Since most of the Indian subcontinent experiences hot weather for longer than cold, RSS members typically dress in Khaki shorts. Khaki is a Hindi name for a specific colour, and the Nazis certainly didn’t invent the shorts. The dreadful SS Waffen donned trousers modelled after the Jodhpurs worn by Indian horse riders in the state of Rajasthan. I just hope Mr Bärfuss and Ms Roy are not going to start accusing everyone in Jodhpur of Nazi atrocities in their next persiflage. The majority of the group consists of middle-aged people who are dedicated to serving the public. To look into these assertions, I attended a couple of HSS[9] meetings in Munich. HSS is a voluntary organization that serves different parts of the world, taking ideological inspiration from the RSS. In the first three hours of meetings, I attended as a participant observer[10], I was pleasantly surprised to hear not a single derogatory comment made about any individual or group of people. There was nothing but an honest debate aimed at bettering society. I remember what our mother told us when we were young, and that piqued my interest in this visit. Members of the RSS were the only guys who helped to evacuate the people of Kashmir before they were massacred by Muslim invaders from Pakistan in 1947. The barbarians were burning men alive in front of her eyes. She’s almost 92, yet she still has crying jags in her sleep. She says the events are still vivid in her mind when we ask her about them. Other members related accounts concerning the evacuation of Hindus from Lahore, today in Pakistan during the largest migration in the history of mankind perpetrated by the English colonialists. The RSS members rescued the people. In the most recent conflict between Russia and Ukraine, Mr Modi called on both presidents to temporarily halt hostilities so that 20,000 Indian students could be evacuated from the country in safety. The sole requirement was to show that you were an Indian by waving an Indian flag. Students from Turkey and Pakistan also took advantage of it with the support of Sewa[11] Europe, a voluntary organisation inspired by RSS. Sewa Europe members served the people by organising the intricate logistics of collecting, feeding, and housing the evacuees before they boarded Indian planes. Mr Modi has sent Indian ministers to see that the students get back home safely. According to Ms Roy, these organisations fall under the category of “paramilitary.” Ignorance indeed.
Tonight’s discussion is titled, “Kolonialisiert sich indien selbst?”
Ilija Trojanow and Arundhati Roy (live online). The title in English reads, “Is India colonising itself.” According to the English dictionary[12], colonisation is the “act of taking control of an area or a country that is not your own, especially using force and sending people from your own country to live there.” To provide an analogy, imagine if Mr. Bärfuss said he was wearing a dark suit to his funeral. Is he just dropping by, or is he being buried at his planned funeral? Even the title was a logical fallacy. For a European, colonisation is an act of taking over hegemony and oppressing the indigenous people. For the Indian, it is oppression and an illegal act. Ms. Roy was included in an ARTE documentary about Mr. Modi that aired about 2.5 years ago. She said that the Indian government is making concentration camps to incarcerate 3 million Muslims under the new law called CAA, which is total rubbish. ARTE has a journalistic duty to investigate this claim but chose to disregard it. As a member of society who pays roughly €18 per month for a TV licence, I find it very irresponsible and reckless that statements broadcast have not been verified before. I will not allow myself to be misinformed by false news reports. Ms. Roy, on the other hand, has not yet shown any proof of the existence of concentration camps.
Since 1978, I have seen that Germany and German-speaking countries are linguistic and cultural islands unto themselves. Since so few individuals live in the rest of the world who can speak this language, whatever is said here stays. Many believe they can get away with anything as only fellow Germans would understand them and no one will challenge their views on global issues. It is unusual to find a critical debate on international problems or societies where new perspectives might emerge and be exchanged. It turns into a contest to see whose stereotypes and cliches are the most extreme. Not that there isn’t a thoughtful discussion of issues facing the local community. Contrarily, there is a great deal of activity within the intellectual community, and criticism is welcome so long as the listener is aware of the context.
One issue is that the Europeans have to compare India to their own country, Germany, for example. You were born in Germany, speak German, and are probably a Christian unless you are the child of immigrants. For this reason, I often got questions about whether or not my kids spoke “Indisch.” Having to explain that India has three times as many people as all of Europe put together and that there is no such thing as “Indisch” was not fun. Do you have a Bible? is still a common question. I try to explain that instead of relying on a single holy book, we have a whole library full of spiritual treasure. Everything here goes against the current standards and understanding in Europe. That’s why it’s dicey for people like Mr. Bärfuss to try to reduce the complex social problems plaguing the subcontinent to the scale of a single European nation. Because of this, discrimination and segregation have become commonplace in European discussion—ironically, the very thing these people are discussing condemning. Because these people with limited understanding are reductive of Indian civilisation and get away with erroneous statements, such as this evening, German audiences become especially vulnerable to veiled pseudo-intellectual arguments. Because of this lack of specific knowledge, nobody can reasonably criticise them. “Little knowledge is a dangerous thing[13]” harms the well-informed. I was reminded of an Indian adage I learned as a child: “A one-eyed King among the population of the blind,” which is a fitting description of Mr. Bärfuss. People listening in aren’t experts in the field, but the speakers keep feeding them falsehoods and misinformation.
Two questions occurred to me as I was leaving: first, many young Indian experts are bringing their families to Germany. Politicians in Germany have gone to great lengths to make it appealing for them to work and live there. They must come now, we need them. I have regular conversations with many of them about their difficulties and provide them with education through intercultural sensitization seminars and talks. They will soon be exposing the German language’s secluded island to a wider audience in India. As the reality sets in, the illusions will go away. These young people will not only reject such empty statements if they are continually discussed, but we also risk frustrating them with such falsehoods. They’ll decide to leave Germany, undermining the government’s efforts to improve the country’s very serious shortage of professionals. Second, I’m concerned that some people will try to repay in the same currency and make false accusations against Germany. Some of them regarding poverty in Germany and the reasons why Germany has the highest rate of prostitution are making the rounds on YouTube and other social media platforms. This is not the Germany I know, and it’s certainly not the Germany that would attract top talent from India. Businesses hoping to make a profit from India’s massive consumer market will suffer greatly, as will innocent German citizens. Potentially, it could discourage people from moving to Germany. Already, I’m seeing signs that a lot of people are planning to move back to India. The speaker did not reflect my experience of India or the India that is becoming increasingly powerful economically and politically. So, what should we do next?
Defining what exactly constitutes free speech serves societal, political, and economic interests in Germany. If slandering India, its most venerated leader, its top politicians, and its societal issues fall under the umbrella of free speech, then I guess we will soon have a serious problem at hand. If deception and sloppiness are being passed off as intelligent book readings, if the ARTEs of Germany are going to spread lies and propaganda without fear of any control, we may expect to hear a lot more from India in terms of free expression in the future that will not be pleasant for Germany. Dealing with that tsunami won’t be simple, and it will do irreparable harm to Germany’s reputation.
Arun Kohli
Munich, Germany
[1] https://www.jstor.org/stable/43953394
[2] https://www.tagesschau.de/investigativ/wdr/razzia-reichsbuerger-111.html
[3] https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/abs/new-handbook-of-political-sociology/nationstate-formation/36B24AFCE5A786D882A9845788338292#husseini
[4] [4] https://thewire.in/religion/the-forgotten-history-of-hussaini-brahmins-and-muharram-in-amritsarlaw
[5] https://www.jstor.org/stable/270500
[6] https://www.flipkart.com/an-indian-i-am/p/itm7c750306f8432Indica
[7] https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/india/india-has-over-94-50-crore-voters-as-on-jan-1-government/articleshow/97559222.cms
[8] RSS is the “Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh”, which means National Self Help Society.
[9] HSS is Hindu Swayamsewak Sangh, which means Hindu Self Help Society.
[10] A field research method developed by the anthropologist Bronislaw Malinowski.
[11] Sewa is a Hindi word that means selfless service.
[12] https://www.oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com/definition/english/colonization
[13] It is attributed to the English poet Alexander Pope (1688 – 1744). It is found in his An Essay on Criticism.
