100th anniversary of the 1911 Durbar in Delhi

Today is the 100th anniversary of the 1911 Durbar in Delhi, supposedly marking the zenith of British imperial power (although in terms of territorial extent the greatest land area under imperial control came in 1921 - but by that time the signs of decline were already evident).

Nothing in today's Guardian, nothing on the BBC, nothing on the Indian government's website.

For various reasons I think that the experience of imperialism was bad for Britain (and obviously pretty bad for the subject nations).  But I find this selective amnesia about a major historical event distasteful.  And I am not sure that British imperialism in 1911 was any worse than Indian imperialism today - or Chinese imperialism, or Iranian imperialism, or Russian imperialism etc (or indeed EU imperialism over its member states).

Is it perhaps the rise of India as a new economic power that is making everyone careful not to notice the 100th anniversary of the Durbar?  Are we all politely looking the other way?  Are we afraid that modern Indians would somehow be offended to be reminded that there was a time a hundred years ago when their traditional rulers (all of them great potentates in their own right) were required to get down on their hands and knees in front of the symbols of British power?

India has been an independent country for over sixty years.  India is a vast sub-continental territory with a population of a billion inventive and ingenious people and huge natural resources.  And yet despite running their affairs for sixty years their economy is barely equal to the United Kingdom's (and this on a day when Nick Clegg described Britain as a pygmy nation!).

By any standards the economic performance of India vis-a-vis the United Kingdom must be described as pathetic.

There is no pleasure in saying this as the human waste over those sixty years is staggering.  And obviously (as the Indians keep reminding us) they are going to overtake us "soon".  But sixty years of the Indian giant spent catching up with a tiny "pygmy nation" must be acknowledged as pathetic.

Part of the problem is that Indian politicians continually blame "colonialism" for all their woes.  After sixty years this excuse is wearing a bit thin.  It is time they stopped the victim culture of blaming others for their own mistakes, and in this context they need to face up to their history - and "owning" the significance of the 1911 Durbar might be a good place to start.