The Machinery of Empire: An Indian perspective on the recall of cadets and writers

New Delhi, Oct 5, 2025

In the hallowed halls of the British House of Commons, on a June day in 1809, a debate unfolded that, on its surface, concerned a point of administrative justice within the East India Company. The question was whether to recall young Cadets and Writers from India whose appointments had been secured through “corrupt or clandestine influence”.

To the British parliamentarians arguing the matter, it was a complex issue of fairness, precedent, and the proper exercise of power. However, viewed through the lens of the Indian people—the silent subjects of the empire these men were sent to govern—the debate offers not a question of administrative fairness, but a stark and damning expose of the very nature of colonial rule itself. It reveals a system built not on merit or a