Pankaj Mishra's heart-felt account (The ruins of empire, Saturday Review, July 28) of Asian and African feelings about their collective colonial experience fails to analyse how much of western colonisation was a result of collaboration by African and Asian leaders and elites with European traders and diplomats who sweet-talked their way towards getting what they craved: treasure and control of non-European lands. This has not changed even today. All that is required is for the intellectual and political leadership in the developed world to learn to say no, politely but firmly, to the blandishments dangled by outsiders.
Mishra need not feel so pessimistic about Michael Gove and Niall Ferguson re-shaping the history curriculum in British schools. Rightwing historians may blow hot and cold, but teachers and lecturers do not teach rabid imperialist versions of history. One reason for this is simply the reality of the multicultural nature of British society.
Burjor Avari
Manchester Metropolitan University
• Much as I admire the work of Shami Chakrabarti's organisation, Liberty, I take exception to her article (A celebration of our freedom, 30 July) for failing to remind your readers of Britain's dark past as a colonial power. Sure, we have a good history of human rights, to which she drew attention. But let us not forget that Britain took away the freedom of so many nations, from Ireland to Kenya, from India to Burma, spreading repression, torture and death.
I have a sense of gratitude to the country of my birth because it was the British government that extricated me from more than three years as a political prisoner in Indonesia, held without trial with tens of thousands of others under Suharto. While I greatly enjoy watching the Olympics, where people can compete on a level playing field, I find it difficult to raise the British flag because of what it represents in terms of stealing so many other people's freedom.
Carmel Budiardjo
Founder of Tapol, the Indonesia Human Rights Campaign