But that did not deter Rushdie from tackling controversial subjects. Following the publication of Midnight’s Children he appeared frequently on talk shows and wrote nonfiction pieces attacking the Thatcher government in Britain and the nostalgic 1980s film and television revivals of the old British Raj, or ruling colonial government, in India. Considered by many to be “the great Indian novel,” Midnight’s Children had a profound impact on British literature by giving voice to those affected most by colonialism and partition.
Toward independence. After nearly two centuries of colonial rule, in 1918 the British Raj passed reforms that granted the people of India “complete responsibility as conditions permit” and created a new “dyarchy” in which power would be shared between the British and elected Indian representatives (Wolpert, p. 297). Coinciding with the reforms, however, was the passage of the Rowlatt Acts (March 1919), which imposed wartime emergency measures to combat “seditious conspiracy” (Wolpert, p.
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