Overview

• On October 2, Musk liked and reshared a post on X asserting there was no colonisation in India, adding a thinking-face emoji as his reaction.
• The post argued that Britons in India effectively became Indian and therefore did not rule the country, a claim that drew immediate pushback online.
• Musk’s engagement sent the post viral, with Financial Express reporting more than 17.9 million views.
• Indian users posted detailed rebuttals citing famines, the Jallianwala Bagh massacre, the salt tax, the Rowlatt Act, and deportations to the Cellular Jail, alongside satirical analogies.
• Some users urged officials to expel Tesla and Starlink from India and tagged ministers and the prime minister’s office, while coverage noted no official action so far and recalled prior criticism of Musk’s comments on the British Empire and slavery.