OP have you been to India? I have. I went with the idea that British colonialism was an entirely bad thing for India and actually tried to apologise for it to several people I met. To a man/woman, they were extremely positive about it in very many aspects and several older folk actually said they preferred the colonial times. It was a bit like that monty python film where someone in a Romans-occupied country says, disgruntled, “what have the Romans done for us?” And then someone else lists a load of benefits they didn’t have previously, eg roads, central heating etc. Among so ‘benefits’ of British rule listed by the Indian ppl I spoke to were roads, railways, dams (thus water supplies), judicial and admin systems, schools of the type we are familiar with, a common language... the list went on and on.
I can honestly say I was humbled by my ignorant assumptions and learned to assume a bit less regarding how people of a certain country feel about political developments.
Ok but I still didn’t give up there. I said, yes but what about the British destroying aspects of the ancient Indian culture by for example setting up schools that didn’t teach the indigenous culture and replaced it with British culture? They told me that the British were far less destructive of their culture (Hindu in this case) than other invaders and that the benefits outweighed the destruction.
These were common views, not outliers.
I was pretty gobsmacked but came to realise it was patronising of me to go with a preconceived judgement of how they should see us British.
I should add that in no way do I approve of colonialism in general. I think it’s a shameful thing that anyone should take over other people’s countries and lives.