Jules Verne, the famous far-sighted scientist and science fiction writer could not have imagined the colonial bias of the English writers who translated his books from French. Such was the bias that they left out the references to India in his books. Some of these references were critical of the British rule on India. He was against colonisation by the British.
According to Swati Dasgupta, a researcher with the Delhi University, the English translators not only cut portions from Verne but added their own material. For instance, in his 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, Verne has written about the exploitation of the pearl divers by the British authorities. This part is completely missed out in the translations. According to Dasgupta, India figures in at least five of the voyages in this book.
Similarly, in The Steam House, the translator omitted an entire chapter dealing with the first war of Independence in 1857. He explained the omission by saying that it obstructed the story flow. In The Mysterious Island too, there are references to India and to the colonial rule and its oppression of the people.
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