India was poverty ridden and backwards long before the British arrived. Before the Brits, the place had hardly advanced after figuring out irrigation, mud bricks, and writing. For all the wealth the British ended up taking out of India, India's standard of living, its economy, and its technological level was seriously improved by being part of the empire.
Whether the religion is "lofty" or not is a matter of debate. What isn't up for debate are the facts. India was a backwards, dirty, chaotic, impoverished place before the British arrived, and it remains a dirty, chaotic, backwards, impoverished place. Japan and German were bombed until nothing was left but ash, but within a couple of decades they had rebuilt those countries into 1st world economic, technological, and cultural power houses once again. The British left your country with all the infrastructure they buildt, and it is still, well, India.
Your unofficial caste system, your attitudes, culture, and yes, even religion continue to create a hell on Earth. For all the chest thumping about how India is so great and superior, nearly every Indian in existence will do everything in their power to flee the place, because even Indians hate being in India and hate being around other Indians.
The truth of a thing is plain to see. And people vote with their feet. A picture is worth a thousand words.