But the british only really replaced the Raj, or shoved a hand firmly up the puppet hole. The power structures and practices, along with the sectarian tensions were already there.

Does that make the british blameless? no. The evangelicals that were hell bent (excuse the pun) on taking what essentially was an abusive trading relationship and turning it into a massive christian mission. that corruption of purpose, "natives must be cured/saved" arguably caused the most damage