Why did some liberal thinkers deny rights to people they described as backward or uncivilized?

In the context of postcolonialism, some liberal thinkers justified the denial of rights to non-European peoples by grounding their political theories in narratives of social or cultural development. These thinkers often operated under the assumption that certain populations were too "backward" or "uncivilized" to properly exercise rights and freedoms.1

Rather than simply failing to apply their principles consistently, these liberals often embedded conditions for the ascription of rights within the structure of their universal principles. By placing non-European societies along a developmental continuum that terminated with the institutions of modern Europe, they argued that the denial of self-government or other liberties was, in some cases, for the well-being of the people themselves. A notable example of this perspective is found in the writings of John Stuart Mill, who justified the denial of Indian self-government based on such developmental assumptions.1

Postcolonial theorists have critically challenged these views, arguing that such frameworks were used to justify colonial rule and the imposition of alien structures over the minds, bodies, and territories of colonized peoples.1