It's a question of being superior or not

"As for the job I was doing, I hated it more bitterly than I can perhaps make clear. In a job like that you see the dirty work of the Empire at close quarters."

To begin with, Burma, the country where our story “shooting an elephant” by George Orwell takes place, was British territory.
The young police officer, the narrator, is positioned in Burma where he has to watch over the population.
Furthermore he is feeling two different types of hatred. That is, the dislike towards the citizens of Burma for being rude and impolite and their disrespectful attitude towards the foreigner white men in their country "...and none of them seemed to have anything to do except stand on street corners and jeer at Europeans"(p.70 l.6f). Especially the young Buddhist priests, who are waiting for an opportunity to humiliate them. The other hatred is for the British Empire, which he sharply criticizes. He notices the suffering and pain the citizens carry the whole time with them. As representative of the Empire and the white colonizers, he feels guilty for the bad treatment with whom they oppress their “ slaves”. Because of that he already considers to quit his job. But on the other hand the Empire brings progress to the country. In fact he does not really know anything as a result of his ill-educated life “I did not even know that the British Empire is dying, still less did I know that is a great deal better than the younger empire …”(p.70 l.22f).
Besides the challenge for an Empire like the British was, is to order and calm people after riots.
Additionally it has to guarantee safety for its people, like the administration which has to deal with a huge amount of people. The young officer was also alone with the yellow- faced crowed.
The pressure to kill the elephant let the crowd push him forward. He has to make a decision whether he kills the animal or he gains a loss of authority
In conclusion you can tell that both officers and colonized are superior and inferior in a certain way.
The British Empire has such a power over the involved parties, that any freedom in general and freedom of opinion isn’t possible.