I recently saw the movie ‘Mangal Pandey: The Rising’. It gave me the chilling account of British atrocities in India one more time. I don’t know whether the movie is historically accurate as there is no well documented information about most of pre-independence freedom struggle. The press was controlled by the British rulers as well. However I am sure that there might be many unsung heroes, unlike Shaheed Bhagat Singh or Mangal Pandey, whose story we never came to know.
I am not going to talk about what good Britishers might have done to us like “free press, constitutional government, professional service, modern universities and research laboratories" etc. about which Dr. Singh, the current Indian Prime Minister spoke of at the Oxford University. There are old people in India, who even today would say that Britishers were better rulers that our current lot of highly corrupt politicians. I do not want to talk about their looting of our national resources and wealth as well as torture, pain and sufferings that they brought upon us. But my disappointment is that they have never apologized for what they have done to our country and people. I see and read China getting furious every time a Japanese Prime Minister visits their WWII memorial, for which China gets offended and demands apologies from Japan for their WWII atrocities done to China. Japan in past have apologized many times yet China does not hold it good enough. Yet here Britishers have not said sorry even once for their 250 years rule and we keep silence.
One may argue what one would get by a simple sorry. It is a highly emotional issue. One probably has to be a son or a daughter or parent of someone who has been killed or wronged by Britisher to feel the pain. It’s been seen quite a few times that an apology from a killer, a sincere apology, comforts the deceased’s family a lot. If nothing else then at least an apology would be seen as expression of regret and forgiveness for their deeds. And it will be a tribute to hundreds of thousands of freedom fighters who died in this process.
I am not going to talk about what good Britishers might have done to us like “free press, constitutional government, professional service, modern universities and research laboratories" etc. about which Dr. Singh, the current Indian Prime Minister spoke of at the Oxford University. There are old people in India, who even today would say that Britishers were better rulers that our current lot of highly corrupt politicians. I do not want to talk about their looting of our national resources and wealth as well as torture, pain and sufferings that they brought upon us. But my disappointment is that they have never apologized for what they have done to our country and people. I see and read China getting furious every time a Japanese Prime Minister visits their WWII memorial, for which China gets offended and demands apologies from Japan for their WWII atrocities done to China. Japan in past have apologized many times yet China does not hold it good enough. Yet here Britishers have not said sorry even once for their 250 years rule and we keep silence.
One may argue what one would get by a simple sorry. It is a highly emotional issue. One probably has to be a son or a daughter or parent of someone who has been killed or wronged by Britisher to feel the pain. It’s been seen quite a few times that an apology from a killer, a sincere apology, comforts the deceased’s family a lot. If nothing else then at least an apology would be seen as expression of regret and forgiveness for their deeds. And it will be a tribute to hundreds of thousands of freedom fighters who died in this process.
1 comment:
I completely agree with you. While the UK cries hoarse about being a democratic nation, it does not have the decency nor dignity to apologize for its misdeeds in the past. Finding loopholes in our system and taking advantage to rule our country is one thing. To treat us like "black dogs" in our own country is another. Racial equality and freedom of speech - the pillars of democracy were brutally violated by the British. Yes, we do deserve an apology. And we do deserve the Kohinoor, not the London Bridge.
British Raj definitely brought good roads and a rail system to India, apart from the many other Western services. But if I were given a choice between living a free life wallowing in the slums and a life of bondage with great economic progress, I'd take the former without a second's thought.
Those guys are bastards.
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