In momentum days of pageantry and high emotions, thousands lined to see late Queen Elizabeth lie in state after a grand, solemn procession through London. The lineup stretched for miles as tearful mourners, exercising epic patience, waited in a lengthy winding queue for a final glimpse of their beloved queen; often at capacity, the queue reached a 24-hour wait. On Monday, hundreds of dignitaries and heads of states attended the funeral as London came to a standstill.
The Palace reported that King Charles and the royal family were deeply moved by the global response and affection, but as millions continued to pay tribute to the late queen, and as millions continued to mourn her death, others around the world found it difficult to reciprocate the same emotions believing that the queen, as head of state, should be held accountable for her country’s colonial actions. It is unfortunate that with the queen’s passing, bitter sentiments resurfaced, and many saw her death as a time to renew calls for reparations for Britain’s repressive colonization and the suffering of citizens around the world.
In fact, Queen Elizabeth’s death ignited a wide spectrum of antagonistic feelings about her legacy, the monarchy, and colonialism in general. When she took the throne in 1952, more than a quarter of the world was under the British imperial rule. Those victimized under that rule are finding it difficult to disassociate the late queen from what their countries endured.
Uju Anya, Associate Professor at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, USA, sent a tweet to her 84,000 followers after hearing about the Queen's deteriorating condition, “I heard the chief monarch of a thieving raping genocidal empire is finally dying. May her pain be excruciating.” Boot Riley, the American film director and producer said, “The matriarch of a royal family legacy of slave-trading, imperialism, colonialism, theft, symbol of opulence and mascot for the ruling class is dead.” Richard Stengel, who served as undersecretary of state for public diplomacy and public affairs under President Barack Obama, said that the queen’s family legacy of colonialism “had a terrible effect on much of the world.” CNN international correspondent, Larry Madowo, reported from Kenya, that the queen was not universally loved, saying “Across the African continent, there have been people who are saying, ‘We will not mourn for Queen Elizabeth because my ancestors suffered great atrocities under her people’.”
The death of any human being, let alone a monarch of the queen’s calibre, is neither the time nor the place to voice one’s fury, spew venom, or call for retribution. And yet, setting the queen’s passing aside, reparation should be an ongoing demand and a vital discussion so as to attain closure for the atrocities that ensued during colonialism.
The British Empire was the largest in history, and, like other empires, it ruled with an iron fist. Africans, Asians, Caribbeans, Irish, Australians and Middle Easterners have all suffered colonization. A terse sample of the atrocities follow.
In Kenya, a rebellious group against the British, known as Mau Mau, was suppressed through detention camps, torture, rape, castration and thousands of massacres. At that point, over a million Kenyans were put in some form of concentration camp as the Mau Mau were considered murderous criminals. In 2013, however, the British government acknowledged the torture with a historic apology and an out-of-court settlement.
India has its own horror stories. One such story occurred in 1919, a massacre in Jallianwala Bagh, where British troops killed hundreds of Indians. In 2019, then Prime Minister Theresa May apologized for, “The shameful scar in our history.”
As well, much of the goods of Indian were exploited; in fact, Indian treasures and jewels, were drained only to be handed over to the British as “The total value of everything taken out of India during the war [World War I], was 8 billion pounds in today’s money,” says Shashi Tharoor, a renowned Indian politician. Tharoor argues long and hard for why Britain owes reparations for its colonization of India. During the British rule, Tharoor says, “15 million to 29 million Indians died of starvation,” as they were oppressed, enslaved, killed, tortured, and maimed for 200 years. These are horrific statistics.
Nigeria was targeted for its resources and the exploitation of its wealth. A course outline at Ohio University, USA, cites “The tax system and transportation system deepened the British’s plunder and control over the economy in Nigeria.” But more important is the role the British played in the civil war in Nigeria known as the Biafran War when Biafra tried to secede from Nigeria. Many in Nigeria are still haunted by how the British crushed the resistance and starved millions.
Over two million enslaved Africans were taken to the British colonies in the Caribbean. The British, amongst other Europeans, went to the Caribbean to seek wealth and prosperity. Affluent planters enslaved workers brought over from Africa to plant sugarcane, a very profitable commodity.
Indigenous peoples all over the world suffered as they were considered inferior. Black and brown folks were placed at the bottom of the totem pole. It was a carte blanche for the colonialists to expropriate lands, effect genocidal massacres, segregate indigenous peoples, and plunder wealths.
Under the British occupation Egypt fared slightly better since there were no massacres of the same magnitude as seen in other countries, but it suffered martial law, deportation of leaders such as Saad Zaghlul, exploitation, the usurping of wealth, loss of freedom, and exemplary punishment as seen in the Dinshaway crisis.
Britain should confront its colonialist past and atone for the failures that colonialism caused. The discourse must be started and continued until a form of reparation is fulfilled. Again, the passing of Queen Elizabeth should not get entangled in the discourse.
It is as Edward Said, the Palestinian-American professor at Columbia University, USA, says, “Every empire, however, tells itself and the world that it is unlike all other empires, that its mission is not to plunder and control but to educate and liberate.”
The British empire was no exception.
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