IN the aftermath of the George Floyd tragedy, a movement has started in many parts of the world where protesters have been pulling down or defacing statues of figures seen as instrumental in the subjugation of colonised peoples. In the British city of Bristol, demonstrators recently toppled the statue of 18th-century slave trader and politician Edward Colston, and chucked it into the harbour. In several US cities, people have attacked statues of Christopher Columbus, the man who discovered the Americas, paving the way for European colonisation of the continents, and the marginalisation of its native peoples. Meanwhile, in Belgium statues of Leopold II have been targeted; this was the man who treated Congo as his personal fiefdom, and under whose watch millions of Africans were killed or maimed. Clearly, the time for revisiting the colonial era has arrived, as people of colour and former subjects of empire the world over question the violence their forefathers were subjected to — which still shapes attitudes towards minorities in many places — and ask for amends.

Far from being a benign influence, colonialism devastated cultures and upended societies as conquistadores and slavers exploited the ‘new world’ for profit. Indeed, today much of the wealth and power of the so-called First World is based on the blood, hard labour and riches of colonised, enslaved peoples. So oftentimes, when such states hold forth on human values, the hypocrisy is inescapable in the context of their own past. Even in our neck of the woods, while some in the subcontinent may have fond memories of the days of empire, the fact is that this was a period of great violence and upheaval. For example, Robert Clive — whose statue stands outside the British Foreign Office in London — has been blamed by historians for the Bengal famine in which 3m people are believed to have perished. Moreover, the British have yet to apologise for the Jallianwalah Bagh massacre. The fact is, there needs to be an honest appraisal of the colonial period, with the former colonisers admitting the atrocities committed against native populations in Asia, Africa, the Americas and Australia. In addition, the hateful symbols of colonialism need to be put in museums so that future generations can learn from them. Surely, states must ask themselves: should statues of individuals responsible for untold misery and exploitation of coloured peoples be lionised and placed on high pedestals?

Published in Dawn, June 15th, 2020