THE day Jan 26 is officially regarded the day when the first English fleet arrived at the Sydney Cove in Australia. By historical accounts though, it was on Jan 18, 1788, that the First Landing took place.

The beginning of the independent continent as a British colony was the start of the destruction of a civilisation going back thousands of years whose native owners were called the aborigines. Hence, white Australia’s process began with eradicating local people and their tribal system, traditions, culture, art, languages and lifestyle.

History suggests that 10-30 per cent of aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children were snatched forcibly from their parents and handed over to missionary and state institutions under the then government policy between 1910 and the early 1970s.

The rulers claimed to assimilate these tens of thousands of native children into the Anglo-Saxon society and teach them European values and their way of life. For the indigenous people, who are the real owners of this land, the beginning of Australia’s colonisation is, in fact, the launch of the elimination of indigenous people and their belongings. For them, Jan 26 is not ‘independence’ or ‘national’ day. Instead, they mark it as the Mourning Day or the Invasion Day.

These indigenous people are today the most disadvantaged in Australia. Having a life expectancy 17 years below the rest of the Australians, they need the reformation in every walk of life. According to a World Health Organisation report, indigenous people’s healthcare standards are a century behind the rest of Australia.

The government, the political parties and the Australians at large must remember what happened on Jan 26, 1788, and must acknowledge that the real owners of the land happen to be the indigenous people, and the Australia Day should be moved to some other date instead of Jan 26.

Syed Atiq ul Hassan
NSW, Australia

Published in Dawn, January 26th, 2021