Expressing regret

British Prime Minister David Cameron went a step further than any of his predecessors at acknowledging his country’s dark colonial past, when he took the unusual step of visiting the site of the Jallianwala Bagh massacre in Amritsar. In the visitor’s book, Mr Cameron wrote that the episode, in which hundreds of protesting Indians were gunned down, was ‘deeply shameful’. This was at best half an apology, a way for Britain to express its regret for what it did in India without taking responsibility for the violence. A full apology would have been unlikely since it would then set off an apology tour where every former colony would demand that its ordeal under British rule be acknowledged too.

It is also noteworthy that Cameron’s expression of regret was only for this incident and not for the fact that Britain ruled India for over a century with little thought for the hopes and aspirations of the locals. There are still many who see colonialism as a noble, if misguided endeavour, where the British sought to develop and civilise the world. What is glossed over is the fact that colonialism was an economic enterprise where Britain made use of the world’s resources only for its own benefit. Certainly, a connection exists between Britain and its former colonies but it is a connection steeped in inequality. But none of this is likely to be seriously pondered over by any mainstream British politician.

During his Indian visit, Mr Cameron also scoffed at the idea of returning the Kohinoor diamond to India. The Kohinoor diamond is now part of the royal jewels and, like much of the heritage on display in British museums, was originally taken from a colony. There is again some of the colonial mentality on display here. Britain believes that it is a greater custodian of these treasures than the country to which it rightly belongs. And now, that it is a middling power on the world stage, Britain seems to have only these reminders of its glorious past. Regret is welcome but a more concrete reckoning is still owed to the former colonies.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 23^rd, 2013.