Let’s be grateful Corbyn wants a conversation around colonialism, not a monologue
Allowing future generations to have frank, honest and insightful conversations about the British Empire empowers them develop a critical mind, not a myopic lens to see through in order to learn about what is convenient.
When Jeremy Corbyn argued that knowing more about the history of the country you live in was met with accusations of treachery and country shaming, his critics seemed to miss the point: this is not about hating the country you live in and concentrating only on the horror of its history, but in not falling within a rose tinted selective version of history that leaves out chapters of events that still shake the foundations of the world we live in today.
Britain’s relationship with the world was built on exploration but unfortunately mercantilism, economic virtue and religious proselytization was complemented by occupation and exploitation by many of those conquerors who weren’t quite so benevolent or reasonable as those who preceded them.
What Corbyn is arguing for is not to hate your heritage, to dispel the good and genuine attempts at proliferation of the rule of law, industrialisation and infrastructure to areas that sorely required it; but to acknowledge in no uncertain terms that among the good came a good deal of capriciousness, dastardly chicanery and outright racism.
It’s about facts and events, dear boy, facts and events. And the facts about Empire, as awkward as they can often be, are a necessary part of history-and it would be a true insult to our children and future generations to obfuscate that history just we can retain a mythical version of Empire that we wish to hold sacred.
“This is not about brainwashing our children, it is about educating them and respecting their intellect.”
I learned about this first hand when researching and writing my forthcoming book on the Jallianwala Bagh Massacre in India when the instruments of Empire murdered Indian subjects in broad daylight, left them to rot amidst dogs and vultures, and then sought to absolve the main perpetrators of any responsibility when questions were angrily raised. I was met with arguments that sought to cover these actions, that it was required to educate the natives, to prevent outright rebellion. All because some sought to fight for their rights with words, banners and unarmed protest — their mistake was turning up to a debate with arguments when the other side was already prepared to shoot them down in cold blood.
During the era of the British Empire, Indians died in famines that could have avoided and the number of the dead went into the millions. Millions, not thousands or a few hundreds. Millions of men, women and defenceless children. When harvests were low, the British government forced farmers to export grain to the UK and made the decision not to intervene as men, women and children starved to death.
Then there’s the concentration camps set up during Empire in South Africa during the Second Boer War between 1899 and 1902. Over 107,000 men, women and children were interred. Thousands died of malnutrition and infectious diseases. In Southern Africa land was simply taken from Africans and given to Europeans.
How is raising any of this being traitorous to your own country? None of these facets of history are fabricated and as long as they are explained and described in context alongside the actual achievements of Empire, then that is the essence of patriotism. It’s taking the good with the bad and coming to an informed, intelligent conclusion.
What Corbyn is cognizant of is that if we ignore these facts, and their context, future generations simply will not know about their own history. Whether black, Muslim, Armenian, Egyptian, Indian, future generations of these British children and students will grow up with a myopic version of history that only wants to talk about an industrious civil service or the engineering feats of railway construction. Is that fair? Is that not a deceitful version of education?
This is a nuanced debate, but it is one that deserves to be had because there is also no currency is taking a purely derogatory view of Empire. Colonial subjects did benefit from living in a British colony and even that aspect of dominion should be investigated and explored.
The only thing Corbyn is asking for is a well-rounded, cohesive study of history, not propaganda. We need to understand the good graces as well as the rogues; we need to understand not just who Rhodes is but also why Rhodes must fall. We must understand why in India, 13 April 2019 will be of immense significance, while others will maintain that a mutiny had to be crushed and that there is nothing to commemorate.
This is not about brainwashing our children, it is about educating them and respecting their intellect.
Saurav Dutt is a political columnist and author. His forthcoming book on the Jallianwala Bagh and the history of colonialism in India during WW1 will be released in Spring 2019. He can be found on social media at @sd_saurav.
