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The merciless handling of suspect Floyd , an African-American and his subsequent death caused by a white officer Derek Chauvin of the Minneapolis police department, Minnesota on May 25 last year became a serious law and order problem across the USA. The police officer kept pressing his knee into the suspect's neck for eight minutes and 46 seconds turning deaf ear to his desperate pleas that he 'can't breathe'; he passed out and later died right on the street of Minneapolis. Millions of people who watched this horrible treatment of a man by the belligerent unscrupulous American police were in a state of shock. In the aftermath of this highly condemnable incident the outrage was reverberated across the Europe, in particular, Britain. people across the world looked upon this wonton killing of a civilian as a symbol of systemic police brutality against African-Americans. The peaceful protest snowballed into widespread rampage in the USA and later it impacted Europe and elsewhere.
In 1991 (March) four Los Angeles policemen — three of them white were let out Scott-free after their savage beating of Rodney King, an African-American man. On April 29, 1992, a jury consisting of 12 residents from the distant suburbs of Ventura County — nine white, one Latino, one biracial, one Asian — found the four officers not guilty. A few hours later, the fury over the unjust acquittal coupled with racial inequality, economic disparity and persistent police pressure on them, spilled over the streets across the US in the form of riots. Earlier in 1991 caught on camera by a bystander, graphic video of the attack went all over the USA and world and became a scandalous issue relating to inhuman treatment of African-Americans by the cops.
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India-Colonialism-Imperialism-punch.photoshelter.com |
In the wake of this incident in Minneapolis, USA , the people in Britain and elsewhere had begun to look at the atrocities their country committed in the colonies in the past century and earlier period. British imperialism and Britain's control of numerous colonies in the past era and the government's refusal to tender apology to India are viewed by the sensible people as a symbol of oppressive rule, slavery, insults to human dignity and indiscriminate exploitation of resources and manpower. The most affected country among the British colonies is India. When the colonial British ended their rule in India in August 1947, they had left behind a large emaciated and fatigued population, little money in the government treasury, a divided subcontinent (theocratic Muslim majority Pakistan and democratic Hindu majority India), lots of colonial statues of Lords, Dukes and viceroys, etc and a bleak future.
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| Slave trader Edward Colston's statue, Bristol. UK.bbc.com |
Incidentally, Elihu Yale (5 April 1649 – 8 July 1721), once the Governor of Madras Presidency was a British-American merchant and a slave trader, Heading the East India Company settlement in Fort St. George, at Madras, it is said, on the sides, he was also running a slave trade in India; he is a benefactor of the Yale College (now Yale university),USA.
William Dalrymple - an expert on Colonial India said 'Britain should have a 'museum of colonialism' so it can learn about its controversial history. At the Jaipur Literature Festival (Sept. 2020) speaking about colonial statues In India he said, 'statures of all colonial figures need not be torn down, just those who committed 'war crimes'. As suggested by Dalrymple a colonial museum would bring to light the criminality of certain colonial officers in India like Sir Colin Campbell, John Nicholson and Colonel James Neil. These officers' forte was terrorizing and killing Indians in large scale because of their protests against colonial exploitation and racial discrimination. This post is mainly concerned with the above-mentioned East India company's senior army men and their role in India in the 1800s.
In England certain groups of people who have reservation about Britain's dubious role in the British colonies in the past era, want the statues of those men who were responsible for the death of countless natives in the Indian subcontinents removed from the public places. The following army men are on the list, besides others like Robert Clive, former PM Winston Churchill and others
01. Commander-in-chief of India Sir Colin Campbell.(first Baron Clyde):
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| Field Marshal Sir Colin Campbell dailymail.co.uk |
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| blowing from the gun. en.wkipedia.org |
Above image: Depiction of summery execution of blowing from the gun - the colonial British way in India; suppression of the Indian Revolt by the English; painting by Vasily Vereshchagin c. 1884. In one incident 65 members of the Sikh pacifist group known as the Kukas or Namdharis were executed by the military by being blown from guns on 15 Jan 1872 in Malerkotla, Panjab. Note: This painting was allegedly bought by the British crown and possibly destroyed (current whereabouts unknown). In the 1806 Vellore Mutiny, Tamil Nadu) six individuals were sentenced to be blown from the guns. Reason: Several British officers of Madras Presidency were murdered by the soldiers. in the Vellore fort ....... ........
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| Ouah queens palace (kothi)Lucknow, UP, India. en.wikipedia.org |
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| Lord Colin(Camphbell) en.wikipedia.org/ |
Field Marshal Colin Campbell, 1st Baron Clyde, KCSI (20 October 1792 -14 August 1863), was a British Army officer with the EIC. . Reaching Calcutta in August 1857, he played a pivotal role in containing the rampaging mob (the great Indian rebellion of 1987) at Lucknow in November 1857. Following month in December, he defeated Tantia Tope, a great Maratha warrior and a ruler-turned rebel. In march 1958, through concerted efforts, he captured Lucknow town where the battle between the Indian rebels and the English company was a serious one. Campbell in March1957 occupied the Queen's palace (kothi) owned by Oadh rulers and successfully recaptured the town. Because of brute force 700 plus natives lost their lives. In June 1860 he returned to England only after suppressing the uprising completely and establishing normalcy in north India.
Ruthless when dealing with the natives who raised their voice against unjust rule, ne never failed to oversee cruel punishment meted out to rebelling soldiers. One of his favorite punishments exclusively reserved for the Indian natives is firing them from a cannon after forcing them to lick blood. Blowing with the gun , the most excruciating punishment common during the 1857 great rebellion by the Indian soldiers. Filed Marshal Campbell thought this kind of punishment would instill fear among the natives and they won't protest against them. During these operations his men committed many indiscriminate reprisals against Indians in response to the mutineers earlier massacres of Europeans and Christians.
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| .nam.ac.uk/ |
This type of punishment is horrible and the prisoner's upper part of the body is tied to the mouth of the gun with head facing forward.. When fired, victim's head goes straight up into the air and drops to the ground hundred yards away. Legs drop below the ground near the muzzle and the body is blown away into smithereens; no traces of them can be seen.
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02. General John Nicholson:
General John Nicholson ' s statue is in Dungannon, Northern Ireland. He himself admitted inflicting 'the most excruciating tortures' on captured Indians 'with a perfectly easy conscience' during a mutiny in 1857, The Times reports. Reports also mention that he ordered a servant to be beaten to death because he did not grovel enough. The statue of John Nicholson which stood in Delhi until Indian independence was removed to Dungannon, Ireland.
Brigadier John Nicholson CB (11 December 1822 -23 September 1857) was a British Victorian era military officer known for his crucial role in British India. having spent 10 years in India by 1849, Nicholson upon his return to India in January 1852, was promoted as the new Deputy Commissioner by his senior officer Lawrence. he was sent to Bannu area, known for chaos and lawlessness, a tough job in a difficult terrain. With no option he became ruthless with the protestors finally establishing peace and order in that region with a zero tolerance attitude on crime or any perceived disrespect of British rule. More often than not he used flogging or other similar inhuman methods to both punish and humiliate the natives who dared break the law.. His foul and powder-keg temper, over-bearing personality and despotic rule made Nicholson fearsome. he completely eliminated crime in the Afghan and North Punjabi areas dominated by tribal population. He Succumbed to his wounds on 23 September, 1857 nine days after he had led the assault on Delhi. . He was buried the following day in a cemetery between the Kashmir Gate and Ludlow Castle.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Nicholson_(East_India_Company_officer)
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03. James George Smith Neill:
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| James Neil's statue in Madras (Chennai) museum.TN.thehindu.com |
Above: image: The 10-foot imposing bronze statue of Colonel James Neil was atop a 12-foot pedestal near the Spencer building on Mount Road, Madras (Chennai,Tamil Nadu) in 1861, To day, it is languishing in the corner of the Anthropology section of the Chennai Museum in Egmore . He happened to be brutal officer with no scruples. There had been protests by various groups in Madras way past to have the statue removed from the public. The statue symbolizes colonial oppression and racial superiority that made the early colonial officers treat shabbily. Once a symbol of power and Britishness, now it is a symbol of disgrace for the British rulers and politicians who at cost wanted to retain India that happened to a milch cow. This gigantic statue of the butcher of Kanpur was considered misfit to be misfit to be in the center of a civilized society.
While celebrated by the imperial government as a martyr, the Colonel earned notoriety among Indians as a brutal officer, an emblem of colonial oppression, became an affront that had to be vanquished. At Allahabad, many Europeans were holed up in a fort fighting against the rebels. in 1857. General Neill arrived on 9th June and immediately ordered the hanging of many rebels. No formal inquiry and no remorse. One of his officers made a critical comment, saying Neil also permitted his soldiers to kill the "native" people without any inquiry and set them aflame in their houses. What was once a small village became a mound of burning embers, ashes, and half-baked human skeletons sticking out here and there. Literally, the entire small quiet village was wiped out on account of one man's fury. Brig. Gen. Neill. This massacre took the entire India and other countries by surprise and caused revulsion The Sikh forces at Jaunpur violently protested upon seeing these massacres. Gen. Neil and his troops, from June 6 to June 15, acted violently without any respite against the protesting Sepoys and the natives and they violated every norm of war regulations.
The most disgusting and nauseating part of this revolt in which massacre was the key element orchestrated by Neill, the British higher-ups rewarded him for his patriotic duty with a special appointment - aide-De-camp to none other than the Queen of England.
http://navrangindia.blogspot.com/2016/08/james-george-smith-neill-butcher-of.html
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| Neill's huge statue in Madras madrasmusings.com |
https://www.nam.ac.uk/explore/colin-campbell-soldier-coolness-and-precision
http://www.madrasmusings.com/vol-28-no-1/lost-landmarks-of-chennai-26/
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