"This House believes that Britain owes reparations to
its former colonies ".
"A speech that launched four million
views,unleashing affirmative thoughts, in the minds of friend and
foe;where ‘likes’ were strewn copiously, as leaves after a storm;when
the world woke up to listen, to the clarion call at Oxford; the call
for action and reparations."
The speech went viral;the Indian social media
rose up to applaud Dr. Tharoor and his skill to take on the British, while
questioning the wisdom of their indescribable crimes.On hearing this speech,
the majority of Indians spoke in a single voice, the voice of a magnanimous
Nation!
The motion for which he argued in the
affirmative was: “This house believes Britain owes reparations to her
former colonies.” Each of the statements he made was compelling. His
argument was coated in wit. His rhetoric unsurpassed. With his uncommon gift of
eloquence he crushed claims that colonialism was a blessing in disguise and
proved that the people of India had silently borne the brunt
of Britain’s brutal colonial attack. He unraveled the strands of the troubled
past and argued that “Britain’s rise for 200 years was financed by its
depredations in India.”
Prime Minister Narendra Modi was
speaking at the Speaker’s Research Initiative for Parliamentarians, to a
gathering of Ministers where Dr. Tharoor was also present, on the effectiveness
of a good debate. The PM cited Dr.Tharoor’s Oxford Speech as an example
and said that it shows the importance of saying the right thing at the
right time in the right place.
Dr. Tharoor’s name was among the top
trends on Facebook for several days. As an initial reaction some more
quotes were added to the assorted compilation of Tharoorian Quotes. They found
a permanent place on various images of Dr Tharoor delivering his persuasive
speech:
“I rather feel like Henry VIII’s
last wife: I more or less know what’s expected of me but I am not sure how to
do it any differently.”
“We literally paid for our own
oppression.”
“And no wonder that the sun never set
on the British Empire because even God couldn’t trust the English in
the dark.”
”We were denied democracy, Sir. We had
to snatch it, seize it from you.”
”… the ability to acknowledge a wrong
that has been done, to simply say sorry, will go a far longer way…”
The Indian-origin British MP Keith Vaz,
even felt that the Kohinoor diamond should be returned to India.
"I welcome Dr. Tharoor's speech and the endorsement of its message by
Prime Minister Modi. I share their views. These are genuine grievances which
must be addressed. Pursuing monetary reparations is complex, time consuming and
potentially fruitless, but there is no excuse for not returning precious items
such as the Kohinoor Diamond, a campaign I have backed for many years."
According to the Independent Magazine
UK:
“Bollywood stars and businessmen have
united to instruct lawyers to begin legal proceedings in London’s High
Court to return the Kohinoor Diamond…. The group, which has called itself
the “Mountain of Light” after the translation of the stone’s
name, say that the 105-carat diamond was stolen from its true home in
India and are demanding that the UK Government returns it…British Lawyers
instructed by the “Mountain of Light” group to return the stone, said they
would base their case on the Holocaust (Return of Cultural Objects) Act, which
gives national institutions in the UK the power to return stolen art…The UK
Government has so far rejected the claims”.
The British initially embarked on a cleansing mission in
India- coloured indelibly by the myth of cleansing the culture and civilizing
them. Very soon they were enslaved and degraded. They were appropriated to fill
the coffers of the British. This had a debilitating effect on the people. The
realization of this national hazard,quickly awakened the masses to a sense of
danger. They understood that they had come not just to preach religion but to
conquer and to rule.
The saga of repression continued. The
culture and civilization of India was badly shaken. The Manifesto prepared by
Gandhi in 1930 and adopted by the Working Committee of the Congress, was a
declaration of Independence and a pledge of loyalty to the sacred fight for
India’s liberty:
“The British Government in India has
not only deprived the Indian people of their freedom but has based itself on
the exploitation of the masses and has ruined India economically, politically
culturally and spiritually. We believe therefore that India must sever the
British connection and attain Purna Swaraj or complete Independence….We hold it
to be a crime against man and God to submit any longer to a rule that has
caused this fourfold disaster to our country.”
The British claim to have “contributed”
to India. Well that cannot be repudiated as the following instances prove: The
British first disarmed the country, after which they initiated the policy of
divide and rule. When they realized that a strong nationalist feeling infused
the whole nation, which could not divide the people, they quickly pressed
forward to divide the country geographically. Burma and Pakistan were all part
of this grand plan. Would it be wrong to say that this “division” was another
“legacy” from the British?
In the occupation of India, the British
not only used arms—but the weapons of bribery, treachery and corruption. Robert
Clive,was proved by historians to have been guilty of forgery.Warren Hastings,
was accused as being guilty of “high crimes and misdemeanors”-- Another
precious legacy of the British rule in India.
India, the victim of oppression, was
blamed for the crime—for her inferiority. Britain will have to accept the
responsibility for this unnatural crime. The economic ascent of India and
its current status has replaced the feeling of superiority in the British by
those of mild hatred and fear, humanity’s most destructive emotions. When
Dr.Tharoor delivered his speech, it was more in tune with the words of Nelson
Mandela “As I walked out the
door toward the gate that would lead to my freedom, I knew if I didn’t leave my
bitterness and hatred behind, I’d still be in prison.”
The golden age of oppression has come
to a definitive close. Will Britain pay reparations, at least in the form of
atonement, or will it remain stubborn and uncompromising? Some would like to
know if India would file a Case in the International Court of Justice
at the Hague to press Britain for financial reparations.
The “curious case” of the Kohinoor Diamond is already on its way to the
International Court of Justice.
The movement, which has been initiated
by Dr.Shashi Tharoor is gathering impetus. This mission will mature into action
in the years to come. It is not only India, which will become the beneficiary
of this valiant speech, but many other oppressed nations and factions who have
dared to speak up and demand reparations. Prime
Minister David Cameron, has been reminded of his family’s links to slavery.
Britain has been asked to pay Jamaica millions of pounds in reparations.
Academics and politicians in Jamaica are demanding the PM should apologize for
the hundreds of years during which Britain enslaved and “extracted wealth”
from the people of this island. Palestinian political Islamists, Hamas have
demanded Britain apologize for agreeing to establish a Jewish homeland in
Palestine in 1917, which according to experts had “profound and pervasive”
consequences for those who lived there. Hamas wants Britain to apologize for
the declaration, to withdraw it and declare it was an error.
Dr.Tharoor has delivered many speeches,
most of them par excellence. But this speech has remained his flagship speech
and the best to date, in terms of public applause and recognition.
The story that unfolded on that
eventful day- 28 May 2015, at Oxford Union, was the story of India; the voice
you heard was the Voice of
India.
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