Shame and Statesmanship

Very recently a British court passed a verdict for the British Government to pay a massive compensation of  GBP £ 13.6 Million to the indigenous Kikuyu people of Kenya. The payment is being made by the British for torture and killing of a large number of innocent people in probably one of the cruelest episodes of the shameful period of colonial rule by European countries. 

The impact of payment is small as compared to the admission of  gross inhumanity inflicted on innocent native people by the leading international power of that time.

Image by Ben Heine

My mind is drawn to another terrible massacre by the British. The response of the British authorities after the slaughter was both arrogant and astounding.  

_____________________________

It was the 13th day of  April 1919 and the local people  had gathered to celebrate 'Baisakhi' the new year in the holy city of Amritsar. General Dyer of the British army in India then in charge on the scene in a display of power ordered the cold blooded massacre of innocent people, many of them women and children.  More than a 1000 were slaughtered and approximately 1500 people were grievously wounded.

What did the British do after they learnt of this massacre?
There was an uproar of sorts and long debates held in Britain.Eventually for this monstrous act,  General Dyer was felicitated by the British parliament. He was given an honourable discharge, a purse of £ 80,000 pounds and a bejewelled sword inscribed 'Saviour of the Punjab'.  A day that will truly live in infamy, and they gave him an award!

A question that always arises is how could a small country could colonise continents and great countries so far away? A journey into history reveals a common thread for all successful conquests of foreign lands and people. The conquerors all possess the following characteristics.

• They have a clear goal and a grand strategy.
• They are extremely greedy for materials, lands and slaves.
• They are utterly ruthless
• They possess advanced weaponry of the times 
• They have adopted political and war management systems which are superior 
• They are very cunning and adept at the art of deception
• They bribe and use select local people and leaders to control the larger native population

By nature, conquerors have to act and to be seen as ruthless so as to intimidate the majority population into total submission.

We often express outrage at the acts of the British, but strangely overlook the negative and divisive role of local kings, nawabs and 'noble men and women', whose descendants still enjoy great influence and  respect in India. Lured by power, status, and money, the bulk of the military, police and administration of British ruled India consisted of local Indians. Britain  ruled undivided India* with a mere 1500 officers.

Not a single Britisher fired a bullet at 'Jallianwalla Bagh'. Sadly the murderers were 
50 Gurkhu and 25 Baluchi soldiers, all of them Indians. The massacre was ruthlessly carried out with shooting directed above the waist into the thickest of the crowds so that one bullet could kill more than one civilian. The shooting stopped only because the soldiers ran out of ammunition.

Britain itself was almost destroyed by World War II and faced the real threat of being itself conquered and occupied. Emerging from the ruins of theWar, the British had to make a choice to remain either an empire or a democracy.  Britain wisely gave up its dreams of remaining an empire and chose to remain a democracy, because it could no longer justify it's own conduct.

With this apology to the Kikuyu people of Kenya, the British have once again demonstrated great diplomacy, adopting an amazing and strange type of humility.

Great statesmanship requires occasional arrogance and sometimes humility. The acceptance of their crimes and the apology that goes with it, is a tribute to the diplomacy  of the British. This apology ensures  that the British will continue to play an important and leading role in world affairs even in the future.

Maybe the time is also ripe for Britain to formally apologise to the families of those massacred on that fateful thirteenth day of April 1919.

_______________________________

* Undivided India consisted of what is now India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Myanmar, 

'Pancho Villa' - An unlearnt history lesson

It was the 18th of Dec of 2011, my friends and associates were readying themselves to celebrate the New Year.  I watched the last of the American soldiers departing from Iraq into Kuwait on my television. I was overcome with sadness at the foolishness and arrogance of some leaders and the anguish and terrible destruction such people spread on this earth and fellow man.

Study history we have often been told because history repeats itself.  Those that fail to learn are doomed to repeat the blunders but with increasingly grave consequences. 

________________________________________________

Had American leadership studied their history lessons well they might have not done what they did. Mighty economic and military strength demand great restraint and wisdom, for if it falls into the hands of the arrogant, the power is easily manipulated by the unscrupulous. The misuse of power often results in tragic consequences.

Almost exactly a century ago, the United States government went after one of Mexico’s most prominent revolutionary generals,  José Doroteo Arango Arámbula popularly called ‘Pancho Villa’. Much admired across Latin America and by his fellow countrymen, several towns, main roads etc.  are named after Pancho Villa.

Villa made a name for himself by converting himself from an ordinary bandit into a sort of Robin Hood. He hijacked trains, robbed the rich, took over their ranch lands and redistributed land and money to peasants and soldiers.

From 1913 to 1914 Pancho Villa was the provisional governor of the mineral rich Mexican state of Chihuahua located close to the United States border. 

Documented evidence shows that the United States initially supported Pancho Villa with weapons and other resources. In 1915 the Americans changed their stance, allied themselves by supporting and giving its official recognition instead to Venustiano Caranza's national government. This led to trouble between the Americans and Pancho Villa.

In January 1916, some Mexicans attacked and killed 16 American employees of the local railroad company near Santa Isabel, Chihuahua.   In March 1916, there was an attack on Columbus, New Mexico by a group of Mexicans. 8 soldiers and 10 civilians (an American arms merchant and his staff) were killed in the attack.  The American public was outraged and the newspapers and politicians blamed Pancho Villa for the two attacks. Villa admitted he had ordered the attacks, but he denied ordering the killings of Americans. 

The American President, Woodrow Wilson advised patience. Baying for blood, the war hawks sought revenge and closure on this perceived outrage on American pride. The situation forced President Wilson's to react.

In Jan of 1916 President Wilson ordered General Pershing to lead a powerful force of 4,800 men into Mexico to capture or kill Pancho Villa. The force grew almost immediately to 10,000 and by June 1916 swelled to 130,000 men.  The expedition was backed by latest armaments, radio, and air cover using newly inducted Curtiss JN-4 airplanes for reconnaissance and attack.

Merely throwing money, weapons, people and technology at problems rarely solves them. Appropriate strategy, based on deep understanding, diplomacy, and tact to win hearts is a softer approach and often succeeds at low costs. However the powerful rarely have patience for tact, they never pass up an opportunity to demonstrate their military and economic prowess. 

Admired as a hero for standing up to the Americans, Villa received immense local support. The locals despised the presence of American foreign troops on their soil. They often misled and misguided the Americans who braving the heat, dust and mosquitoes trampled all over Northern Mexico without any success. The Americans plight was made worse by the vast unmapped terrain and places that Villa took shelter in and used for counter-attack

A huge reward of US$ 50,000 for information leading to the capture of Villa also failed to deliver results. The Americans who had estimated that they would need a couple of weeks to meet their objectives withdrew the bulk of American forces in January 1917. 

General Pershing publicly claimed the expedition was a success, although he complained privately to his family that President Wilson had imposed too many restrictions, which made it impossible for him to fulfill his mission. He admitted to having been "outwitted and out-bluffed at every turn" and wrote, "When the true history is written, it will not be a very inspiring chapter for school children, or even grownups to contemplate. Having dashed into Mexico with the intention of eating the Mexicans raw, we turned back at the first repulse and are now sneaking home under cover, like a whipped dog with its tail between its legs."

The greatest weakness of powerful people and mighty nations is their overly sensitive egos, and their preoccupation with always looking invincible. Thus they can easily be provoked to play into the manipulative games of their enemies.  

History repeated itself, in addition to creating global disorder and chaos; the price paid has been tragically very high,

• Approx 150,000 Iraqis killed (many of them civilians)
• Approx 5,000 deaths of US and Allied soldiers
• Approx 2 Million Iraqi’s displaced from Iraq to neighbouring countries.
• Approx 1.8 Million Iraqi’s displaced internally within Iraq
• Approx 1 Million orphans in Iraq
• 36% of Iraqi people have been uprooted and a majority of them have lost their homes.

The financial burden to be borne by the two main nations of USA and Iraq are,

• US citizens will have to pay a whopping debt of US$ 3 trillion (that is US$ 3,000,000,000,000)
• Iraqi’s will have to invest US$ 500 Billion just to get back to where they were before the start of the Gulf wars 22 years ago. Of course no amount of money can bring back the lives of those killed, maimed, separated, orphaned and traumatized.

The only beneficiaries of this war are the powerful lobbies of arms manufacturers, oil companies, trigger-happy generals, the undertakers, scrap merchants and evil people who spread hatred and violence etc.

Once upon a time I like many others was a great admirer of America and what it stood for, now I am not so sure.   I pray that,

I pray that your thoughts and actions never be clouded by your ego, anger and greed.   May you always remain cool and composed and therefore always be able to respond rather than react to challenges in your life.

 _________________________