The Tribune, Chandigarh, India

Special to the Sunday Tribune
Compensation for colonial oppression: Jallianwala Bagh on agenda?
Shyam Bhatia in London

Scars of the past

Britain has agreed to pay more than £13 million to thousands of black Kenyans who faced brutal torture during colonial rule between 1950s and early 1960s

They were beaten senseless, held in chains, whipped, castrated and sexually assaulted

This is the first time that Britain has agreed to compensate victims of colonial oppression

Jalandhar-born British MP Virendra Sharma says he will write to Prime Minister David Cameron with the specific aim of raising the example of other atrocities, including the Jallianwala Bagh massacre

Surviving victims of the Jallianwala Bagh massacre, their descendants and supporters have a fresh opportunity to demand amends from the British Government following London's decision to compensate victims of another shameful colonial episode in distant Africa.

More than £13 million will shortly be paid out to thousands of black Kenyans who were the victims of brutal torture that was inflicted on them by the colonial government during 1950s and early 1960s. They were beaten senseless, held in chains, whipped, castrated and sexually assaulted.

Significantly, this is the first time ever that Britain has agreed to compensate victims of colonial oppression.

The torture, mistreatment and forced labour to which they were subjected followed the belief of the white colonial authority that many of their black colonial subjects were supporters of the Mau Mau movement seeking freedom for Kenya. Senior Mau Mau leader Dedan Kimathi was hanged by the British in 1957.

British Foreign Secretary William Hague said in a parliamentary statement this week, "The British Government recognises that Kenyans were subject to torture and other forms of ill treatment at the hands of the colonial administration. The British Government sincerely regrets that these abuses took place and they marred Kenya's progress towards independence. Torture and ill treatment are abhorrent violations of human dignity which we unreservedly condemn."

Although Hague said the financial settlement for more than 5,000 Kenyans should not be seen as a precedent for other cases of abuse in former colonies, the issue is to be taken up by Jalandhar-born British MP Virendra Sharma, who told the Tribune, "You can't say you will have one set of rules for one country and not for another".

Sharma, who is the son of Punjabi freedom fighter Dr Lekh Raj Sharma, says he will write to Prime Minister David Cameron with the specific aim of raising the example of other atrocities, including Amritsar's Jallianwala Bagh massacre where around 1,500 persons were injured and up to 1700 innocent men, women and children killed in cold blood on April 13, 1919.

This was not the first or the last example of colonial repression in India. Some 25 years later, during the Quit India movement in 1943, the district of Midnapore in Bengal became another byword for colonial-inflicted misery when local police resorted to house burnings, property seizures, beatings, torture and illegal detentions. So, if the recent experience of the Mau Mau victims is anything to go by, the survivors of Midnapore are just as entitled to post-colonial compensation.

Historians agree that India's sacrifices of men and manpower during the First World War merited a loosening of colonial rule. What happened instead was more repression, including the creation of secret tribunals to try so-called terrorist suspects, and an ever-stricter clampdown on peaceful civil protests.

The soldiers who fired upon the civilians at Jallianwala Bagh were under the command of Brigadier Reginald Dyer who told the men to keep firing until they ran out of bullets. He subsequently declared that he felt no regrets at ordering them to open fire. Some protesters were arrested and whipped in public and others were forced to crawl in public on their hands and knees.

When Prime Minister Cameron visited Amritsar earlier this year, he expressed formal regret for the Jallianwala Bagh massacre, quoting Winston Churchill who had described it as a "deeply shameful event".

But he held back from offering a formal apology from the British Government, saying, "I don't think the right thing is to reach back into history and to seek out things you can apologise for. I think the right thing is to acknowledge what happened, to show respect and understanding for what happened."

15 Andhra MLAs disqualified
Suresh Dharur/TNS

Hyderabad, June 8
Nearly three months after voting against the Congress government, 15 legislators of the Andhra Pradesh, including nine from the ruling party, were today disqualified by Assembly Speaker N Manohar for violating the party whips.

Nine MLAs from the Congress and six from the main Opposition, the Telugu Desam Party, had defied the whips of their respective parties and voted in favour of the no-confidence motion sponsored by the Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) and YSR Congress Party in March this year.

The Kiran Kumar Reddy government had survived the no-trust vote, thanks largely to the TDP’s "friendly" gesture to stay neutral. The motion was defeated with 142 legislators voting against it, 58 voting in favour and 64 abstaining. As many as 25members stayed away from the 294-member House. Both the Congress and the TDP sought the disqualification of the rebel members, all of whom are the supporters of YSR Congress Party headed by the jailed MP YS Jagan Mohan Reddy. During the last few weeks, the Speaker heard the petitions moved by the two parties and announced his decision this evening.

However, the disqualification will not lead to by-elections in these constituencies since the Assembly elections are less than a year away. The next Assembly polls in AP are scheduled in April-May, 2014.

There are fears in both the Congress and TDP camps that many more MLAs might migrate to the YSR Congress Party in the days to come. The Congress government would have collapsed if the 86-member TDP had also joined the other opposition two parties and voted in favour of the no-trust motion. Though the government is safe for now, the trial of strength has left the Congress badly bruised and battered as nine of its legislators defied the party and voted against their own government.

Heat hits life in North; two killed in storm

Vagaries of weather: People run for cover during a dust storm in Allahabad on Saturday. PTI

New Delhi, June 8
Heat coupled with humid conditions hit normal life in North India as temperature in Sriganganagar district of Rajasthan breached 48 degree mark while two persons were killed in dust storm in Uttar Pradesh.

High humidity made life tough for Delhiites while mercury hovered below 40 degree-mark in the national capital for the second day in a row today.

The day temperature settled at 39.8 °C, one notch below normal and slightly higher from yesterday's 39.3 °C.

Minimum temperature was registered at 29.1 °C which was one degree above normal and 3.4 degrees up from previous day's 25.7 °C. Humidity oscillated between 49 and 73 per cent. In Uttar Pradesh, two persons including a woman were killed and several others injured in dust storm which hit Muzaffarnagar district. Highest maximum temperature in the state was recorded in Banda at 41.8 °C.

There was no let up in the heat wave sweeping across Rajasthan, where Sriganganagar was the hottest place today with a maximum of 48.1 °C.

Chandigarh recorded a high of 34.8 °C, the weather office said here. However, Amritsar recorded a high of 43.6 °C, up by three notches. In Haryana, Ambala had a maximum of 34.2 °C. — PTI

Panaji Diary
Nitish mum on Modi as BJP poll panel chief

There were speculations that BJP chief Rajnath Singh spoke to Bihar CM Nitish Kumar about the 2014 poll panel. Nitish is a fierce opponent of Modi who is likely to be made the panel chief. JD-U sources say Nitish conveyed that any announcement on campaign committee chief was the organisational decision of the BJP and their point was limited to the PM candidate.

Carrot for Gadkari

For the sulking former party president Nitin Gadkari, there is a small consolation prize. He will be moving the party’s political resolution that will unfold the BJP’s election agenda for 2014.

Non-stop rain

It has been raining continuously in Goa since the day the BJP started its conclave. The monsoon arrived in full fury much ahead of the scheduled arrival and since then has been pouring incessantly. The only break was for a brief hour around afternoon.

Middle path?

While the convention venue was out of bounds for the Press, some vigilant mediapersons managed to sight two bitter adversaries - Sushma Swaraj and Narendra Modi - walking together for some distance. There are rumours that a middle path is being worked out between the two warring factions.

Kin give Jiah’s letter to police
Shiv Kumar
Tribune News Service

Mumbai, June 8
The family of actress Jiah Khan, who committed suicide earlier this week, has handed over a copy of a six-page letter found among her possessions to the authorities, the police said here today.

An officer at the Juhu police station said a copy of a letter found by Khan’s family was handed over to the police this afternoon. The police has demanded the original note to carry out their investigations. The note allegedly mentions the actress’ troubled relationship with Sooraj Pancholi, son of actors Aditya Pancholi and Zarina Wahab.

The note addressed to Pancholi speaks of a relationship on the verge of a breakdown. “We have to first verify the handwriting on the note and then decide on the next course of action,” the officer said. Reports say the note levels several allegations against Sooraj. It is unclear when the note was written.

The police says Jiah had attempted suicide late last year as well. Her mother Rabiya had told the police that Jiah had slashed her wrists but was saved by her friends. A doctor who was called to treat the actress has already been quizzed.

BRIEFLY

Parents’ Pride: A gentleman cadet with his parents during the passing-out parade at the Indian Military Academy in Dehradun on Saturday. PTI

Trinamool Congress workers hurl stones at policemen after a violent clash with CPM workers over submission of nomination papers for the forthcoming panchayat poll at Bolpur in Birbhum district on Saturday. PTI

Rajnandgaon (Chhattisgarh)
Maoist commander killed
A Maoist commander, who carried a reward of Rs 2.10 lakh on his head, was killed in a gun battle with security forces in Rajnandgaon district of Chhattisgarh on Saturday afternoon, the police said. "The Maoist has been identified as Udham Singh, commander of Mohla LOS (local operating squad)," the SP. — PTI

Tiruvarur (TN)
3 held for smuggling idols
Three persons were arrested for attempting to smuggle Panchaloha idols at Tiruthuraipundi on Saturday, the police said. The accused were carrying the idols on a two-wheeler and were intercepted by the police. The idols had been stolen from Nallamuthu Mariamman temple at Keerandhi. — PTI

Thrissur (Kerala)
4 held with crude bombs
The police on Saturday arrested four persons with crude bombs concealed in handles of 'mosquito bats', five detonators, an equal number of ammonium nitrate sticks, besides an IED at Mannuthy. The bombs were later defused by the police. The police is on the lookout for five others. — PTI