@TelegraphNews attempts to justify #British colonial brutality on #MauMau Via @ClanSewe cc @Mmnjug @HCCTurner #SMH "Newly released documents confirm historians’ worst fears: the British knew this was going on and chose to turn a blind eye to it. But this was not part of a systematic campaign of brutality against Kenyans. On the contrary, the British tried to win over popular support by pushing for land reform, creating trade unions and setting a timetable for independence. Hola disgusted the British just as much as it did the Africans: in Parliament, an outraged Enoch Powell told the House that the British “cannot, we dare not, in Africa of all places, fall below our own highest standards”. After an inquiry, the camp was closed down. Nevertheless, had Britain failed to be tough, had it run for the hills at the first massacre of settlers or moderate Africans, it might have left behind either a savage civil war or an evil dictatorship. It is right that people mistreated by governments should have the opportunity to seek apology and redress. But we have to avoid two pitfalls. The first is that the British tendency to feel guilty even when we are innocent compels us to surrender to almost every claim on the public’s heart or wallet. It is, for example, bizarre that British civilian prisoners of the Japanese during the Second World War have tried to sue Britain for compensation rather than Japan."
Posted on: Fri, 07 Jun 2013 09:33:36 +0000
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