LONDON (AP) – Seventy years after taking the throne, Queen Elizabeth II is widely regarded in the UK as a rock in a turbulent time. But in the former British colonies, many see it as the anchor of an imperial past whose damage still remains.
So before the UK celebrates the Platinum Queen’s 70th birthday on the throne. Holidays and celebrations Some members of the Commonwealth use this case to formally end the monarchy and its demonstrated colonial history.
“When I think of a queen, I think of an old old woman,” said Rosalea Hamilton, a Jamaican academic who fights for her country. “He does not care. It’s about his family’s wealth, built on the back of our ancestors. “We’re struggling with the legacy of the past, which is harrowing.”
The empire in which Elizabeth was born is long gone, but it still reigns across the British coast. He is the head of state of 14 other countries, including Canada, Australia, Papua New Guinea, and the Bahamas. Until recently, there were 15: Barbados severed ties with the monarchy in November, while many other Caribbean countries, including Jamaica, say they want to comply.
The British jubilee celebration, which culminates in a four-day festive weekend starting on Thursday, aims to recognize the diversity of the UK and Commonwealth. ᲣLazy Anniversary Contest Caribbean carnival artists and Bollywood dancers are in central London on Sunday.
But Britain’s image as a welcome and diverse society has been tarnished by the announcement that hundreds and perhaps thousands of people in the Caribbean who have lived legally in the UK for decades have been deprived of housing, employment or medical care. – and to some. The cases were dismissed because they did not have documents to prove their status.
The British government apologized and agreed to pay compensation, but the Wind scandal has caused fury in the UK and Caribbean.
Jubilee Year Trip to Belize, Jamaica and the Bahamas In March, the queen’s grandson, Prince William, and his wife Katie, aimed to strengthen the relationship, seemed to have the opposite effect. Images of a couple holding their children to a wire fence and sitting on an outdoor ground parade in a military parade sparked a cry of colonialism from many.
Cynthia Barrow-Giles, a professor of political science at the University of West India, said the British “seemed blind to the kind of reactions” caused by the king’s visits to the Caribbean.
Protesters in Jamaica demanded compensation for slavery and Prime Minister Andrew Hollens politely told William that the country was “moving forward,” a sign that it would become a republic. The following month, the prime minister of Antigua and Barbuda, Gaston Brown, told the queen’s son, Prince Edward, that his country would one day oust the queen from the position of head of state.
William acknowledged the power of emotion and said the future was “in the people”.
“We are proud to support and respect your decisions about your future,” he said in the Bahamas. “Relationships are developing. The friendship continues. “
When Princess Elizabeth became queen after the death of her father, King George VI in 1952, she was in Kenya. The country became independent in East Africa in 1963 after years of violent struggle between the liberation movement and colonial forces. In 2013, the British government apologized for torturing thousands of Kenyans in the 1950s Mau Mau uprising and paid millions without trial.
Memories of the empire are still hard for many Kenyans.
“From the beginning, his reign was irrevocably painted by the brutality of the empire he ruled and the end accompanied by his death,” said Patrick Gatara, Kenyan cartoonist, writer and commentator.
“Until now, he has never publicly acknowledged, let alone apologized for the pressure, torture, dehumanization and deprivation that affected the people before and after his accession to the throne in the Kenyan colony.
UK officials hope the republican countries will remain in the Commonwealth, a 54 -member organization mostly made up of former British colonies of which the queen is the head of the ceremony.
The queen’s strong personal loyalty to the community played an important role in uniting the diverse group whose members ranged from vast India to small Tuvalu. But the organization, which aims to protect democracy, good governance and human rights, faces an uncertain future.
As Commonwealth government leaders prepare for a summit in Kigali, Rwanda to convene at a summit postponed this month due to a corovirus pandemic, some are wondering whether the organization will continue after he was replaced by eldest son of the queen Prince Charles.
“Many more unsatisfactory stories await the British Empire and the British Commonwealth once Elizabeth II disappears,” said royal historian Ed Owens. “So it’s a difficult legacy that he will pass on to the next generation.”
The crisis in the Commonwealth reflects Britain’s global influence.
Zimbabwe has suspended the community under its late authoritarian president Robert Mugabe and is currently seeking re -acceptance. But many in its capital, Harare, have expressed disinterest in the queen’s jubilee as Britain’s growing influence has waned and countries like China and Russia have closer ties to the former British colony.
“It’s becoming irrelevant to it,” social activist Peter Nyapedva said. We know (Chinese President) Xi (Jinping) or (Russian President Vladimir) Putin and not the Queen.
Sue Onslow, director of the Institute for Community Studies at the University of London, says the queen is the “invisible glue” that binds the community together.
But he said the organization is exceptionally resilient and should not be dismissed. The community played an important role in strengthening opposition to apartheid in the 1980s and could also do so with regard to climate change, which posed an existing threat to members of its lower islands.
“The community has shown a great ability to reinvent itself and find solutions in times of crisis, much like jumping into a phone booth and stepping out into another mask,” he said. Whether to do so now is an open question.
Kara Anna in Nairobi, Kenya, Alex Turnbull in Paris and Andrew Meldrum in Johannesburg contributed to this report.
Source: Huffpost
I am David Wyatt, a professional writer and journalist for Buna Times. I specialize in the world section of news coverage, where I bring to light stories and issues that affect us globally. As a graduate of Journalism, I have always had the passion to spread knowledge through writing.