Villains of massacres through the ages held up as saviours

1. The Editor,
Dear Editor,
On Sunday, 11 October 2015, the 150th anniversary of the Morant Bay
rebellion/massacre was observed. This day marked a horrendous chapter in
Jamaica’s history of colonial security forces’ brutality that caused the death of over
400 black Jamaicans, the flogging of 600 men and women, and the demolition and
burning of over 1000 homes by the then colonial government.
In 1919 in India, then another British colony, the Amristar massacre took place,
during which colonial forces brought on the killing/slaughter of some 379 Indians
and injured over 1000.
What do these two massacres have in common, apart from the sheer savagery and
brutality unleashed on the governed by their governors at the time? The central
figure in the Morant Bay massacre was Governor Eyre, who gave the orders (so to
speak), and in the case of India, it was Brigadier-General Reginald Dyer. The
similarity lies in just how both these men were treated by society and particularly
by the British press.
Governor Eyre was suspended from his governorship in early December 1865, and a
commission of enquiry convened. The enquiry gathered evidence from over 700
witnesses over a period of 51 days, and by June 1866, the report was submitted to
the British parliament in London. Eyre was eventually relieved of his post as
governor and retired without a pension. However, he was hailed by many of his
countrymen at the time for carrying out his duty as a governor and “saving” the
colony from being taken over by “black, rebellious savages”. Even the British press
at that time appeared to focus more on condemning the rebels as opposed to the
obvious unlawful acts performed by the governor.
In the case of the Amristar massacre, Brigadier-General Dyer on his recall to
England was given somewhat of a hero’s welcome. The House of Lords praised Dyer
and gave him a sword inscribed with the words, “Saviour of the Punjab”. In addition,
a large fund was raised by Dyer’s sympathisers (26,000 pounds, a present-day
equivalent of 1,000,000 pounds) and presented it to him. The families of the victims
received the paltry sum of 37 pounds or the now equivalent to 1,459 pounds for
each victim.
Both of these men were regarded as saviours, given at worst a slap on the wrist for
their crimes. The British press were by and large accepting that, at all cost, despite
the obvious cruelty and injustices, the establishment or status quo was to be
preserved. So if a few black skulls were cracked or crushed in the process, it was for
a noble cause!

2. Does the 2010 Tivoli massacre have any similarities with either the Morant Bay or
Amristar massacres? Well, only about 70 black people were killed by the state, and
we were not natives or a colony, and the person giving the orders was black. The
Tivoli commission took us five years to get started, and we are certainly not going to
hear evidence from over 700 witnesses. It appears that the Jamaican press has
bought to the line that the security forces “saved” Jamaica or reclaimed territory
(Tivoli) from a criminal warlord/ gangster. Will the victims be appropriately
compensated?
We could arrange for the ground breaking for the new prison to be done in time for
the next anniversary of the Morant Bay massacre and invite Prime Minister
Cameron of Great Britain back to do the honours from the steps of the Morant Bay
courthouse. During the ceremony, Prime Minister Cameron could hand a sword
suitably inscribed, “Saviours of Jamaica,” to our security forces who so nobly saved
us at Tivoli in 2010!
Finally, do we feel outrage at those who carry out the killings or toward the act
itself, regardless of whodunit?
Yours faithfully,
Colonel Allan Douglas