Diamond Thoughts

Here is a commemoration of ANZAC day in Ottawa last year – looking at this you could not be faulted for thinking WW1 was an all-white affair. I may venture further and suggest this might even embolden nationalist white pride especially when this ceremony takes place at a national institution like the Canada War Museum. ANZAC day was held there to commemorate the actions of Brothers-in-Arms during the battle of Gallipoli

Selective Amnesia serves to curate military history to embolden WHITE SUPREMACY

The bottom image depicts what happened in Gallipoli 105 years today during the battle of Krithia – in this action alone KING GEORGE’s OWN 14th #Sikhs lost three hundred and seventy-one officers and men killed or wounded. During our November 2014 Public Lecture at Simon Fraser University, Major Corrigan ex-Gurkha officer made clear the level of professionalism of the Sikhs and Gurkhas in Gallipoli ” at times they were the only ones that knew what they were doing” reported the good major. Not only did they know what they were doing they had the strength of will to carry out an against all odds action – it is clear these were men of infinite courage. Losing most of their battalion was always on the cards yet they still did it – facing forward not one turned their back on their duty and comrades, rushing onwards they succeeded in taking the trenches

As you can see British Indian soldiers from India, the forefathers of many Punjab-Canadians were in at the deep end too – yet it’s the white colonies of Australia and New Zealand that are honoured exclusively by virtue of this Remembrance. This is institutionalized racism – the erasure of contributions of people of colour to nation-building within Canadian education and heritage is systemic.

Obviously, this is not the first time our institutions are curating history that abets white supremacy but I want to point out a pattern – last year the Canadian War Museum posted an ephemeral from WW1 defining the soldiers of the British Empire that left out INDIA who contributed more manpower in defence of the Crown than all the other colonies put together.

“There is systemic discrimination in Canada, which means our systems treat Canadians of colour, Canadians who are racialized, differently than they do others.”
PM Trudeau

It’s time to change the narrative – our democracies and freedoms have not been secured exclusively by Britons of the white variety. Gentleman, I thank you for your support for the INDUS project – you can see here why it’s needed.