By IANS
Lucknow : In an unusual development, Hindus, Muslims and even ideologically divergent Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Samajwadi Party (SP) seem to be joining hands to oppose the arrival of a British delegation to pay homage to their ancestors who were killed during India’s first war of independence in 1857, described as the mutiny by the British.
The delegation, led by Sir Mark Allen Havelock, the great-great-grandson of Major General Havelock, who was largely responsible for defeating the Indian sepoys in Meerut and Lucknow, is to arrive here Tuesday to offer homage to their kin who died during the conflict 150 years ago.
While BJP and its Hindu hardliner frontal organisations have taken the lead in opposing the proposed visit, the Samajwadi Party has followed. Both are keen on using it as a political tool to criticise the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance government at the centre as well as the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) ruling Uttar Pradesh.
Close on the heels of protest calls by Hindu fundamentalist outfits like the Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh (RSS) and Bajrang Dal, angry reactions have come from certain Muslims organisations too. Those issuing protest calls include BJP leader Lalji Tandon, SP spokesperson Rajendra Chaudhary, Bajrang Dal state chief Rajendra Sachan, well known Muslim Shia cleric Maulana Kalbe Jawaad and Sunni Maulana Fazlur Rehman.
Though no one has any plan to stage a joint demonstration, independent protests have been planned Monday by different bodies outside the ruins of the Lucknow Residency, where almost 3,000 British were killed during the uprising. The Archaeological Survey of India preserves the ruins as a “protected monument”.
Interestingly, despite loud clarifications issued by the Delhi-based organisers of the visiting British delegation that it has no plans to eulogise the role of their kin against the first major anti-Britain uprising by Indians, both BJP and SP are busy terming the visit as an observation of some kind of ‘victory day’.
“All they wish to do is pay homage to their ancestors at a British cemetery inside the Lucknow Residency, where they would lay wreaths and light candles. No one intends to make speeches or hold any kind of celebrations,” clarified a spokesperson of Tornos, a tourist agency that has arranged their India travel.
“I fail to understand why some persons are trying to give the visit an unnecessary political colour,” the spokesperson wondered. “The British group proposes to first hoist the Indian tricolour at the Residency where the Union Jack used to fly once upon a time. It is to be followed by recitation of the Gurbani as a mark of tribute to the Sikh soldiers who also laid down their lives along with the British, and conclude with hymns in memory of the soldiers from both sides.”
“So where is the question of eulogising the British,” he asked.
Caught in a cleft, the Uttar Pradesh government sought to put up an objective front. “We will not allow anyone to disturb peace and harmony. Permission will not be granted to anybody to hold any such celebration that might hurt the feelings of the people,” said Principal Home Secretary J.N. Chamber.
However, in the same vein he hastened to add, “but we cannot disallow people from offering homage to their dead”. He also ruled out the possibility of banning the entry of the delegation.
Echoing a similar assertion, Lucknow district magistrate Chandra Bhanu told IANS: “We have made adequate security arrangements in and around the Residency to prevent any untoward incident from any side.”
Last week, members of the 60th Queen’s Royal Rifles – among the units which had held the fort at Meerut during the war – had arrived with a stone plaque which they wanted to put up at St. John’s Church there. The church stands on the periphery of the parade ground where Indian soldiers had raised the banner of revolt.
However, the bishop denied them permission and asked them to take the plaque back.