Following breadcrumbs from the footnotes in Reginald Reynold's "The White Sahibs in India" (1937), we arrive at "Pamphlets and Leaflets of 1897" of the British Liberal Party. This following is about a part of the world with which the US currently is experiencing some trouble with. The events are reminiscent of the neo-con years under Bush the Second, and is therefore of contemporary interest.
The setting (emphasis in the original)Chitral is a country on the North-West frontier of India. In the early part of 1895 trouble arose about its ruler, in the course of which that country was invaded by Umra Khan, a powerful Pathan chief, and Mr. Robertson, with a small British force, was beseigned in the town of Chitral. This rendered a British expedition to that country necessary; but its objects were clearly limited and defined in a Proclamation issued by Lord Elgin, the Viceroy of India, in April, 1895:
"The SOLE OBJECT of the Government of India is to put an end to the present, and prevent any future unlawful aggression on Chitral territory, and as soon as the object has been attained, THE FORCE WILL BE WITHDRAWN."But while that object was quickly obtained, the force was not withdrawn. The people of Swat rose in rebellion, and the British sent in more forces. The Liberal pamphlet asks and answers:
Why did we stay? Let Mr. BALFOUR supply the answer:—
"We determined that where the British soldier had been, there we should remain."
We then come to Member of Parliament Mr. John Morley's speech to his constituents at Arbroath on September 29, 1897 - (emphasis and formating in the original removed)
These are the five stages of the 'FORWARD' RAKE'S PROGRESS:
(1) you push into territories where you have no business to be, and, in our case, where you promised you would not go;
(2) your intrusion provokes resentment, and in these wild countries resentment means resistance;
(3) you instantly cry out that the people are rebellious, and that their act is rebellion—this in spite of your own assurance that you have no intention of setting up a permanent sovereignty over them;
(4) you send a force to stamp out the rebellion; and
(5) having spread bloodshed, confusion, and anarchy, you declare with hands uplifted to the heavens, that moral reasons force you to stay, for, if you were to leave, this territory would be left in a condition which no civilised power could contemplate with equanimity or with composure.
These are the five stages of the Forward Rake's Progress.This bears a close family resemblance to what happened in Iraq, and to an extent in Afghanistan. It is a credit to some remaining good sense in America that one occupation is ended, and the second war is winding down. Still, there are influential imperialists waiting in the wings.
One reason that I want to thoroughly expose the utter unmitigated evil of colonial empire is that no one lend any support to the modern imperialists.
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Sadhana · 626 weeks ago
Sadhana · 626 weeks ago
macgupta 81p · 626 weeks ago
macgupta 81p · 625 weeks ago
" Amanullah's absence from the country furnished an ideal opportunity for his enemies and they used it to the full. Mullahs and Sirdars had suffered loss of authority and profit through the centralization of government. But disgruntled as they were, they could hardly have organized a successful movement without outside encouragement. Unproved charges (and in the nature of things unprovable) place the blame on the British, more specifically upon "Private Shaw," better known as Lawrence of Arabia, who was posted at an aerodrome on the Afghan frontier for seven months before Amanullah's overthrow. Whether true or not, the charges were widely believed. Amanullah issued orders for "Shaw's" arrest. In India he was burned in effigy, and an innocent man suspected of being Lawrence in disguise was nearly lynched by a crowd in Lahore. Moreover, British-made arms and ammunition were found in the possession of rebels, and British representatives were accused, in the House of Commons, of having been in touch with the rebels before Amanullah abdicated.
On his return Amanullah inaugurated still greater reforms, and following in the footsteps of Kemal Pasha of Turkey began to abolish customs which set apart Afghans from civilized peoples. He forbade the veil, ordained monogamy, imposed universal education on boys and girls alike, and in general introduced changes of a fundamental character. In doing so he ignited the powder magazine which had been prepared for him in his absence. The Shinwari tribes, the strongest in the Eastern Province, revolted. The Khogianis joined them later. Amanullah delayed taking drastic action in the hope of a bloodless pacification. Delay, however, intensified the campaign of the rebels and spread the discontent. Everywhere his anti-Islamic reforms were anathema. And then when he had almost succeeded in persuading or coercing the rebels to surrender on promise of abrogating the more radical laws, out of a clear sky a brigand, nicknamed Bacha Saqao, appeared with five thousand of his Kohistani gangmen from the north, armed to the teeth with British-made arms and ammunitions, and struck at Kabul. A pitched battle was fought between him and Amanullah's soldiers who were ordered to shed no unnecessary blood. But the brigand-chief had the advantage because of the rebellious state of the East. He won the battle of Kabul, three miles from the city. Instead of further opposing him and shedding more blood, Amanullah decided to put himself out of the way and left the throne to his priestly-brother Inayatullah, himself departing for his home in Kandhar. "