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The
Kohinoor
By Subroto
Mukherjee
GlobalomNet
Media Service
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Brings
divisions from past into the present when
displayed on Queen Mother's coffin...On
this most British of occasions, it was clear that Indians and
Pakistanis in London did not feel particularly British in some
ways. Their passports are just as British as those of the people
in the queues. But it was clear that their politics is not. |
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The
Kohinoor has lost none of its power to divide people from people, and
people from rulers: That became evident at the funeral procession for the
Queen Mother through London.
This is the first time that the Kohinoor saw the light of day in this
fashion. In its long and troubled history it has never had a chance to
dazzle viewers on streets before.
Kuldip Nayar, Rajya Sabha MP and formerly high commissioner to London said
in Delhi that the British were flaunting the kohinoor to show off their
colonial past. Parading the kohinoor in this manner was crude, he said.
To an estimated 400,000 people who watched the funeral on the streets of
London and who paid homage to the Queen Mother at Westminster Abbey the
thoughts were for the Queen Mother and her long and grand life. But such
is the power of the Kohinoor that few failed to look out for a glimpse of
the Kohinoor.
And there lay the division. Nobody wants to say this yet, but the long
queues paying their respects to Britain’s Queen Mother were almost all
white. Of the several millions of non-whites in Britain , who are well
over a quarter of the population of London, few queued to pay their
homage.
In part this was because the Queen Mother was a Queen from a different
era, the era of colonialism and of pride in colonialism. The Queen Mother
was never a figure of the times that brought a wave of non-white
immigration into Britain.
The Kohinoor crown was placed above the coffin because the Queen Mother
had willed it. The Queen Mother had overseen plans for her funeral several
times over, down to minute details.
But through the funeral procession, and as the body lies in state at the
Abbey, the Kohinoor crowning the crown above the coffin stands as a
shining symbol of a divide. The little stone brought alive what was
forgotten history to most.
”Yes, there’s this whole dispute over the Kohinoor and they want it
back in India, but nobody’s thought about it twice, really,” said an
Indian housewife who watched the procession on TV. “But seeing the
Kohinoor being taken around like that I really felt it was ours.”
The procession brought out strong views on the Kohinoor, though they were
expressed with some delicacy, and with respect for the Queen Mother.
Feelings seemed to be particularly strong among Sikhs. The Kohinoor was
Maharaja Ranjit Singh’s property. Lord Dalhousie brought it back to
England after the British annexation of Punjab.
”The diamond must be returned to Punjab,” Hardeesh Kaur who works in a
bank said passionately. But had she always thought that? “Not really,
but seeing it now like this made me think it should be returned.”
It was one thing to have the Kohinoor kept in the Tower of London for
tourists to see. That placed it in a sort of museum, in the past, that is.
But seeing the Kohinoor in the Queen Mother’s crown seems to have
brought divisions over the Kohinoor from the past into the present.
On this most British of occasions, it was clear that Indians and
Pakistanis in London did not feel particularly British in some ways. Their
passports are just as British as those of the people in the queues. But it
was clear that their politics is not.
The Kohinoor became a symbol again of what the British had taken away from
them. It was a reminder of the face of Britain that had ruled their
forefathers. The lessons were not in text books and museums - they had
come alive on the streets of London.
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