I AM overjoyed to hear of the return, to countries and communities of origin, by Glasgow Museums, of so many artefacts acquired by various, and sometimes nefarious, means during the heyday of our common “British” Empire.
We alone, as one of the two founding partners of said imperium, can sound its death-knell when we achieve our own independence from the much vaunted Disjointed Kingdom. However, it is not just a constitutional ripping apart of the mother state of the Empire that is required; it is also a total rethink of what we were about, who we were then, and who we are now.
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The return of artifacts is an important part of this recognition of who we were, and is a declaration of who we wish to be now. It is an act of good faith to countries and communities we, or others, have wronged in the past. It is building friendship where there was hostility, and where there may still be resentment.
To that end, Glasgow Museums may have more to return than it realises.
In the late 1920s, or thereabouts, after my great grandfather’s death, the bulk of his collection of weaponry from the “Indian Mutiny” was given to the People’s Palace Museum.
The “Indian Mutiny” was a contentious episode, with vicious violence and slaughter on both sides, redrawn by modern Indian historians as a “War of Independence”, and, whatever else, it was the founding moment of the British Raj.
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This collection of weaponry has never been on display. The citizens of Glasgow have never seen or heard of it. It is surely time to locate and assess this collection with a view to a) its historical merit and what might be learned from it, b) its potential educational value to our now multi-cultural city with a sizable and vibrant South Asian community, and c) last but not least, whether and to whom these artefacts, or some of them, might be returned.
It could be that before any return took place, there might be a role for an informative display, put together with the assistance and analysis of historians and weaponry experts from both India and the UK.
Does the Indian diplomatic community in Scotland or England even know of the existence of this collection? I doubt it, since Glasgow Museums themselves may not know they have it.
Norman Easton
Glasgow
AS it was the school holidays, the two grandbairns were dropped off for the day. It was raining so the sensible course of action was to take them to the pictures.
The choice of appropriate films were The Bad Guys, which was the one I wanted to see, or Sonic the Hedgehog 2, which unfortunately won the day as they had seen the original film. Anyway, when did grandad’s views come into the equation? Matters have come a long way since my dear late dad forcefully told me on visiting my great aunt: “Kids should be seen and not heard. Only speak if you are spoken to!”
The bairns seemed to enjoy the film but I told them it wasn’t in the same league as How to Train Your Dragon, which I saw on telly at Christmas. They just gave me a bemused look!
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On leaving the picture hoose we were dragged off to the nearby McDonalds (other burger joints are available). I couldn’t understand why there was no large board showing what was on offer and after loudly expressing this, the senior bairn, clearly embarrassed with much shaking of heid and rolling of eyes, pointed vigorously to these stupid touchscreen contraptions. Within about 6.6 nano seconds she submitted her order, then did the same for us and her wee brother.
Later I couldn’t help thinking of the increasing number of families throughout Scotland and the UK that can’t afford what many take for granted as straightforward treats like going to the pictures and having a burger (ie, nothing special). Including the petrol to get there and back and the sweeties from the supermarket (too mean to pay extortionate prices at the pictures) it came to more than £60. A friend of mine told me that’s nothing and we “got off lightly”!
When I was around the same age as senior bairn I watched Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid at the pictures. Back then in the early 70s there were very few families that couldn’t treat their bairns in this way now and again. Nowadays “progress” means we live in a two-tier society. The second tier barely have enough to watch a film on the telly in the warmth of a cosy home, never mind a trip to the pictures. That is just so sad and an indictment on all of us that take such treats for granted.
All of us who know deep down we can afford it need to be sharing with friends, family, work colleagues and anyone willing to listen that we personally are willing to pay much more into the common good fund (I think they call it tax) to bring those in the second tier “into the body of the kirk”. The “what I have I keep” culture in society must not only be broken but smashed to smithereens!
An independent Scottish government has to take from us what it needs to take so that all families throughout Scotland can afford to take their bairns to the pictures to watch Sonic the Hedgehog 2 (or preferably better films). Maybe not, however, with an embarrassing doolally grandad in tow!
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