A hangover of Raj nostalgia and superciliousness toward the former colony were apparent yesterday at British High Commissioner David Gore-Booths press briefing on British Queen Elizabeths visit to India from October 12 to 18. He said Indias record over the past 50 years had not been unblemished.
He contradicted Prime Minister IK Gujrals statement that the Indian government had told the British government that Elizabeth should not visit Amritsar in view of the demands for an apology for the Jallianwala Bagh massacre.
Elizabeth is slated to lay a wreath at Jallianwala Bagh on October 14. She is also to visit the Golden temple in Amritsar that day. Some leading Punjabis have demanded that she apologise for the 1919 massacre, which was ordered by a commissioned British officer.
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Gore-Booth said Gujral chose to tell a member of your esteemed profession that India had advised Britain against Elizabeth visiting Amritsar. However, he said that at no time was this conveyed through official channels.
He said the Amritsar visit had been arranged after consultations with Indian officials and, while she was not going the apologise, the wreath was meant to be a gesture. Asked if Elizabeth did not lay wreaths every day, he said this one was a special gesture.
Asked whether the Labour partys position on the Kashmir issue, which many in India consider antagonistic, would affect the visit, Gore-Booth said Britain wanted an end to the debilitating situation in Kashmir, preferably bilaterally.
He then proferred the personal opinion that this was what Indian politicians should be aiming at too, instead of tilting at windmills. He had been asked about the Congress spokespersons reported comments on the British ruling partys position.
Gore-Booth also said it was ludicrous to accuse Labour of imperialism. The Congress spokesperson had in fact referred appreciatively on Monday to Labours support for Indias aspirations before and after independence.
He added that British Foreign Secretary (minister) Robin Cook, who is to accompany Elizabeth for two days, would be better placed than he to explain the partys position to Gujral. Cook is to meet Gujral separately from Elizabeth. Gore-Booth said he hoped the finance minister too would meet Cook.
Gore-Booth said the British gifts of the English language, legal system and a democratic set-up were advantages for India to compete in the global market. A journalist had asked him whether the view that the British had left too early was gaining ground in India.
The high commissioner noted that much of the comment to mark the golden jubilee of Indias independence on August 14 and 15 had been introspective, even objective, even confessional. He did not say what crimes or misdemeanours were confessed.
Elizabeths tour planners at least appear to be in tune with the realities of current British politics. Even Gore-Booth acknowledged an element of pilgrimage in Elizabeth itinerary as she visited places holy to British citizens of Indian origin.
Apart from the MGR Film City, the Kalakshetra Foundation and Rajiv Gandhis Memorial, Elizabeth is to visit the Ekambareswara Temple while she is in Tamil Nadu. And she will visit St Francis Church and the Synagogue before going to the International Commodity Exchange in Kochi.
In the capital, she is to inaugurate an Indio-British Partnership: Towards 2000 exhibition at Pragati Maidan and an exhibition called The Enduring Image at the National Museum.
Elizabeth will be accompanied by her spouse, the Duke of Edinburgh. Asked about her security after the recent explosions aboard an Amritsar-bound train, Gore-Booth noted that explosions take place regretably often in this large and vigorous country.
In the context of a question about whether questions about the monarchys future might surface during the couples first foreign tour after Princess Dianas death, Gore-Booth said Indians tend to be rather more respectful on the day than might appear likely beforehand. He added that the accompanying media party was larger than usual.