The UK’s Labour Party headed by Jeremy Corbyn has unveiled an add-on manifesto for the December 12 General Election which pledges to set up a new educational trust that would ensure that Britain’s colonial history and injustices of the Raj are taught in schools across the country.
According to a PTI report, The party’s ‘Race and Faith Manifesto’ comes in the wake of its main manifesto last week, which had pledged to issue a formal apology for the Jallianwala Bagh massacre in Amritsar by troops under the British Empire in April 1919.
The creation of an Emancipation Educational Trust will ensure historical injustice, colonialism and role of the British empire is taught in the National Curriculum, notes the supplementary manifesto.
Only by acknowledging the historical injustices faced by our communities can we work towards a better future that is prosperous for all, that isn’t blighted by austerity and the politics of fear, said Dawn Butler, Labour’s Shadow Equalities and Women’s Secretary.
Currently the history of the British Empire is not a compulsory module in the UK school curriculum, an issue often highlighted by campaigners as a failure to present an accurate picture of the country’s history for schoolchildren.
It is important that children are taught about colonialism, injustice and the role of the British Empire. This is a major step that meets our long-standing demands, said Harsev Bains, National Vice-President of the Indian Workers Association of Great Britain (IWA-GB), one of the oldest Indian workers’ groups in the UK.
On behalf of the Jallianwala Bagh Massacre Centenary Committee (JBMCC) consisting of Indians, Pakistani and Bangladeshi organisations in Britain led by the IWA GB, we also welcome the inclusion of a formal apology for the massacre in Amritsar, said Bains, a member of the committee set up to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the Jallianwala Bagh tragedy that affected thousands of lives.
