EDINBURGH Castle bosses have agreed to remove a sign that "pandered to imperialism" by describing British soldiers who fought in the Siege of Lucknow as “heroes”.
Officials have said the sign will be replaced with one that is “accurate and balanced” after a visitor said the sign, next to the India Cross on the Castle’s esplanade, was “too celebratory of the British and dismissive of the Indian forces”.
Vivek Majumder, a junior doctor from Edinburgh, spotted the sign while on a walk last month.
“The description of the battle wasn’t inaccurate, it was more how the belligerents were presented I took issue with,” he told the Edinburgh Evening News.
“In my eyes it was blatant pandering to imperialism."
The 26-year-old went on: “It was not the first time I had seen distasteful imperialistic things in Scottish public spaces, but this was the first that painted the British as ‘Heroes’ and that Lucknow was ‘relieved’.”
The Siege of Lucknow was the prolonged defence of the British "Residency" (British governmental headquarters) within the city of Lucknow during the Indian Rebellion of 1857.
Sir Henry Lawrence, the East India Company’s Commissioner in Lucknow ordered his garrison to retreat into the British Residency in the city.
A week after Majumder emailed an official at Historic Environment Scotland (HES), which is responsible for the signs at the castle, officials vowed re-write it.
“I don’t think Britain’s past should be forgotten, nor its attitudes in the past,” Dr Majumder said, “there’s an 8ft stone celtic cross there that needs explaining!
“But I think this is a step in the right direction in how we should explain the past and examine it from a neutral light.”
Dr Crispin Bates, Professor of South Asian History at the University of Edinburgh, explained that in 1857, “the crushing of the uprising was seen in Britain as a great victory of British civilisation over violent and barbaric Asiatics" but that Indians see the events differently.
He said: "“In 1910, Indian nationalist VD Savarkar called it 'The First National Indian War of Independence'.
“Many continue to use this term, seeing in the events of 1857 as an occasion when peoples of all classes and faiths in North India came together to fight successfully for freedom.
“The 150th anniversary of the Uprising in 2007 was a major occasion for national commemoration."
A spokesperson for HES said: “We agree the use of the contemporary British description of the regiment as the ‘Heroes of Lucknow’ lacked qualification in the context of the siege and the Indian Rebellion of 1857.
“A fuller context of the siege, including from an Indian perspective, is critical for our visitors to better understand this event and why it led to the erection of the India Cross on the Esplanade at Edinburgh Castle.
“As such, one of our historians is currently undertaking research into the siege and the Rebellion of 1857 to ensure the new content on an updated panel, is accurate and balanced.”
Why are you making commenting on The National only available to subscribers?
We know there are thousands of National readers who want to debate, argue and go back and forth in the comments section of our stories. We’ve got the most informed readers in Scotland, asking each other the big questions about the future of our country.
Unfortunately, though, these important debates are being spoiled by a vocal minority of trolls who aren’t really interested in the issues, try to derail the conversations, register under fake names, and post vile abuse.
So that’s why we’ve decided to make the ability to comment only available to our paying subscribers. That way, all the trolls who post abuse on our website will have to pay if they want to join the debate – and risk a permanent ban from the account that they subscribe with.
The conversation will go back to what it should be about – people who care passionately about the issues, but disagree constructively on what we should do about them. Let’s get that debate started!
Callum Baird, Editor of The National
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel