The Commonwealth,a useless neo-colonial hangover?

[Philip]

The Canadian govt's scathing attack against the GOSL and the CW Sec-Gen. ,calling him a stooge,coupled with the absence of HM the Queen at this year's CHOGM,once again calls into Q the relevance of this post-colonial club.Instead of reinventing itself in the post-colonial era gracefully into a multi-cultural,multi-ethnic,multi-polar group with shared human values,the mouthings of a neo-colonialist "white" regime like Canada and the abuse hurled at Sri Lanka selectively,casts serious doubts whether the CW is fast losing its relevance and should be pensioned off.The Canadian abuse smacks of the racism of the colonial era and dismays those who thought that the ghost of the human rights atrocities perpetrated by their white masters was truly laid to rest.If "white" members still treat the coloured members like serfs,and try to shove down their culture and lifestyle upon nations who have thousands of years more of history and culture than the new white states,and expect the non-white members to perpetually kiss their backsides as the price of membership,this dinosaur is doomed.

As for the human rights record of CW members,one can pick from a handful.Why hasn't the great Canadian human rights defenders done nothing about Pakistan,where minorities are butchered at will? The member states should seriously look at the relevance of the CW and whether membership at the price of racist ,neo-colonial abuse is worth the price.

http://www.theguardian.com/law/2013/oct ... mmonwealth

Human rights … and wrongs in the Commonwealth

As the row over Sri Lanka's hosting of the Commonwealth summit intensifies, we look at allegations of other abuses in member states

Saeed Kamali Dehghan
theguardian.com, Tuesday 8 October 2013 18.19 BST

Malala Yousafzai
Women’s rights in Pakistan are a concern, especially since the attempted killing of Malala Yousafzai. Photograph: Jessica Rinaldi/AP

• More than 40 Commonwealth member states still criminalise homosexuality, which is punishable with lengthy jail sentences in Trinidad, Tobago, Malaysia, Sierra Leone, Tanzania, Pakistan, Uganda, Bangladesh and Guyana.

• Serious human rights abuses and war crimes are alleged to have been committed during Sri Lanka's armed conflict. The UN high commissioner for human rights, Navi Pillay, told the Commonwealth last month that it "should not bury its head in the sand and ignore Sri Lanka's serious human rights problems".

• Claims of executions by the security forces in Nigeria are cause for international concern. Child sexual exploitation, lack of freedom of speech and discrimination against women are among other human rights issues in the country. Some of the country's states enforce sharia law.

• Ghana's industry of human trafficking, especially of women and children, has been highlighted by human rights campaigners.

• The attempted killing of the schoolgirl Malala Yousafzai drew the world's attention to the dire state of women's rights in Pakistan. The country's blasphemy laws and discrimination against certain religious minorities, including Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists and Bahais, have also raised alarm.

• Rights campaigners in Swaziland complain about restrictions on freedom of expression and the right to establish political groups. They are also concerned about state control of the media.

Most interesting that the human rights abuses of the white member states have been carefully omitted in this selective listing.What about Britain's abuses in Iraq,and NATO's ,including Canada's brutality in Afghanistan?

[Varoon Shekhar]

Canada as a country has never openly repudiated colonialism or the colonial ideology, nor has it ever imposed sanctions on European countries for human rights violations, or exposed those violations. Not even retroactively or retrospectively denounced them. Canada likes to criticise, and meddle in, non-white, non-Western, countries, including India. It makes Canada feel big and important. A lot of pettiness and smallness is at work here.

[Pratyush]

Remember the Canadians denied a visa to a BSF official (retired) for having served the BSF. Claiming human rights abuse.

This is not unique. They need to be put down a peg ot two. For them to become a responsible member of the international community.

[Varoon Shekhar]

To be fair, they did rescind that order( on the BSF). But during the whole European colonial era, Canada uttered not one word of censure, nor has it now retroactively denounced the ideology or behaviour. Even the US did make some murmurs, particularly under Roosevelt. It's one thing to have a clean, spacious, prosperous, stable country. It's quite another to be large hearted, soulful and empathetic.

[Lalmohan]

the only useful thing about the commonwealth is the games - lets us win a lot of medals!

[Lisa]

It appears that this one has been missed,

Gambia to leave the Commonwealth

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldne ... ealth.html

[ramana]

Actually I want India to lead the Commonwealth as its own club. The British got the Commonwealth only because of colonial India's wealth and stature.

First step is create a free trade zone for the Commonwealth and make it our pond.
Second use the CFTA to venture into hitherto out of limits/bounds areas.
Third get block voting mentality for the CW zone in different fora.

[Yayavar]

yep..was about to say the same - the first part. Just like cricket is now India (a much smaller achievement) we need commonwealth to be eventually controlled by India.
Canada is like Jimmy Carter - all holiness - but with a Brzezinski on the side.

[Philip]

I don't know if the "5 eyes" club of the white "English speaking democracies" was picked up regarding the NSA's covert global intel activities.This superior mentality of the Anglo-empire exists within the CW. If we are to lead the CW,then we must be bold and aggressive.The timidity and almost total lack of vision of the UPA where little babes in the cradle like the Maldives shake their rattle at us (the latest overturn of the election results to prevent Nasheed from returning to power),let alone Pak and China, show us up at being quite impotent,only willing to follow a "white massa",like the US.This servility in foreign affairs will never allow us to lead any group of nations let alone SAARC where Rajapakse is showing us the upturned finger too.He is confident as he did the same to Uncle Sam,the Brits and the French combined ,during the last days of the Eelam War.With China goading him on,what's so special about India?

[Rahul Mehta]

We should exit from commonwealth.

I will soon order my MP via SMS to print law in Gazette that India will break all links with common wealth.

I request all , who want India to leave common wealth, to send orders to their MPs via SMS.

(I need few days, because I am an election candidate and a rival of existing MPs , and so I need to first give a proper notice to MP that that soon I will be sending him 1000 orders and 2-3 orders every week, and so he must keep his system ready. You guys are not candidates and can start sending orders today)

[RajeshA]

Commonwealth should make Sanskrit as its official language!

[Prem]

I did get the benefit of this Come On Wealth in 80s when i showed up at LHR and the immigration guy asked where is my EC? Had good fun with Brit Wit for almost 11 hours.