Shaneel Lal: Queen's death: Black, Brown, and Indigenous communities are mourning their ancestors and culture

Girmitiya were enslaved Indians taken by the British to work in Fiji. Photo / supplied

OPINION:

The death of Queen Elizabeth II is a significant event regardless of how you feel about her. She ruled for 70 years, longer than the life expectancy of Indians. There has been a clear divide throughout the world. While most white people are mourning their Queen, Black, Brown, and indigenous communities are mourning their ancestors, children, land, oceans, language, and culture lost to colonisation inflicted by the Royal Family.

I neither mourn nor rejoice at the death of the Queen. The death of a symbol is not the death of a system. For some, she was a Queen. To Black, Brown, and Indigenous communities, the Queen symbolised a genocidal imperial regime. She represented the family that destroyed my people. As Girmitiya, I am in a constant state of spiritual homelessness.

Girmitiya were enslaved Indians taken by the British to work in Fiji. From the late 1800s, the British monarchy ordered the colonisers to find Indians to work in Fiji. The recruiters preyed on struggling, innocent, helpless Indians and offered them a job on a "small island like paradise near India". That small island like paradise was Fiji, over 7000 miles away. The British promised Indians an excellent job that would make them a lot of money to save and send back to their families.

Indians who expressed interest were locked in houses and not allowed to leave. A few days later, they were presented in front of a magistrate and told to agree to go to Fiji or else they were locked in prisons, starved, and beaten, then shipped to Fiji. The British separated parents, partners, siblings, and children from their families. Many never found out what happened to their families.

The British packed Girmitiya like sardines on ships and flogged anyone who complained about crowding. The British gave Indians dog biscuits. The biscuits were so hard they needed to be broken with a fist and soaked in water. Many Girmitiya died, and the British threw their bodies into the ocean. The Crown's worshippers did not mourn our loss.

When Girmitiya arrived in Fiji, they worked in sugarcane fields. Girmitiya were not allowed to leave for five years. If they wanted to leave after five years, they had to pay their own fare. Girmitiya had no money. They were up at 4am and given so much work that they could not complete it, so they were fined a month's pay, and jailed. Indians were flogged, kicked, punched, and raped on sugarcane fields by the Crown's employees. Some Girmitiya hanged themselves because of the torture.

The Crown condemned my people to hell. But the Queen - she died as she lived, surrounded by stolen Indian wealth. The Queen spent her life adorned by the Koh-i-Noor, a diamond worth more than $660 million, stolen from Punjab during colonisation. The Queen never attempted to return it. She never acknowledged or apologised for our suffering, or offered colonial reparations.

I am not saying the Queen was solely responsible for colonisation and the world should dance on her grave. However, she was crucial for maintaining stolen Indian wealth for the benefit of herself, her family, and her people while Indians continued to suffer in entrenched poverty. The Queen outlived an entire generation of Indians because of the poor health services, education, food, and water quality available to Indians. India was one of the wealthiest countries before the Crown looted it. The Queen quietly benefited from the systems set in place by her ancestors.

Watching the world rush to erase the violent history of the British Royal Family and celebrate their service feels like being stabbed in the heart a hundred times. If you wish to remember the Queen's legacy, I insist we remember all of it. If the monarchy wishes to change the Queen's legacy, they should start by returning stolen indigenous wealth. Do not sanitise the bloodshed of my people to make history palatable for white people.

The Royal Family stole my ancestors. I mourn them. Rest in Power the stolen generation of Girmitiya.