"Transportation" ; 3 December, 2023

                                      TRANSPORTATION

 

The war had end'd; the mighty guns lay still;

The firespitters lay quiet around yon silent mill;

Families had been deplet'd in defending yon land :

They got their reward from some grateful hand.

 

Here and there roam'd the little survivors,

They that gave the masters many tremors;

For them had to be found a neat solution,

To relieve the land of this ugly situation.

 

Hark ! A whacking idea hath sprung to our mind :

Only our genius can spot such a rare find !

'Pon a clean solution have we brilliantly struck,

To rid our society forever of this roaming muck.

 

Indeed, in the matter we do have some experience :

In the past we did transport their grandfathers;

The land will we rid of these useless roamers :

Quietly we'll despatch the embarrassing lot hence.

 

Thus the land that assembl'd mighty forces

Despatch’d its orphans away without resources;

Their parents had shed their blood for the country  :

The orphans were transport’d to yon far territory.

 

To those whose parents had patriotically fac’d tanks,

This was the country’s way of expressing a word of thanks.

The man that had fought for the homeland as the brave

Now must be twitching feverishly in yon forlorn grave.

 

The guys that had strutt’d in far, sprawling domains

Callously despatch’d their orphans to faraway plains.

Yet, proudly would they boast of their very orphanages

As examples of the best homes, the finest of all ages.

 

***

 

The queries cried out, plead'd,

The letters reach'd out, demand'd :

Please, out there have we got anybody left ?

Please ! Of relatives, we feel so bereft....

 

Please, tell us if we be like others :

If we had in the past mothers, fathers;

Please, could ye be our long-lost people ?

We’ll forget what ye caus'd us as trouble…

 

Whence did we come, alas, we be at a loss to know,

We're ask'd the question, we sink more into sorrow;

We'd like to find out if there be some answer :

Please, don't destroy this, our forlorn letter !

 

***

 

The shame had been swept aside in some evil manner,

But, truth will triumph, as proclaim’d by the harbinger...

The cry reach'd out, the letters kept trickling in :

Someone decid'd to reach into the forbidden bin.

 

At long last the truth shone victorious :

Yes, the deed was far from glorious…

What had been cover'd up for long by many

Finally was unearth'd for its typical infamy.

 

But, as usual will come up the perfect explanation

To fool the world about the validity of the action;

For, nothing they do could be lacking in reason :

Those doubting this be guilty of some treason…

--------------------------

Soman Ragavan

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“TRANSPORTATION.”

 

            (a) This poem refers to the cruel, systematic and callous deportation of English orphans to certain colonies by England during more than three centuries. In this unforgivable crime, English cruelty is fully exposed. England heartlessly banished thousands of its own defenceless orphans, so as not to have to bear the cost of rearing them up.

 

            (b) Also see :

 

            (i)         Overseas News Service bulletin, Government Information Service, Prime Minister’s Office, Mauritius, REUTERS news section, 17/18 July, 1998, (page 3); 15/16 December, 1998, (page 7).

 

            (ii)        “Grande Bretagne : 150 000 déportés vers les colonies en plus de trois siècles.” “Le MAURICIEN” newspaper, Mauritius, 20 May, 1999, (page 16). Let us reproduce this article here :

 

“About 150 000 English orphans were victims of a policy started in the 17^th century on a particularly cruel deportation towards colonies and former colonies, Australia and New Zealand in particular, according to an official report published yesterday.

 

“The scandal of the forced exile of these children, who had been confided to State homes, had for objective the injection of "white blood" into the far-flung lands of the crown. This scandal caused an uproar when it was revealed in 1993 by an Australian television documentary. But, the magnitude of the deportation, which went on until 1967, was not known at the time and the known cases only covered the period 1947-1967. These cases concerned not only orphans but also abandoned children or children removed from their unmarried mothers.

 

“Consequently, an English MP, chairman of a parliamentary commission on health, had been asked to go to Australia and New Zealand to enquire into the matter. His report on <> of the Empire, presented to the House of Commons, is enlightening.

 

“<> said the English MP, David Hinchliffe. The policy of shipping the orphans to Australia and New Zealand, contrarily to what had been assumed so far, started as far back as 1618, according to the study. It had concerned 150 000 young ones just for New Zealand and Australia, whereas previous estimates had mentioned 20 000 to 50 000 youths in all. Others had been sent to Canada and Rhodesia.

 

“What is worse, reaching their destinations, the children, of whom the youngest were aged four, had to do forced labour and were often victims of sexual abuse. <> has said the MP during a debate in the House.

 

“<> did he add. Parallel to the publication of the report, the Labour Government have announced the creation of a fund of one million pounds to help the most recent victims to go to England in order to retrace relatives.

           

      “In the name of the Government, the Under Secretary of State for Health, John Hutton, has expressed his <> towards the deportees.” (My translation from French).

 

            In the past, the English authorities had refused to apologise for these crimes.

 

(iii)       “Quand les Australiens découvrent les <> de la Réunion.”“WEEK-END” newspaper,  Mauritiius, 5 January, 2003, (page 15). 

 

(iv)       “Apology for kids shipped from Britain to colonies.” Associated Press, 16 November, 2009.

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