Status: 09/10/2022 12:13 p.m
Elizabeth II was also head of the 56 Commonwealth countries, including India. The Queen had a close connection to the “Jewel of the Crown”. Many Indians mourn the monarch – but there are also critical tones about the role of the royal family.
In the foyer of the British Cultural Center in Delhi, a portrait of Queen Elizabeth II greets visitors from a frame decorated with gold. A display in front of it shows a message of condolences to King Charles III. and the royal family.
Shahab Abidi has just stepped out of the building with his daughter. The IT manager registered her for a language course, after all English is the most important language internationally. He had found out about the Queen’s death by accident on the language school’s website. “It is a sad, heavy loss. We admired her from afar. She is an impressive personality and everyone knows her.” He is very grateful to the British. They would have brought a modern education system to India.
apology requested
Moon Sherma agrees. A few meters further on she is taking a lunch break. The 21-year-old works in a bank opposite the British cultural center. The news of the Queen’s death is very sad, but she hasn’t really seen much about it on her Instagram account, says the Indian. “People have their own opinions, but I think the English taught us a lot of things – English for example. They built a lot of things, there are a lot of beautiful buildings here in Delhi.”
The Indian government has ordered a day of national mourning for Sunday after the death of Queen Elizabeth II.
Image: AP
At the side of the road, Darshan Singh waits for customers in his auto rickshaw. The 77-year-old has a long gray beard and a red turban on his head. He pulls out a newspaper from under the steering wheel and points to a picture of Queen Elizabeth II. Of course he was sad about the news, but after all she had gotten very old. At the time of Indian independence he was a small child. He complains:
But I definitely heard that they committed many atrocities against us. You should apologize, that’s your choice. Or Prime Minister Modi’s. But they won’t apologize, they’ve never apologized in all these years, you know?
Queen hinted at difficult periods during the colonial period
India became a republic in 1950. Unlike the former western part of British India, Pakistan. Elizabeth II was still queen there until 1956. During her long reign, the Queen visited India three times.
In 1961, thousands thronged New Delhi to get a glimpse of Elizabeth and her husband Prince Philip. Most recently, she traveled to India for the 50th anniversary of independence in 1997. For the first time she also hinted at difficult periods during the British colonial period.
For the historian Jyoti Atwal of Jawaharlal Nehru University in New Delhi, India’s Elizabeth II represents the end of the colonial era from India’s first Prime Minister, Jawaharlal Nehru, to the current incumbent, Narendra Modi. Nehru put his hopes for India’s economy primarily in the British Commonwealth of States – the Queen also contributed to this. “The countries exchanged views on various issues of contemporary importance such as: gender equality, gender issues, sustainability, poverty – but not immediately after the end of the colonial era,” says Atwal.
Since 1947, India has been claiming the return of the legendary “Kohinoor” diamond.
Image: picture alliance / dpa
Discussion about diamond “Kohinoor”
After the Queen’s death was announced, Indian Twitter users debated one thing in particular: the return of the legendary “Kohinoor” diamond. After conquering the Punjab region, the stone was brought to England and made into a crown for the Queen’s mother. “India has been claiming the return of the ‘Kohinoor’ since 1947. It was believed to have been stolen. It has not yet been returned. After the Queen’s coronation, India reclaimed it,” said Atwal. A petition by Indian MPs more than 20 years ago also yielded no results.
IT manager Abidi also thinks that the British royal family must return the diamond:
For moral reasons they have to return it because it is not their property. I don’t think they need to apologize. You should just give it back.
According to historian Atwal, India sees the new King Charles III. optimistically towards. After all, he is known from his charity work at the British Indian Foundation, according to the historian. Especially in the corona pandemic, Charles III. collected more than four million euros for India. “We see the new king above all in this charitable relationship with India.”
The Indian government declared a day of national mourning on Sunday. Flags should be flown at half-mast on all official buildings in memory of Queen Elizabeth II.
India commemorates the Queen
Charlotte Horn, ARD New Delhi, 9/9/2022 10:39 a.m