My War gone By, I Miss It So Mach

Ultimately, gestures of defiance fuel our memory of the anti-colonial resistance

- Brahma Prakash

A Searing Memory American activist Rachel Corrie tries to stop an Israeli bulldozer from destroying Palestinian homes in the Gaza strip WHAT do we remember when we remember a colonial war—an anti-colonial resistance, a fight against oppression, occupation and apartheid? Of course, we remember many things but we also forget many. But something that becomes defining for memory is defiance. Of course, we will remember deaths, ruins and rubble. But what remains is not the ruins, but the gestures of defiance! Not the rubble, but the rebellious signs.

Remember what you want to remember from the anti-colonial resistance. In our reminiscence remains the young Palestinian boy Faris Odeh standing in front of an Israeli tank. We remember American peace activist Rachel Corrie standing in front of an Israeli bulldozer to protest the demolition of Palestinian houses. From the last year, we remember Palestinian journalist Wael al-Dahdouch, the man who kept reporting while his family members were being killed by the Israeli forces. From the last century, we remember Che Guevara dying, looking into the eyes of an assassin, marking defiance. We remember Bhagat Singh and Birsa Munda from the gallows. It is ultimately defiance that fuels our memory of the colonial war and anti-colonial resistance.

Brahma Prakash IS ASSISTANT PROFESSOR AT THE SCHOOL OF ARTS AND AESTHETICS INU AND THE AUTHOR OF BODY ON THE BARRICADES

In the book, Children of the Days, Eduardo Galliano tells the story of an Indian indigenous rebel, Manuela Leon. On 8 January 1872, the president of Ecuador executed her to provoke the Indian Indigenous population to rise against forced labour. On the day of the sentence, Manuela faced the firing squad without a blindfold. Asked if she had anything to say, she said, ‘manapi’ (nothing) and silently put up her defiance. It is the acts of dissent and defiance that foster our reminiscence.