Losers of history

Sir, - It is interesting that your Editorial ``A legacy of neglect'' (The Hindu, May 1), on the plight of indigenous people of South America, has thrown the spotlight on all the categories of neglected people - neglected by the white colonisers in Asia, Africa and America.

For these unfortunate ``losers of history'', the dark tunnel has been 500 years long, and there is no end to this tunnel, let alone light at the end. The most wonderful Inca Indian civilisation was devastated by the Spanish invaders, and naturally it is no joy for the indigenous people of Brazil to celebrate the landing of the white colonisers on the Atlantic coast. As your Editorial points out, the native Indians are second class citizens in Latin America. The Indian population has dwindled to such low levels that they can never get back their sacred lands.

The second category of ``losers of history'' are the whites themselves who opted to stay on even after the colonial powers departed. These white settlers had nowhere else to go because, for generations, they had no contacts with `Mother Europe'. Most certainly, the white farmers of Zimbabwe on whom violence is unleashed lately, also belong to this category of ``losers of history.'' As the power should transfer to the native majority, so should the minority have the right to live as equal citizens in the lands they have lived for centuries.

Your Editorial has touched upon the subject of the ``doubtful legacy'' that the colonisers left behind. Perhaps, India's experience may be a mixed one, the British being more benevolent compared to their Iberian counterparts. However, I will not consider English education, at the cost of our native mother tongue, a desirable legacy. The way English is propped as the ``language of salvation'', we will all soon end up as ``losers of history''.

Subbiah Venkataraman,

Thiruvananthapuram

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