Protest against British monarchy participation could feature in the upcoming republican celebrations – Barbados Today

Demonstrations have been planned for the day on which Barbados is scheduled to transition to a republic because of an invitation extended from the Government of Barbados to Prince Charles to attend the festivities as the Guest of Honour and accept the prestigious Order of Freedom Independence award.

The planned protests have received the endorsement of an International Relations Specialist at the University of the West Indies as well as an outspoken politician who currently sits on the Governments backbench.

In an interview with Barbados TODAY, General Secretary of the Caribbean Movement for Peace and Integration David Denny declared the inclusion of Prince Charles an insult to the Barbadian people given the role of the British Monarchy in the proliferation of slavery and oppression in Barbados.

You are either breaking with the monarchy or you are not breaking with the monarchy. And if you are breaking with the monarchy, then you cannot invite them to be part of that process. I am not saying that you cannot invite the prince to Barbados, but not for our ceremony for Barbados to become a republic. It is a contradiction. It is not an honourable thing to do and I think it is an insult to Barbadian people, declared Denny.

We insulted the Barbadian people from 1998 when we created a national heroes square with Lord Nelson in it and we struggled from then until Lord Nelson was removed, he added.

The peaceful protest is slated for 3 p.m. on November 29th at Government Headquarters on Bay Street. The social activist revealed that he is applying for permission for up to 100 attendees, hours ahead of the 11 p.m. transition ceremony.

Denny acknowledged that the protest is unlikely to prompt Mottley to rescind her invitation or dissuade Charles from coming, but he noted that the consciousness of Barbadians needed to be stirred.

He explained that at independence, when Queen Elizabeth II visited the country, she was being retained as head of state, making her presence at the independence festivities appropriate. On this occasion, Denny said it was a contradiction.

His sentiments were shared by Dr Kristina Hinds, who described the invitation from Prime Minister Mottley as a beggarly gesture and the award as highly inappropriate.

We are moving to become a republic and in so doing to break these colonial ties with the British Monarchy and I think it is extremely inappropriate to award a member of the same British family the Freedom of Barbados, Dr Hinds declared.

The British Royal family is a source of exploitation in this region and many other parts of the world and as yet, they have not offered a formal apology or any kind of repair for past harms. So I dont see how someone from the family can be given the Freedom of Barbados Award. That is beyond me.

The international relations specialist added that whilst the invitation was also unnecessary, it could be better understood from a diplomatic perspective.

You dont have to offer an award in order to say that you want to maintain a friendly relationship. All you have to do is to maintain a friendly relationship, indicate that this is what you intend to do, which is to continue developing this very important relationship, remain a member of the Commonwealth, and stand for all of what the Commonwealth stands for. But you do not have to offer an award and anybody who says that this is necessary for diplomatic relations is being disingenuous in my opinion, added Dr Hinds.

Meanwhile, longstanding St Michael East MP Trevor Prescod, a pan Africanist, declined to share his personal views on the inclusion of Prince Charles; he would make them known when the celebrations were complete.

I believe Mr Denny and all those who are not in favour of the invitation of Prince Charles are entitled to express their view and how they feel about the transition that they are witnessing. The Government as well and the Cabinet of Barbados and certainly the Prime Minister are entitled to their views of how things should be done, said Prescod.

I dont even quite understand the justification for some of these things but I always leave things at a point. Until I have a strong rationale for the objections, I leave things at a point where everybodys opinion is worthy of listening to. I think that Mr Denny who is in a position and the other brothers and sisters who want to object, I believe that they should be allowed to do so, the MP added.[emailprotected]

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Protest against British monarchy participation could feature in the upcoming republican celebrations - Barbados Today