SDLP support Gurkha Band in Omagh
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SDLP Councillors portray themselves at election time as strong
nationalists but in between elections throw a lifeline of support to
the RUC at the local Patten Commission hearing an are prepared to
welcome the British army Gurkha Band to this part of Ireland
- Omagh
District Council chair Seán Clarke
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A decision by Omagh District Council to provide the town's leisure
centre for a promotional concert involving the British army Gurkha
Band has caused outrage among nationalists. The Gurkha battalions are
among the most notorious in the history of the British army's
imperialist wars around the world and have left a legacy of mercenary
murder in various countries, particularly India.
While Gurkhas have not served in the Six Counties, they often have
taken the place of other British army units who were sent there. What
is particularly distressing about the decision to many people is the
support given to the idea by SDLP members of Omagh Council.
The proposal first came to light at a meeting of a Council
subcommittee, where council officers who had earlier been informed by
members of the Royal Irish Regiment that the Gurkha Band would be
available, sought to pursue the issue quietly and send an invitation.
When the facts came to light at the full Council meeting on Wedneday,
14 April, the idea was strongly opposed by Sinn Féin.
A motion to prevent the Gurkhas playing in Omagh leisure centre was
proposed by Councillor Mickey McAnespie, who said that the proposal
would be ``strongly opposed by the majority of the people of the Omagh
District, who want to see British soldiers leave this country, not
come here in bigger numbers''. His proposal was seconded by Sinn Féin
Councillor Kevin McGrade. McAnespie said: ``The Gurkhas, it must be
said, have a particularly murderous track record and our party will
not give them the red carpet treatment.''
In the event however the proposal was carried with the support of the
Ulster Unionists, the DUP and SDLP Councillors.
Following the decision the Chairperson of Omagh District Council,
Seán Clarke, said he was extremely disappointed: ``As an Irish
nationalist and a republican I would ask those councillors who
descibe themselves as nationalists but who actively opposed Sinn
Féin's objection to the Gurkhas if they have any national pride in
them at all.
``I am specifically referring to those SDLP Councillors who portray
themselves at election time as strong nationalists but who, in
between elections, throw a lifeline of support to the RUC at the
local Patten Commission hearing and who are prepared to welcome the
British army Gurkha Band to this part of Ireland.
``The British army Gurkha Band is not welcome in Omagh District as
far as the vast majority of local people are concerned. Look at the
history of the British army in Ireland. Look at the savage history of
the Gurkhas in British colonies the world over.
``It is well documented how the Gurkhas massacred people by the
thousand throughout India; how Britain has deployed them against
freedom movements in Malaya and Brunei. It is well known that they
pride themselves in exhibiting the body parts of those they murder as
some type of trophy.''
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