Everybody claims to love peace, yet there are so many disturbances in the civil society ~ often there are theories that chaos, riots are doctored – sometimes by the rulers and many a times by the opposition to ensure defeat of the other ideology – how bad these schemers are – they try to gain making others life miserable .. .. … ……
In
Aug 2011, there were riots - a series of riots spreading to almost a week, when thousands of people rioted in cities and
towns across England, saw looting, arson, and mass deployment of police, and
resulted in the deaths of five people.Protests started in Tottenham, London,
following the death of Mark Duggan, a local man who was shot dead by police on
4 August. Several violent clashes with police ensued, along with the
destruction of police vehicles, a double-decker bus and many homes and
businesses, thus rapidly gaining attention from the media. The following days
saw similar scenes in other parts of London, with the worst rioting taking
place in Hackney, Brixton, Walthamstow, Peckham, Enfield, Battersea, Croydon,
Ealing, Barking, Woolwich, Lewisham and East Ham.
Back home in India, in Mar 1908 -V. O. Chidambaram Pillai and Subramania Siva
were arrested in Tuticorin – crime, delivering inflammatory speeches against
the Govt and the British foisted sedition case against them.A riot broke-out demanding their release –
called ‘Tinnevely riot’ –a direct response to the arrest and subsequent conviction of
Indian nationalists Subramania Siva and V. O. Chidambaram Pillai.Public buildings except the town office were
attacked and furniture destroyed though there was no loss to life. Twenty-seven
persons were convicted for participation in the riot. .. .. British clamped many restrictions and supressed any uprising
with iron hands (boots) – yet there were some in the land, who adored the
British, stating that coming from land of disciplined people, they would not
tolerate chaos .. .. and that was their ‘brand intolerance’ ~ history would reveal that United Kingdom has
not been a land of paradise !
The
Swing Riots were a widespread uprising in 1830 by agricultural workers in
southern and eastern England, in protest of agricultural mechanisation and
other harsh conditions. It began with their destruction of threshing machines
in the Elham Valley area of East Kent in the summer of 1830, and by early
December had spread throughout the whole of southern England and East Anglia.
There
were widespread agitations against Corn Laws too. The Corn Laws were tariffs
and other trade restrictions on imported food and grain ("corn")
enforced in Great Britain between 1815 and 1846. The word "corn" in
the English spoken in Nineteenth Century Britain denoted all cereal grains,
such as wheat and barley. They were designed to keep grain prices high to
favour domestic producers, and represented British mercantilism. The Corn Laws
imposed steep import duties, making it too expensive to import grain from
abroad, even when food supplies were short.The Corn Laws enhanced the profits
and political power associated with land ownership. The laws raised food prices
and the costs of living for the British public.
In that so called peaceful land, riots broke out on this day –
203 years ago !- know as Ely
and Littleport riots of 1816, occurred between 22 and 24 May 1816 in Littleport,
Cambridgeshire. The riots were caused by high unemployment and rising grain
costs, much like the general unrest which spread throughout England following
the Napoleonic Wars.
In
1815, the government increased taxation on imported wheat and grain to help pay
for the costs of the Napoleonic Wars (1803–1815). Poor laws, such as the
Speenhamland system, were designed to help alleviate financial distress of the
poorer communities, but such systems helped to keep wages artificially low as
the farmers knew labourers' wages would be supplemented by the system. Basic
commodities, like cereals and bread, became heavily over-priced, creating
widespread social unrest. The worst hit were the families of the men returning
from the Battle of Waterloo (1815) who arrived home at a time when unemployment
was already high. One reply to a questionnaire circulated by the Board of
Agriculture in February, March, and April 1816 reported that "the state of
the labouring poor is very deplorable, and arises entirely from the want of
employment, which they are willing to seek, but the farmer cannot afford to
furnish." The cost of wheat and
bread were raising astronomically.
The
Littleport riot broke out when a group of residents met at The Globe Inn.
Fuelled by alcohol, they left the inn and began intimidating wealthier
Littleport residents, demanding money and destroying property. The riot spread
to Ely where magistrates attempted to calm the protests by ordering poor relief
and fixing a minimum wage. The following day, encouraged by Lord Liverpool's
government, a militia of the citizens of Ely, led by Sir Henry Bate Dudley and
backed by the 1st The Royal Dragoons, rounded up the rioters. In the ensuing
altercation at The George and Dragon in Littleport, a trooper was injured, one
rioter was killed, and at least one went on the run.
Littleport
is a large village in Cambridgeshire with a population in 1811 of 1,847. On 22
May 1816, a group of 56 residents fueled by alcohol, directed their anger at
local farmer Henry Martin. He had been overseer of the poor in 1814 and was not
well liked by the parishioners.The
rioters began at Mingey's shop, where stones were thrown through the windows,
and then they invaded Mr Clarke's property and threw his belongings into the
street. The riotersvisited the premises
of disabled 90-year-old Mr Sindall, throwing his furniture into the street; his
housekeeper, Mrs Hutt, was intimidated by a rioter wielding a butcher's cleaver…
after many looting, the rioters arrived
at the house of the Reverend John Vachell, who, after threatening to shoot
anyone who entered his house, was disarmed when three men rushed him.
Edward
Christian, Chief Justice of the Isle of Ely was entitled to try the rioters
alone. The government, in this case via the Home Secretary, Lord Sidmouth,
nevertheless appointed a Special Commission, consisting of Justice Abbott and
Justice Burrough. The rioters were tried in the assizes at Ely during the week
commencing June 1816. 23 men and one woman were
condemned, of which five were subsequently hanged. General unrest and
riots such as that at Littleport may have been a factor in the government
passing the Vagrancy Act of 1824 and subsequently the Metropolitan Police Act
of 1829.
The
Judge sentencing and punishing people observed that - It is of the highest
importance to the peace and safety, not only of this isle, but of the
surrounding country, that all who are present on this solemn inquiry, and all
who read the account of its proceedings (and there are few parts of the kingdom
in which it will not be read) may be convinced by the awful lesson which may
here be taught, that whatever wild or chimerical notions may prevail of the
power of an armed multitude, the law is too strong for its assailants; and
that, however triumphant or destructive their sway for a few days, those who
defy the law, will ultimately be compelled to submit either to its justice or
its mercy.
Some
of the convicts were transported and sailedon the convict ship Sir William
Bensley, which departed for New South Wales in Oct 1816.At least 5 were executed after conviction of diverse
robberies during the riots at Ely &Littleport. .. including them there were
total of 83 persons executed in 1816 charged with riots.
With
regards – S. Sampathkumar
22nd
May 2019.
