By Sangita Lal
Between 1914 and 1918, Europe was ripped apart by World War one. Millions of men and women lost their lives. Due to this, November 11th is Remembrance day. It seems almost dutiful to respect their lives and continue a tradition embedded in the culture of Britain.
The simple fact that someone of our generation could be disrespectful to the memory of thousands of lives, is still unbelievable but it’s a truth.
2012 saw Bristol appalled as a gatecrasher skated past the troops as they marched past the cenotaph.
It seems –to some extent- impressive that someone can be so blinded to the sacrifice and the reasoning that the rest of the country shares behind Remembrance Day. The day in itself is capitalised for its significance, and I see it as the only consolation we have to the years of fighting, to remember those who fought. The longer we continue to move on from the awful truths of our country’s history, the more respect we show.
The reaction of the crowd itself almost showed an ironic symbolism of community and a shared understanding, which has echoed in our history of joining forces against the enemy. It has been reported the crowd made remarks such as ‘‘death’s too good for you’’ This – despite its extreme connotations – shows the passion we still hold in our hearts for the men and women that lost their lives so we could lead the ones we do today.
If anything, the 38 year old man reaffirmed the importance of Remembrance Sunday and its significance. What point was he trying to prove? He showed no symbolic following with his attire that day and no comments which showed an intellectual reasoning.
He is an immature man and someone who I don’t believe thought he would have to suffer the wrath of – not only the police – but of us everyday people who despite our faults, come together on the 11th.
This one man who is divided from our respect and shared mentality was one man out of all of Bristol. He embarrassed himself and is not representative of the kind hearted people of this city, the kind of people who pop to the pub to meet their mates for drinks, or meet at cafes to help each other revise for exams. We should live our lives to the fullest in memory of those who died to save our way of life.
The more awful truth is the fact that he was so thoughtless to mock the troops of today who are still fighting.
The worst part of his actions that day is the fact that war isn’t a memory or in the past. It’s our present. People are still fighting and still losing their lives and that one man should not be remembered for his actions. All that should be acknowledged is that we still feel so strongly about the wars of our past and we are still connected to them in our present.
He did nothing but make me realise I haven’t forgotten what sacrifices were made and what is still happening today. And I’m completely content in the knowledge that that’s probably the opposite effect he wanted.
Are these the same troops as the Bogside Massacre, or are they the bad ones? The same troops involved in the abuse case just outside Basra? Are we going to remember the troops that pushed the button when a drone strike in Afghanistan killed 4 civilians?
I can think of a lot of people who have very good reason to not consider the spectacle of Remembrance Day to be respectful in its very premise.
For the act of looking slightly foolish, da Silveria could be facing up to six months in prison depending on which section of the Public Order Act he’s being charged under. Have any news sources spoken to him about what his motivations were? I’ve seen plenty that quote members of the “respectful” public wishing death upon him.
Is what da Silveria did really worthy of a substantial fine or jail time? In this sea of articles reiterating how important it is that we respect British soldiers fighting in wars they didn’t choose to be in, killing people for no clear reason, what are we missing from the bigger picture of how this structures our understanding both in regards to the role of the armed forces and also the breaches of human rights that we suddenly appear to consider to be legitimised on our own soil?
For the sake of a an hour this moron couldnt stop and think. As for it being a “spectacle” another moronic opinion. Its to remember ALL people who died as a result of conflict, hence Enda Kenny being at the Enniskillen memorial, hence the WI taking part and hence the fact its now multi faith. Yes a large focus is placed on troops past and present but if you even bothered to watch the festival of rememberance or read one of the leaflets posted through letter boxes youd discover its to remember all.
Unlike the republican communities of the Bogside who still parade with balclavas and ak47’s, deface graves and memorials of innocent people because they attend a different church and face fireworks strapped to aerosol cans at peoples homes because they vote for a certain party, we remember all who died.
Unlike radicals who will blow up more than 4 civilians because they are seen speaking to soldiers, then threaten their families that if they bury them in their villages they will kill the rest of the family, we remember all.
Wake up and smell the coffee, these things arent all black and white, id assume that as you managed to get to uwe you were of some intelligence and wouldnt be so disrespectful to call an
act of remeberance as a spectacle. Im sure the little girl who is lying in a Birmingham hospital
bed with a hole in her, becuase she wanted to go to school,wouldnt agree.
After all its easy to judge when you have no experience of these things and its the “in” thing to say.
No one should feel obliged to respect anything, afterall, isn’t that what many of those soldiers died for – democracy and freedom of thought?
If you don’t respect it then fair enough, don’t ruin it for others and go out your way to disrespect. Granted, the soldiers died so that we have a better life, democracy and freedom of thought and for that in itself, it should be respected. I highly doubt when those fighting men were watching their friends be blown up as well as fearing their own life thought, that in the future when the next generations remember them, “we are doing this for someone to have the freedom to dress up as a devil and skateboard around the Remembrance Parade”. What a stupid statement….