Britain’s ‘dirtiest secret’ is rooted in the sixties. When Mauritius gained independence, the UK terrorized and evicted 2,000 poor coconut farmers on Diego Garcia, the largest island of the Chagos archipelago in the Indian Ocean. It referred to them as ‘some few Tarzans’ and “Man Fridays”, dumped them in Seychelles and Mauritius and to escape UN scrutiny, declared that Chagos, the Mauritius dependency, was “uninhabited”.
The US was eyeing Diego Garcia for a military base to watch the Soviet Union, the UK was eyeing US Pershing missiles. A deal was struck and Diego Garcia was leased to the US for 99 years. After languishing in poverty despite winning their right to return to their homeland in nearly every global court for six decades, the exile islanders were overjoyed when the UK agreed to restore Mauritius’ sovereignty in Chagos last year.
But under one condition which Mauritius accepted: that the US and UK would remain on Diego Garcia for another 99 years. The US’ largest overseas military base had proved its importance during wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
But just ahead of the Iran strikes, US President Trump called the UK promise a stupid idea. It remained unratified under former PM Keir Starmer. His successor Andy Burnham, too, remains evasive.
Meanwhile, Mauritius has lost patience. Chagos’ other 60+ tropical islands in the middle of the Indian Ocean are of great commercial and strategic value both for tourism as well for their strategic location. Among others, Mauritius’ foreign minister has vowed that it will “spare no effort” to get Chagos back very soon.
Independent foreign correspondent Padma Rao Sundarji spoke to Sivakumaren ‘Robin’ Mardemootoo for The Gist. The top corporate lawyer in Port Louis represents the Chagossian exiles in courts across the world.
Mardemootoo outlined the UK’s deception over Diego Garcia, and strongly believes that Port Louis should strike a direct deal with the United States.
Can India help? Or, will China emerge a shadow player in the imbroglio? Mardemootoo clarified that he doesn’t speak for his government. But if the UK reneges, then Port Louis, he said, will turn to others for help.
