Nether Land

No matter when, where or by whom, colonialism is an evil that leads to atrocious behavior against the oppressed. This comes to mind, now that the Dutch government has decided to award some $270,000 for a massacre by its troops at a tiny Indonesian village in 1947. Frustrated at losing their empire, they executed 430 men and boys because the people there would not cooperate with them in their search for a resistance leader. Sixty-four years later, most of the victims' relatives are no longer alive or are very old and sick. What they are going to receive is a mere pittance, compared to the harm they or their family endured all those years ago. The people at the village are so poor -- probably as a result of colonial exploitation -- that the prospect of receiving this handout has caused a great deal of grief.

These are the lasting effects of colonialism all around the world.

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