Very saddened by the news that the crisis in Mali has resulted in the destruction of thousands of ancient manuscripts in Timbuktu (report by Alex Crawford for Sky News http://news.sky.com/story/1044015/mali-french-troops-advance-in-timbuktu ).
This has of course happened before.
During the chaos that engulfed Bosnia, there were attempts to destroy the records of the Muslim people who lived in Sarajevo, presumably in an attempt to deny Muslim people ever lived there.
In 1922 the IRA burned all the Protestant parish registers in the Four Courts - virtually all the parish registers on the island of Ireland, most dating back to the 16th century. Presumably this was an attempt to deny that "Anglo-Irish" people ever lived in Ireland (the population was once half a million, or 14% of the total). The IRA has never apologised for this act of cultural cleansing, or indeed the ethnic cleansing that accompanied it.
Historian Caroline Shenton warns what happens when attempts are made to edit the past.
This has of course happened before.
During the chaos that engulfed Bosnia, there were attempts to destroy the records of the Muslim people who lived in Sarajevo, presumably in an attempt to deny Muslim people ever lived there.
In 1922 the IRA burned all the Protestant parish registers in the Four Courts - virtually all the parish registers on the island of Ireland, most dating back to the 16th century. Presumably this was an attempt to deny that "Anglo-Irish" people ever lived in Ireland (the population was once half a million, or 14% of the total). The IRA has never apologised for this act of cultural cleansing, or indeed the ethnic cleansing that accompanied it.
Historian Caroline Shenton warns what happens when attempts are made to edit the past.
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