Idi Amin couldn't have been in power today: Vaz By Prasun Sonwalkar, Indo-Asian News Service
London, Aug 17 (IANS) The death of Idi Amin continues to evoke strong reactions among Asians in Britain, where tens of thousands of them fled after being expelled by the former Ugandan dictator in the 1970s. Keith Vaz, MP for Leicester East, said nobody in his city would be mourning Amin's death. "People remember the fact that he ruined their lives when he exiled them. Uganda's loss was Leicester and the U.K.'s gain, but many people are still bitter and are pursuing compensation claims against Uganda," he said. "In this age we would have done more. Someone like Amin would not have been in power so long. It's a tragedy." Over the years, most Ugandan Asians have prospered in Britain and revitalised what were then economically deprived towns such as Leicester. Many of them keep in close touch with developments in Africa. They have followed news about Amin's exile in Saudi Arabia, his illness and his death. Manzoor Moghul, the vice-chairman of the Ugandan Evacuees Association in Leicester, was one of tens of thousands of Asians who settled in Britain after being expelled. He told BBC: "Ugandan Asians have no reason to grieve at his death but at the same time have no reason to celebrate or be jubilant. He was a brutal dictator yet a very remarkable man." Yasmin Alibhai-Brown, a Ugandan Asian journalist who lives in Britain, told Channel 4 News that Amin had got away with his crimes. "The greatest shame is that he was allowed to live this long in relative luxury. Part of the problem was that we, the U.K. I mean, were implicitly involved in his rise to power. The man was absolutely evil." -Indo-Asian News Service ########################################################################## # Send submissions for Goanet to [EMAIL PROTECTED] # # PLEASE remember to stay on-topic (related to Goa), and avoid top-posts # # More details on Goanet at http://joingoanet.shorturl.com/ # # Please keep your discussion/tone polite, to reflect respect to others # ##########################################################################
