On the morning of the announcement of the death of the much-loved and widely admired Queen Elizabeth II, Greens Deputy Leader Mehreen Faruqi tweeted:

‘I cannot mourn the leader of a racist empire built on stolen lives, land and wealth of colonised peoples.

‘We are reminded of the urgency of Treaty with First Nations, justice & reparations for British colonies & becoming a republic’.

Just out of curiosity, I have two simple questions for Senator Faruqi regarding where and what she would be today, but for British colonial history.

First, if the UK had not colonised Pakistan (as part of undivided India), not brought the English language to the subcontinent, and not introduced the UK education system and curricula, where does Faruqi believe she’d be living today?

Second, what does she believe her status and life conditions would be as a woman in a Muslim society and Islamic country without the history of British colonialism? Does she have the honesty and courage to address this question?

Unlike Pauline Hanson, I am not advising Faruqi to ‘p… off back to Pakistan’, but I do suggest she might want to ponder the question and help us to understand just why she chose to leave Pakistan, a republic, to emigrate to Australia, a constitutional monarchy.

Honest introspection about conditions in Pakistan might temper her hate-filled, offensive, and insulting rant against someone who was the very personification of grace, dignity, duty, and service before self.

Coincidentally, The Weekend Australian featured the immigrant success story of the Menon brothers from Kerala in India, co-founders of My Muscle Chef. It vividly highlights Australia as a welcoming land of opportunity for everyone irrespective of creed and pigmentation.

Faruqi’s party leader Adam Bandt used his condolence message to the late monarch to reignite the debate on a republic. He was insensitive in the timing and in calling for a republic in the condolence message itself. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese ‘read the room’ right in saying:

‘Today’s not a day for politics. Today’s a day to pay tribute to the service of Queen Elizabeth … as someone who is worthy of respect from every single Australian.’

At least Bandt’s faux pas was not intrinsically offensive and the debate he foresees is inevitable (even though its conclusion is not). By contrast, fellow-Greens Senator Lidia Thorpe’s juvenile swipe at the ‘colonising’ Queen during her own swearing-in was ignorant, factually wrong – the Queen presided over the biggest dissolution of empire of any monarch in history – and also immature and theatrical. However, even though disrespectful of the Queen, the comment wasn’t occasioned by the demise of the sovereign.

In sharp contrast to the tasteless Faruqi tweet, former PrimeMinister Tony Abbott penned a beautifully written classy tribute to a life that was long and also well lived. Faruqi would also benefit from watching the ‘from the heart’ address to the nation by King Charles III that was both elegantly crafted and pitch-perfect in delivery. In case it hasn’t registered with her yet, he is our new sovereign. Echoing his final words, perhaps she should let her own better angels guide her thoughts and words with the requisite generosity of spirit.

For what it’s worth, India was the jewel in the crown of the British Empire. Its independence in 1947, which also saw the birth of Pakistan as a sovereign state, was the biggest catalyst to the decolonisation of the British Empire. India chose to become a republic in 1950 but stayed as a key member of the re-imagined Commonwealth of Nations which the Queen served with trademark dedication. India experienced its fair share of suffering under the yoke of British colonialism, including the killing fields of partition. Yet, even as I write this on Sunday, India is observing a country-wide day of State mourning as a mark of respect for the departed Queen.

There is a lesson in that for some of our more excitable republicans. Writing in The Spectator, Brendan O’Neill provides an excellent example of how it is possible to be a passionate republican and yet respect the Queen and share in the nation’s profound sense of loss at her passing.

Get 10 issues for just $10

Subscribe to The Spectator Australia today for the next 10 magazine issues, plus full online access, for just $10.

SUBSCRIBE 10 issues for $10 REGISTER 3 articles a month

Already a subscriber? Log in