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How the Dutch Are Coming to Terms With the Colonial Past

door Bastiaan Scherpen

After a brief controversy, a ruthless former governor-general of the Dutch East India Company is back on his pedestal in his Holland birthplace. Literally, that is.

But the dispute over the statue of Coen doesn’t stand alone.

 

The statue of Jan Pieterszoon Coen (1587-1629) in the city of Hoorn, North Holland province, was accidentally hit by a vehicle during construction works in August. Despite calls to use the opportunity to replace the effigy with one of a less controversial figure than the man nicknamed the Butcher of Banda, the Hoorn City Council in late September decided to restore the monument. It was placed back on Oct. 19.

[Lees hier verder in de Jakarta Globe, November 21, 2011]

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