Diego Myths and Facts
On 5th November 1965, the Council of Ministers met and decided that the "Secretary of State should be informed of their agreement that the British Government should take the necessary legal steps to detach the Chagos archipelago. During that meeting, Koenig, the Attorney General, Devienne, (Minister for Development) and Duval (Minister for Housing) stated that, although they were "agreeable to the detachment of the Chagos archipelago, they considered the compensation of £3m as inadequate and deplored the absence of any additional sugar quota." On the same day, the Governor informed Greenwood of the decision of the Council of Ministers. On November 11th, Koenig, Devienne and Duval resigned from the Government On November 8th 1965, the Chagos archipelago was excised from Mauritius and BlOT was created by order in council.
On November 10th 1965, in an answer to a UK parliamentary question, the Secretary Of State for the Colonies, Anthony Greenwood announced to the House the decision to excise the Chagos Archipelago following agreement with the Government of Mauritius.
At no time during the excision process, the Chagossian population is mentioned. In the minutes of the Lancaster house conference, in paragraph 22 and 23, they are referred to in section (iii) on compensation as “.... Compensation to landowners and the cost of resettling others affected in the Chagos Island."
In his announcement in the House of Commons on November 10th, 1965, The Secretary of State, Greenwood refers to the Chagossian as "Mauritians consisting of a labour force and their dependents drawn from Mauritius and employed on the copra plantations, 638 in Total
Chagossians never consulted or even mentioned
Independence was not fait-accompli at the Lancaster House Conference. The excision of the Chagos took place on November 8th, 1965. This is a fact. In the minutes of the conference, in paragraph 22 and 23, in section (ii), it is stated, "in the event of independence ..... “ I understand tins statement to mean that although Chagos had already been excised in November 1965, independence was not guaranteed then. It will become a reality only after the 1967 general elections when independence will be granted to the Labour -IFBCAM alliance because and only because they won the elections. A simple Majority vote will be required within 6 months of winning the elections. If the PMSD had won in 1967, the UK would NOT have proceeded to granting independence even though Chagos was excised in 1965. Allow me to quote Koeniq, ''Nous ne sommes pas contre l'excision des lles pour les besoins militaires de l’Ouest."(L’express- 13th November 1965).
Conclusion: 4 political leaders and not just Dr. Ramgoolam took part in the excision of the Chagos islands in London and they had every opportunity to change their mind back in Mauritius in council of ministers. Independence was granted because a majority of the population voted in favour of independence. Chagossians, as hmnan beings, as Mauritian citizens, were never consulted or even mentioned in any documents. They were, at best, counted as cattle and even then, the secretary of state, Mr. Greenwood, grossly underestimated their numbers for obvious reasons.