London university removes Leopold II plaques after student protest

Queen Mary University of London has removed two commemorative plaques laid by King Leopold II following a wave of student protests decrying the 19th century monarch's colonialist history.

Campaigners felt that the plaques would cause offence to students of certain ethnic backgrounds and described the king as a “genocidal colonialist”.

In April, the university’s student council voted not to have the plaques, laid in 1887, and the associated foundation stone removed. Students who had voted in favour of keeping the memorials believed that their removal would prevent the opportunity for debate around Leopold’s legacy.

Weeks later, the Pan-African Society inaugurated a petition as part of their "Leopold Must Fall" campaign, again calling for removal of the memorials and proposing instead that they be "relocated to a museum... dedicated to the memorialisation of the crimes of genocide, colonialism and imperialism".

According to the Daily Telegraph in the UK, the university later removed the plaques "as part of ongoing refurbishment work".

The Pan-African Society’s campaign mirrors that of the “Cecil Rhodes Must Fall” movement that found its way on Oxford University grounds following the success of #RhodesMustFall at the University of Cape Town. Campaigners at Oxford failed in their attempts to have Rhodes’ statue taken down, however. The Telegraph going as far to say that the “Cecil Rhodes effect is creating a chilling atmosphere around the country”.

King Leopold II became infamous around the world in the early 20th century for the mistreatment of the indigenous people of the Congo Free State, which he reigned over for 23 years. The atrocities that took place during his rule inspired such literature as Joseph Conrad’s The Heart of Darkness.