Henry Frendo (‘Anti-colonial memory’, June 9) is right to emphasise that it’s wrong to dismiss the serious Sette Giugno incident. It was also right for Governor Laycock, on April 28, 1958, to recall British commandos marching up Paola Hill, with fixed bayonets, under a hail of stone-throwing, and with Dom Mintoff egging the crowd on in Paola Square, asking them, “are you afraid of commandos?”.  It would have led to a far worse incident than Sette Giugno.

However, the Sette Giugno commemoration is, in a way, discriminating against one colonialist. The six Maltese Sette Giugno deaths, in 164 years of British colonial rule, contrasts sharply with possibly more than 10,000 Maltese deaths in only two years of French occupation, and we have no statues or public holiday to mark this far more serious matter in our history.

But then people, particularly under the influence of politics, accept and retain the version of the tale that suits them.

Perhaps it’s about time wegrew up.

Why don’t we scrap the politicised Sette Giugno, Independence and Freedom Day public holidays and replace them with one national day? Are our politicians serious when they claim they wish to unite this little overcrowded rock, or does fomenting the tribal warfare of the local politico-social scene suit their purpose better?