Indian indenture and Guyana’s future

May 13, 2018 APNU Column, Features / Columnists

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(Remarks by His Excellency Brigadier David Granger, President of the Cooperative Republic of Guyana, on the occasion of Indian Arrival Day, May 5, 2018)

Indian Arrival Day – the 180th anniversary of Indian immigrants’ landing at Pln. Highbury in Berbice on 5th May 1838 – is an auspicious, national celebration.
Portuguese Arrival Day was observed two days ago to mark the 183rd anniversary of the landing of Portuguese immigrants at Pln. Thomas in Demerara on 3rd May 1835.
Chinese Arrival Day was observed in January marking the 165th anniversary of the landing of Chinese immigrants at Pln. Windsor Forest in West Demerara on 12th January 1853.
Arrival Day, therefore, is an important national holiday. It commemorates the greatest population surge in our history. It was the start of an era of the demographic transition.
The emancipation of over 80, 000 Africans from enslavement in 1838 and the migration of over 340,000 Africans, Chinese, Indians, Europeans (including Portuguese) and West Indians over the next eighty years started the process of transforming a string of plantations into a single nation.
Annual pilgrimages to Highbury, Windsor Forest and Thomas Lands remind us not only from whence we came but, also, to where we are going.
We have been told: “We may have all come in different ships but we are in the same boat now!” Our destinies are intertwined forever in our nation’s future. We must swim together or sink separately.
Indian Arrival Day recognises, not only the historical event of arrival but, also of the survival of Indian indentured immigrants and their descendants. The immigrants’ resilience allowed them to overcome adversity and to change challenges into opportunities in four important ways.
ECONOMIC EXPANSION
India, the Indian homeland, is a complex country of over 2,000 ethnic groups and 650,000 villages. Over 70 per cent of Indians still live in rural areas and, 180 years ago, the percentage was higher. Indian resourcefulness and their agrarian roots in rural India and agrarian life were transplanted in Guyana.
Indian skills in paddy- and vegetable-farming, coconut-cultivation and cattle-rearing; and their skills as boatmen; charcoal-burners; goldsmiths; fishermen; hucksters; milk-and sweetmeat-vendors; shopkeepers and tailors enriched the entire economy.
Migrants, coming from India’s rural regions, helped to diversify and expand Guyana’s rural economy. Many migrants traded their entitlement to a return passage to India for land in Guyana; they turned their indentureship into citizenship.
Indians resisted the abuse, brutality, confinement, and domination of plantation life. Their resistance included riots and strikes.
Our coastland is littered with memorials to the martyrs of riots – at Devonshire Castle, Enmore and Rose Hall and yet unmarked sites at Leonora, Non-Pareil, Nooten Zuil and Ruimveldt where labourers were killed.
Indian entry into politics and trade unionism was inevitable in such circumstances. Dr. Joseph Latchmansingh established the Guiana Industrial Workers Union (GIWU) and Ayube Edun established the Manpower Citizens Association, mainly in the sugar industry.
Joseph Luckhoo was the first Indian elected to the Combined Court. He was followed by E.A. Luckhoo, A.E Seeram and J.B. Singh, Peer Bacchus, C. R. Jacob, A.M. Edun and, later, Dr. Cheddi Jagan and others.
This year marks the 100th birth anniversary of Dr. Cheddi Jagan, the son of Indian indentured immigrants whose contribution to the struggle for national liberation assures him of national respect.
Immigrants, enduring the arduous voyage across the Kala Pani consoled each other. They became each other’s ‘mati’ – a concept in which people doing similar work are treated as equals. ‘Mati’ signifies solidarity, sharing and mutual respect.
Cultural retention played a role in Indian resilience. Indians, finding themselves in an unfamiliar land, recreated familiar situations in their new homeland.
They forged a stronger sense of solidarity by retaining their beliefs, dance, dress, food, language, music and traditions. Mandirs, Masjids and Churches were erected to reinforce religious beliefs, retain rituals and strengthen communal ties.
Social Cohesion recognises that Guyana is now and always will be, multi-ethnic, multi-cultural and multi-religious. It recognises these differences between various social groups and fosters respect for each other.
Social Cohesion acknowledges, however, that if left unattended, those differences could threaten trust and thwart the unity we have forged for 180 years.
Our diversity is an asset, not a liability. We are proud of the variegated tapestry of ethnicity. We are proud of our shared past as we plan for our common future.
Guyana, on this Indian Arrival Day, pays homage to the Indian indentured immigrants and their descendants. Indian-Guyanese can be proud of their contribution to the nation. We applaud their continuing role in nation-building.

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