Lessons from local history

May 08, 2021 Letters

---

DEAR EDITOR,

Those who choose to enlighten the peoples of Guyana or to condemn President Ali for saying “Let us remember that every group that came (to Guyana) did so for improvement, did so to have improved living conditions, did so that successive generations will be better off” should check the history of the British Guiana work force of indentured labourers.
The first set of indentured labourers to British Guiana was the Madeiran Portuguese. They arrived in British Guiana as indentured immigrants on May 3, 1835, bringing their agricultural expertise and their Catholic faith, which contributed to the growth and expansion of the Roman Catholic Church in the colony. Many of these labourers did not adapt well to the climate and suffered from a high mortality rate. In particular, those from Malta, who were indentured to Hibernia in Essequibo, suffered badly and their social conditions deteriorated so very rapidly that the Governor cancelled their indentures and arranged for them to be shipped back to Malta.
Because of the growing need for labourers for the sugar estates, some planters decided to recruit Chinese especially during the period between 1848 and 1851, when Indian immigration was suspended.
Fourteen thousand Chinese arrived in British Guiana on 39 vessels bound from Hong Kong to fill the labour shortage on the sugar plantations. There were also some Chinese immigrants who were not interested in working as sugar cane farmers, because they felt the pace of work was too demanding. In May 1860 several of them left their estate (near to Georgetown) and marched to the city to protest their working conditions to James Crosby, the Immigration Agent General. At La Penitence they were stopped by mounted police who beat them and forced them to turn back. Those who did not want to work on the plantations had the options of buying their way out of their contract, escaping from the estates, or committing suicide. The first option was expensive since the labourers were earning only $4 a month. There were many cases of Chinese who escaped from the estates. Many of them managed to reach Charlestown, which was becoming the local “Chinatown,” but they were eventually caught and imprisoned for 30 days and returned to their places of work from where they usually escaped again. There was also an unusually high rate of suicides among Chinese men and it is determined that a dislike of plantation work was the cause.
Indian immigration to the British West Indies was triggered by Great Britain’s decision in the 1830’s to outlaw the enslavement of labour brought from Africa. Newly emancipated Black slaves were suddenly able to choose where to live and what to do, which led sugar plantation owners to look elsewhere. After recruiting from Portugal, China and other countries, colonial recruitment turned to British India.
The indentured labour system became the replacement system for slavery in British Guiana. Persisting for 75 years, this system of indentured servitude presented its own forms of injustices, creating conflict with Indian nationalists, who finally pushed for its cessation in 1917. One major distinction between slavery and the indentured immigrant experience was that the indentured labourers from India had agreed to immigration, signing contracts that bound them to a plantation for five years, while earning a small, fixed daily wage. After five additional years working in Guiana (for a total of 10 years), they would then be entitled to either receive passage back to India or to stay in Guiana and receive land and money to start their own businesses.
396 Indian immigrants arrived from Calcutta in 1838, but a reported total of over 230,000 indentured labourers arrived from India over the ensuing 80 years. For its first 25 years, indentured recruits were drawn largely from small towns in and around Calcutta, but people were recruited from as far as Sri Lanka. Other groups of recruits spoke the Tamil and Telugu of South India. The backbone of all recruiting operations was professional recruiters, assisted by paid local agents called “Arkatis” in North India and “Maistris” in South India. Intimidation, coercion, and deception were common, as were illegal practices, such as kidnapping and forced detention. An example of deception related to labourers who signed to immigrate to Suriname.
In addition to having to deal with lack of freedoms, intense heat and brutal working conditions, these indentured servants were largely met with hostility from the newly freed Black slaves, whose opportunity to earn a living was undercut by the very low wages paid to the Indian immigrants. In retrospect, except for Europeans (Portugal being a part of Europe), all other races of immigrants in the diaspora of British Guiana were unfairly treated with contempt by our colonial British masters. As President Ali rightfully said, “Today we are faced with challenges, but if we work together in unity and love, regardless of ethnicity, lineage, or political affiliation, we are bound to overcome these challenges.”
Perhaps it is Mr. Lincoln Lewis who should get his history right before condemning anyone.

Sincerely,
Gloria Holder

---

---