Reparations for forced labour must include all races

Apr 01, 2022 Letters

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Dear Editor,

Kaieteur News – Reparation for slavery is in the news again in several territories of the region – brought to the fore by the visit of a Prince of England to Jamaica and other Caribbean islands. Africanists and Caribbean political leaders are demanding reparations for slavery which was only one form of forced labour. Prime Minister Rowley brought it up in Trinidad a few days ago as did PMs of other territories. Indentureship of Indians, Portuguese, Chinese, and Blacks was also a form of forced labour. The native Caribs and Amerindians were also forced into labour for the European colonialists, enriching their empires. Yet, reparations for indentureds and natives have not been part of the advocacy or vocabulary of leaders in the Caribbean. Forced labour violated the human rights and dignity of all groups and they are all entitled to some form of compensation. Governments must champion reparations (compensation) for all groups and not just one group.
Slavery and indentureship were among the most heinous and inhumane crimes committed against African and Indian peoples in the diaspora. The Portuguese and Chinese did not labour as long as or thought to suffer the same degree of humiliations and rights violations as Indian indentureds who were flogged and often starved not much different from slaves. Indian Indentureship included several features of slavery. In “A New System of Slavery: The Export of Indian Labor Overseas (1830-1920)”. A seminal and comprehensive boo on the subject, Professor Hugh Tinker gave details of the many similarities that the two socio-economic systems shared in common.
Dr. Tayyab Mahmud, a professor of law and director of the Center for Global Justice at Seattle University. Argued that indentured labour was cheaper than a slave in a paper titled ‘Cheaper than a slave’: Indentured labour, colonialism and capitalism”.
As an epigraph, Mahmud quoted a passage from Amitav Ghosh’s Sea of Poppies (2008): “‘Do you mean slaves, sir?’ Mr. Burnham winced. ‘Why no, Reid. Not slaves – coolies. Have you not heard it said that when God closes one door he opens another? When the doors of freedom were closed to the African, the Lord opened them to a tribe that was yet more needful of it – the Asiatick.’”
Prof. Mahmud adds: “The main successor to modern slavery was the institution of indentured labour, which is often portrayed as a bridge between slavery and modern forms of contract labour. This switch in the form of labour also involved a switch in the source of the labour supply from Africa to Asia.”
African historians have been given recognition and support by CARICOM governments to champion reparations for slavery. But there is no similar advocacy for forced labour endured by the ancestors of present day Indians or other groups. In 2013, CARICOM established a reparations commission (CRC) to pursue the path to reconciliation, truth and justice for the victims of slavery and their descendants. CARICOM funds this body which has a chairman and several members — all of whom are compensated and are receiving stipends for their work and travel. No funding is available to any Indian or Portuguese or Chinese or Amerindian group to champion reparations for them. This is unjust and a violation of equal treatment to all.
Indian community leaders and scholars I interact with feel that there should also be reparatory justice for the descendants of the victims of indentureship as well as the genocide of the indigenous peoples of the New World. They believe that Indians, Chinese, Madeirans and Portuguese, and indigenous people should also be part of the CARICOM Reparations Commission. CARICOM governments cannot agitate for compensation for only one race of people.
Paradoxically, CARICOM is violating the very concept of fairness, equity and justice by excluding non-Africans in the CRC. There is not a single Indian or Chinese or Madeiran or Portuguese or indigenous person in the CRC. The Chairman is Prof. Sir Hilary Beckles from UWI, Mona Campus. I penned a letter appealing to CRC to include members of other races in the commission. Prof. Kumar Mahabir’s who attempted to become a member of the commission has been rejected.
There is a compelling argument for reparations for indentureship in the book entitled “Sat Maharaj: Hindu Civil Rights Leader of Trinidad and Tobago” by biographer Dr. Kumar Mahabir. On page 147, Mahabir wrote: “During the hundred-year period of 1845 to 1945, all marriages not performed by the Christian church or at a warden’s office were not legally recognized by the State. Thus, widows and children of Hindu and Muslim land owners were unable to claim their relative’s estates after they had died. Children of Hindu and Muslim marriages were considered to be illegitimate and thus the land that they should have inherited was given over, once again, to the State. Indian Guyanese suffered similar experience.
To champion their advocacy for reparations, I would like to suggest the appointment of an indentureship and indigenous people reparation commission along the line of CARICOM Reparations Commission unless the regional organisation includes the neglected groups in its CRC. Funding for the indentureship CRC should come from Caricom. It is noted that in addition to getting funding from Caricom, the CRC also gets funds from individual governments. The Guyana government has been providing funds for Guyana representative of the CRC in addition to the body itself. The government should provide an equal amount of fund for a proposed Indenturship/Indigenous People CRC.
There should be compensation to the descendants of Indian indentured for crimes committed against their forebears who were duped into leaving India, underpaid and cheated for their labour, jailed and beaten wrongfully, and robbed of the wealth and land that they were promised.
The advocacy for reparations for forced labour should include all groups – everyone must be treated fairly and equitably regardless of race.

Yours truly,
Vishnu Bisram

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