Girmitiya: What’s in a name?

Dec 16, 2024 Letters

Dear Editor,

Responding to the use of the term “Girmitiya” by myself and Dr. Ganga Ramdas referring to the descendants of Indian indentured labourers in Guyana, my friend Devanand Bhagwan asserted that “Hindustani, not Girmitiya, is the correct and respectful designation for descendants of Indian indentured labourers in the Caribbean”. While the discussion may appear to be esoteric to some, the name of a group conveys much sociocultural information about their identity that have accrued historically. Identity is not a fixed but rather a dynamic notion that illustrates the ongoing effort of people to seize agency in naming themselves. Our case is intertwined with our colonized origin and the ongoing decolonizing process.

The British, ruling India from the 18th century, transported individuals within and without the country as indentured labourers and routinely referred to them as “coolies”. The word became a term of opprobrium, to say the least, equivalent to what we refer euphemistically today as the “N” word. In Guyana, the cultural activist Rajkumari Singh attempted to valorize the term in her 1973 essay, “I am a Coolie” by highlighting their efforts to develop Guyana. Today, the Mauritian cultural theorist Torabully has introduced the term “Coolitude” to describe the wider philosophical world view. But “coolie” has not gained traction in self-identification, as say, the word “Black” has done in the African diaspora.

Bhagwan recommendation of “Hindustani”, which as he says, is widely used in Suriname to identify the descendants of Indian Indentureds there. This usage originated from the Dutch adoption of the word “Hindustan”, which along with “India” and “Bharat”, referred to the “British Raj” during indentureship. Hindustan had referred to the Moghul-ruled lands east of the Sindhu/Indus River. After independence, the constituent assembly drafting India’s constitution dropped that name and opted for “India that is Bharat”. In pursuit of its own evolving identity for its 1.4 billion citizens, the present government has signaled retaining only the name “Bharat”, which originated from ancient times and its citizens as Bharatiyas, rather than “Indians” or “Hindustanis”.

“Hindustanis” in Suriname, then, was equivalent to the term “Indian Indentureds” sometimes used in British Guiana by British officialdom. “Coolie” was also routinely used in both country. We should note that the term “Kantraki” is also used in Suriname, as is “Girmitiya” nowadays by scholars such as Ruben Gowricharn”, to highlight the agency of most indentureds in making the decision to leave their country destroyed by British Colonialism in signing the indentureship contract or agreement.

As Bhagwan pointed out – and we have done so repeatedly before – “Girmit” is a mispronounciation by Fijian Indian Indentureds, of the word “agreement”. The Bhojpurized “Girmitiya” refers to the “people of that agreement” – as does the Surinamese “Kantraki”. What the word emphasizes is the commonality of the living conditions, dictated by the contract under which indentureds laboured on the plantations in each of the countries to which they were shipped. The anomalous penal clause for civil breaches by the indentureds; the abysmal ranges/barracks/logies in which they were housed; the disparity in women shipped-in etc., inevitably played an outside role in shaping their culture and concomitant identities. It is not by accident that alcololism, suicide and domestic violence are pathologies in Girmitiya societies along with the vaunted economic successes. The attenuation of caste and regional loyalties are thus the tip of the multitudinous changes that were generated which made it almost impossible for those who repatriated to India, to reintegrate into that society.

I was personally first exposed to this commonality of identity at the “Global Organization of People of Indian Origin” (GOPIO) launch at the Sheraton in NYC in August 1989. I was Co-Chair of the “Conference on Political Participation” and then led a breakout session of the Girmitiya countries in which Guyana’s Cheddi Jagan, TT’s Basdeo Panday and delegated from Fiji and South Africa etc participated. Some of us later met at my home in New Jersey where we were amazed at how much we had in common, in addition to the “dhall and rice” we ate with our fingers.

With heightened consciousness assisted by improved communications, the term “Girmitiya” is spreading rapidly far beyond Fiji and Mauritius which had early contacts. Presently, South African Indentureds are experiencing a renaissance under the Girmitiya banner. India itself has begun referring to “Girmitiya countries”. There is no “correct” was to refer to oneself – simply that which is felt to be most appropriate depending on the place, time and circumstances.