Below, are excerpts of an article by Gulcharan Mohabir, in which he gives his perspective on, Indian Indentureship: A Forgotten Episode of History. The CAPITALIZED SUBTITLES, underlined words, and bold print are my own, and you can click on the link below, to see the full article. Hope you find it informative, even if it is not “pan-related”. This is in response to other “non pan-related” claims against Africans, and the importance of having a strong African identity. Let’s look into the mind of the “Indian Indentured Worker”…
THE BEGINNING OF THE INDIAN ARRIVAL
On May 5, 1838, two British ships, the Whitby and the Hesperus landed in Port Georgetown, British Guiana (BG) (now called Guyana), on the South American continent. The cargo: 396 Indians from India. (Eighteen died during the voyage). This was the first batch of Indians to arrive in the western world…In 1834, black (African) slavery had been abolished in British Guiana and the British West Indies…newly freed slaves afterwards refused to work on the sugar plantations…though the white plantocracy tried to entice them with monetary inducements, freedom was far more valuable. The British plantation owners as a class were losing their collective shirt, and also their status in society. The former black slaves had provided a ready source of cheap, easily controlled labour, on whose backs the white plantocracy had accumulated immense wealth and enviable status in British society. It became imperative to find a new similar source of cheap and easily controlled labour. The British East India Company came to their rescue!
THE CONTRACT. (HOW DOES THIS COMPARE TO THE AFRICAN’S OPTIONS?)
Indians were duped into making the journey across the kala pani; some were simply kidnapped and forcibly transported to the colonies; whilst a few voluntarily agreed to go. It is also believed that some signed up to go to the colonies to escape British retribution after the Great Mutiny in 1857 in India…There were three major elements of these contracts: each 'indentured' was made to serve on a particular sugar estate for a specified pay for a specified period; the duration of the contract was for five years; and the plantation owners had to pay for the return passage to India at the end of their contract. Fortunately for them, they were permitted to practice their religion and other cultural practices. (Under the previous slavery system, Africans were completely dispossessed of their entire identity).
LIFE IN THE LOOGIES
On their arrival in the colonies, they were deployed in various sugar plantations, where they were lodged in loogies, which were actually the living quarters of the original black slaves. The harsh treatment meted out to them was similar to slavery. In fact, indentureship became a euphemism for the new slavery, since for all intent and purposes, these Indians were basically slaves (the white masters had complete control over their lives). There were many rebellions against their owners, but as Dr. Brinsley Samaroo in his article: Two Abolitions: African Slavery and East Indian Indentureship stated: “East Indian resistance to Indentureship often expressed in fashion similar to the African resistance to slavery took the form of riots, strikes, desertion and murder of offending managers and overseers. Such resistance was invariably, as in the days of slavery, put down with exemplary harshness. Yet resistance persisted, as Indians were becoming increasingly better organized, producing strong leadership as the immigrants grew more accustomed to their new environment”. Several instances of revolt resulted in commissions of inquiry set up to investigate the treatment of Indians on the sugar plantations. Commissions consisted of both British and Indian Nationals. Abuse of Indian women by white personnel on the sugar estates was also rampant. Many Indians even tried unsuccessfully to return to India, and many died in the dangerous forests. On recapture, they were usually flogged and salt rubbed on their wounds, and then imprisoned.
AFRICANS ARE NOT THE ONLY ONES TO “SELL OUT”.
On the sugar estates, Sardaars were appointed as mainly go-betweens. These were Indians who had somehow acquired a smattering of the English language, and so were able to facilitate communication between the plantation owners and the indentureds. In time, these Sardaarsbecame very powerful themselves, and in their privileged position have been known to mete out more atrocities on their own kind. Many acquired substantial wealth on the backs of the common labourers.
ANOTHER DIRRERENCE IN THE ARRANGEMENT
The then British Government did appoint a special agent in each colony (called the Immigration Agent-General) to ensure that the welfare (including their health) of these indentureds was protected, and that the inhuman practices of the former slavery system were not repeated. These supposed protectors were all whites, and of course, they always sided with the white plantation owners. Each colony only had one such official, and it was impossible for him to be present all the time in all the plantations. And so in their absence, untold atrocities were meted out. On the few occasions when they visited particular sugar plantations, the owners would ply them with food and alcohol until they were too drunk to perform any kind of investigation of abuses. Most importantly, Indians were regarded as habitual liars, and this perception pre-empted any investigation of claimed abuses.
THE BEGINNING OF “BAD BLOOD”?
The British used the ex-African slaves as security personnel to police the Indians on the sugar plantations. Some Africans were also used as nurses in the hospitals maintained by the white planters. During hospital stays Indians were forced to consume pork and beef by these nurses. These practices bred hostility between Indians and Africans, and were probably the beginning of simmering hostilities between the races, which persist until today in all former British colonies.
HOW THE WEST WAS WON, BY EAST INDIANS. (COMPARE TO THE OFFER GIVEN TO AFRICANS)
The introduction of Indian indentureds into the sugar plantation was a highly successful venture for the white plantation owners. Sugar became king again! The industry grew to amazing heights never before realised. Sugar made many new English barons. As can be imagined, the plantocracy now wanted to keep the indentureds on the sugar estates for as long as possible… The return passages proved to be too expensive for the scrooge plantation owners, and various schemes were devised to retain them in the colonies. One such scheme was the allotment, for a price, of small plots of land to many of the labourers to cultivate crops for themselves. This played well with the Indians, who always dreamed of owning their own land. (In fact, in spite of the many hardships encountered during their indentureship period, many of them had saved up tidy sums of money and returned to India). They planted crops, and reared animals, such as chickens, ducks, goats, sheep, and of course cows. Although this new practice was devised to keep these Indians from returning to India, it gave those who remained in the colonies a new dream for a better life. The cultivation of rice by predominantly Indians in the colony eventually became a major industry in BG, and was one of the main export industries there (after sugar and bauxite). Many Indians went on to make small fortunes from rice!
ALL EXPENSES PAID CONTRACT FOR INDIANS TO RETURN “HOME”
This inhumane system was finally abolished in 1917. By that time, over half-a-million Indians had been transported to the West Indies, with the majority settled in British Guiana (238,909) and Trinidad (143,939). Many did return to India, after having accumulated small savings. (The indentureship contract guaranteed them a return passage to India, at the cost to the plantation owners.) Some 74,645 persons were repatriated from British Guiana to India at the end of their contracts.
TRUE CONFESSIONS OF AN EAST INDIAN ON “CLINGING” TO “INDIANNESS”!
As happened in Africa during and after colonisation, the Christian missionaries were hard at work on the sugar plantations endeavouring to save the heathen souls. Indian children were forced to attend Christian schools, and to worship in Christian churches. Schooling in Indian religion or culture was not provided in these government-funded schools. In fact, Indians were forced to send their children to evening schools, housed in Hindu or Muslim places of worship to acquire a smattering of education in anything Indian. Even this half-hearted attempt at an Indian education floundered when parents discovered that only an English (read Christian) education could get their sons and daughters jobs in the colonies. Eventually, they lost their language; but they nevertheless clung to their religion, their culture, their Indian food; as much as possible of their Indianness.
DID YOU SAY “INDIANS KILLING INDIANS”? NO…
The British had been masters at subjugation. So much so that they made Indians kill other Indians. They used India as a source of slave labour in their colonies, in the same way that they had used Africa. They even made us believe that what they were doing was for our own good, and that we were the 'white man's burden'. We are still bedevilled with a colonial mentality, and have become adept at denigrating our religion and our customs and beliefs. More insidious was the practise that developed and exists even today (and we see various forms of intellectual contortions that evidence this): business interests of the powerful and privileged are protected and promulgated by or with the use of political and military power. This practice is rationalised as being “our national interest” or “national security”, and this justifies almost any behaviour.
(Source: http://gulcharan-mohabir.sulekha.com/blog/post/2005/10/indian-indentureship-a-forgotten-episode-of-history.htm. Accessed 4/22/12.)
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