The ethnic cleansing began on the night of the 24th of May in Guyana with the burning of John Mohammed’s store, but the worst of it was seen on the 25th of May with murders. The siege on Indo-Guyanese lasted 38 hours with hundreds beaten, some women gang raped, and 222 homes and businesses burnt to the ground with Indians forced to flee to the Wismar Police Station to safety. 744 Indian families became destitute. 3,399 Indians were evacuated, effectively rendering Wismar and Christianburg free of Indians on May 26th 1964. Two years later on May 26th 1966, the Forbes Burnham Government declared the date, Independence Day, a bittersweet event for Indo-Guyanese who remember.
According to the Government of India, Non-Resident Indians (NRIs) are citizens of India who currently are not living in India, while the term People of Indian Origin (PIO) refers to people of Indian birth or ancestry who are citizens of countries other than India. There are over 29 million NRIs and PIOs, comprising the world’s largest Diaspora; a Diaspora which started with the indentureship of Indian labourers from 1927 to 1917.
The experience at Wismar was a direct result of the system of indentureship. So was the Hosay Massacre in Trinidad in 1884, and the Ugandan expulsion of 1972, and the displacement of Indo-Fijian farmers since 1999, and the continuous spates of violence against Indo South Africans. This is not an exhaustive list.
Should the PIO experiences of racism, loss of life, limb and livelihoods – wherever they are domiciled – continue to go unrecognised? To what extent should there be global awareness of the aggression of Indian indentureship, and the cruelty experienced by PIOs, despite their resilience and success?
The following are excerpts of a ZOOM Thought Leader’s Public Forum held recently (26/05/2024) on the topic: “Proposal for the United Nations to recognize an annual day in Memory of Indian Indentured Servitude and Its Abolition”. The public meeting was chaired by Shakira Mohammed, moderated by Shalima Mohammed, and hosted by the Indo-Caribbean Cultural Centre (ICC) and the Indian Diaspora Council (IDC). See the unedited recording of the programme: https://www.youtube.com/@dmahab/streams
ASHOOK RAMSARAN (USA/ Guyana) said: “Each UNESCO International Day of Recognition offers many actors the opportunity to organise activities and really act as a springboard for awareness. A special day should highlight the history of Indian indentureship and its abolition. It’s a noble objective with merit and justification. It’s a historic remembrance for posterity and has been a long-overlooked recognition of the history of Indian indentureship, so it’s time for a dedicated Global Team Planning, and diligence to properly recoognise it.”
PROF. CHAN CHOENNI (Netherlands/ Suriname) said: “We have to recognise this duality in discussing the evolution of Indian indentureship, because although we agree on the atrocities our ancestors faced. We also must accept that for several Caribbean territories, the introduction of Indian indentured labourers and their work to transform Caribbean society, was invaluable.”
JENITA TREACY (England/ India) said: “To better understand the story of Indian indentureship, we need to help paint a clearer picture of slavery and indentureship, showing that they are twined together. Indentureship is the next chapter after slavery, it’s even been referred to as slavery 2.0. Indian indentureship is the missing link in the global migration story, and we ought not to forget that it helps explain so many diverse cultures and their origin stories, which for many, go completely undocumented.”
AMB. BHASWATI MUKHERJEE (India) said: “We should remember the indentureds, not with joy, but we remember them with sorrow, like in slavery. We remember them because they lost their liberty and suffered. That is what we should focus on for the day of remembrance. It’s not a joyful moment, it’s akin to the oppression and suffering that many other minorities have experienced. We must remember this day with solemness, and we have to make history remember it.”
KRIS RAMPERSAD (Trinidad) said: “UNESCO itself and the UN systems are narrow and ill-fitted structures that we should really be trying to chip away at to change. We need to confront and address the more fundamental issues of representation and visibility in these international systems by reforming and transforming the system to be one that is more inclusive of all walks of history such as ours of Indian indentureship.”
PRAVESH SHARMA (Fiji/New Zealand) said: “Indentureship stands as a pivotal, yet often overlooked chapter in human history. Indentureship resulted in a period of migration that shaped societies and economies across continents. The United Nations – as a powerful Global body – holds the power to bring forth recognition and remembrance for the victims of indentureship. By proposing May 30th as the International Day for the remembrance of the victims of indentureship, it will carry great significance in honouring the struggles and resilience of those who entered and endured the system.”
Submitted by
Dr Kumar Mahabir
Anthropologist | Editor | Publisher
Indo-Caribbean Cultural Centre
indocaribbeanpublications.com