The victims of the Indenture System (1834-1920), India’s forgotten children, finally received their long overdue recognition, as Overseas Indian Affairs Minister Vayalar Ravi unveiled the Kolkata Memorial at an emotion-charged function in the West Bengal State Capital on January 11.
Hundreds of people including descendants of indentured labourers, leaders from Australia, Canada, Fiji, Guadalupe, Guyana, India, Kenya, Mauritius, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Re-Union Islands, South Africa, Surinam, Switzerland, Trinidad & Tobago, UK and the US attended the ceremony.
Virtual Slavery
Indenture system was a reformed system of slavery that had all the elements of subjugation except that it was terminal after five years. Almost 1.5 million Indians served under the indenture system, mostly in the British colonies.
Tales of torture, torment, pain and suffering continue to hurt the descendants of the Indian indentured labourers, who now reside in host countries and various parts of the world. The history of the people who served under the indenture system has largely been eclipsed to hide the iniquities of those who should have been charged for crimes against humanity.
From India’s rural heartland of UP, young men and women walked into the net of indenture. The recruiters, agents of deceit and malice, trapped these gullible people with tales of riches awaiting them. Ignorant, illiterate and innocent, they joined their compatriots at the rural depots from whence they were transported to 14 Garden Reach, Kidderpore Depot, which adjoined the Hoogley River in Kolkata.
Once trapped, the victims had no chance of escape, as they were herded into the waiting coolie ships to transport them to different colonies. It was at this point that most of the recruits came to realise that it was severance from the motherland.
For a majority of people, it was the beginning of their nightmare and an end to ties with their families, friends and their beloved country. The next few weeks in the boat would set the tone of their lives ahead, as they would be subjected to live under harsh and hostile conditions.
They would be exposed to ritual beatings and physical and mental punishment that would condition them to be obedient and submissive to the authorities. Once they reached their destination, they would be ‘bought’ by the planters and distributed to the plantations to begin their backbreaking work that would sap their mental and physical energy in the next five years.
They would live under atrocious working and living conditions and it would leave them mentally torn and physically broken. From the ashes of their broken lives, they would resurrect their dreams and restore their lives, maintaining a morbid silence on the atrocities and indignities that hounded them to their graves.
More than a century has passed since this gruesome part of our history unfolded, derailing the lives of thousands of people.
Recognition of Sacrifice
India’s unfortunate children laid their lives in the service of the British Empire but in return received neither recognition nor expression of gratitude from the British.
The unveiling of the Kolkata Memorial reflects the sacrifices of the poor and the weak in the so-called civilised human society and their struggle to find utterance.
The sacrifices of the pioneer generation who were yoked to the indenture system are beyond redemption.
The ceremony should have had a British representative to pay tribute to those whose service to the British Empire was unmatched by any other race of people.
Sadly, the realm of international politics and taking note of the pecking order, India would not have the courage to ask the British to do the honourable thing.
Nevertheless, it was truly a historic moment with enormous significance to millions of descendants of those who left India as indentured Indian labourers during the 19th and 20th centuries.
It is a monument that will continue to attract people and take them back in history of our forebears who made those unknown journeys in quest of a better future for themselves and us.
We salute them with gratitude and remain indebted forever for giving us the opportunity to build on the strong foundations that they laid for us.
Rajendra Prasad bears the scars of the infamous indenture system (called Girmitiya), with his ancestors being the victims. The immense agony that he continues to suffer led him to write Tears in Paradise, one of the most celebrated books on Girmitiya, which is now in its third edition. Copies of the book can be purchased by writing to him at raj.prasad@xtra.co.nz
