Fed with milk of courage and resilience which has caused them to never surrender in the face of adversities, East Indians in Guyana are better off than they were 100 years ago. This was the view of Prime Minister (PM) Moses Nagamootoo, who himself is of East Indian ancestry.
He shared this view on Friday evening at the National Cultural Centre where the Guyana Indian Indentureship Abolition Association (GIAA) held a programme to observe the centennial anniversary of the end of indentureship in Guyana.
“If we were to ask the question if we were better off today, I would say we are better off because we were fed with the milk of courage, of resilience and we never surrendered,” the PM told the largely Indian gathering.
According to him, there is no doubt that Indo-Guyanese today are proud of their roots, just as they are proud of their nationality.
But this proud spirit, he said, was shaped by an eventful past which cannot be re-written. He reflected on the lives on Indentured servants who came to Guyana from India in 1838 to work on sugar plantations.
“Lives of indentured servants were afflicted with the darkness of oppression, the darkness of being bond servants, the darkness of being unrecognized for who they were and being paid measly and miserable wages while they worked for long hours. They were sent to jail for minor offenses and whipped quite often by the plantation owners,” he reminded the gathering.
Fast-forward one hundred years after Indentureship was abolished; the PM related that this is the year when Guyanese should reflect on those sacrifices. He added that there should also be reflection on the courage and the resilience of Indian ancestors.
“We also have to pay tribute to them for having bequeathed to us this culture; not only religion, arts, music, dance and all other feature, but also a culture of resilience. If we were to ask the question if we were better off today, I would say we are better off because we were fed with the milk of courage, of resilience and we never surrendered,” PM Nagamootoo said.
In a world marred by catastrophic events, the Prime Minister noted that there are countries that are making every effort to become rich while its citizens are fleeing and are being deemed refugees. He reasoned that there are also countries being afflicted by all types of scourges including poverty and hunger, others which are not divided along ideological barriers that are now being divided by physical walls.
In the context on Guyana though, he was keen to note that its long history of slavery and indentureship, as inhumane as those systems were, bred in Guyana what eventually became a nation state that has held itself in the arena of the world with pride and independence.
This oneness, he added, is credited to the struggles of those slaves and indentured workers who would have revolted, rebelled, and staged strikes which paved a way for them to enter the political arena.
He referenced the fact that it took a multi-ethnic and multi-racial coalition to transcend the aspirations and dreams of ancestors to push Guyana towards independence.
“We have much to celebrate after 100 years. We have much to celebrate because Guyanese who have become the offspring’s of indentured servants have excelled in all endeavours. We have become proud citizens of an independent country and we will build on the dreams and aspirations of our ancestors,” an optimistic PM said.
The ceremony featured several other speakers including Indian rights activists Ryhaan Shah and Ravi Dev, Peoples’ Progressive Party (PPP) Member of Parliament (MP) Adrian Anamayah and Indian High Commissioner to Guyana, V. Mahalingham.