By Dr Yesu Persaud
The Indian Commemorate Trust is happy to celebrate this historic day not only with Indians but with all Guyanese because this is a part of our history as the Indentured Indians made tremendous contributions in helping to build this nation. This is the 21st Anniversary of the Indian Commemoration Trust which commenced in 1988. The ICT duly commemorates this day at the Indian Monument Gardens, located at Church and Camp Streets, Georgetown. -On 5th May, 1838, the Sailing ships Whitby and Hesperus left Calcutta with four hundred and thirty seven Indian Indentured workers for British Guiana now called Guyana after Independence, eighteen persons died during this voyage, fourteen persons from the Hesperus and four from the Whitby – four of whom died from a deadly outbreak of Cholera due to highly unsanitary conditions of the ship and were thrown unceremoniously overboard. The ship surgeon Dr Richmond worked tirelessly and was able to bring this dreaded disease under control.

One lesson the Indentured Indians learnt on board the ships was that irrespective of class or caste, they had to work together as a team on board the ship and form a bond that kept them together, this brought about the concept of xJahajiship.x

On arrival in Demerara and Berbice they were allocated in the sugar estates and commenced work on the second day of arrival. Their dwellings were the same slave logies occupied by the slaves who were given final freedom on the 1st of August, 1838, who had sworn never to return to the sugar estates. The Indentured Indians were a little better off than the slaves, however, they could not leave the plantations without a pass, anyone found off the plantation without a pass was arrested, jailed or fined. The Indentured Indians were not allowed to mix with the slaves since the British masters feared the slaves would try to sow discord against their masters, those who challenged their masters were tied to a post, beaten with cat-o-nine tails and salt were rubbed in their wounds.

The Indentured Indians were treated horribly on the sugar estates by the plantocracy, the general idea was that these people had no culture; they had no knowledge of that beam of Christianity, they were referred to as idol worshippers. During the period 1838-1917, two hundred and forty Indentured workers came to Guyana of whom 70 per cent stayed to build their homes in Guyana.

Despite all the hardships, the remaining Indentured Indians who braved their way through the many storms made some great contributions in every phase and facet of life.

The colonial masters didnxt realise that these very ancestors were the ones who had written the immortal Mahabharata, the Ramayana, the Bhagwat Gita, and the Upanishads, these works could never be replicated. The Ramayan and the Mahabharat were considered two of the greatest epics of the world. The Ramayan dates back to nearly four thousand years, while the Mahabharat dates back to nearly three thousands years. The colonial masters didnxt have a clue that these people have a history and culture that dates back to the mist of time.

Professor Max Muellar who was a sanscrit scholar, praises the great works of the Indian scriptures and philosophy that had so much to teach the world. Professor Muellar translated the great Indian literature and works of the past Mahabharatan, Ramayana, Bhagwat Gita and the Upanishads into English, giving the world an insight what India really contributed to its development. It should also be remembered that the numeration system, mathematics: algebra, trigonometry etc were discovered by the Indians, thousands of years while the West was living in darkness.

Perhaps I may quote my great friend and colleague Dr Ian Mc Donald, who featured article, xTiger in the starsx. xIn the case of the Indian Indentured people it is not only the long list of outstanding personalities emerging over the years to make their contribution domestically, regionally and internationally which is important, though the list is immensely impressive. What would Guyana be without those thousands of Indians who played outstanding roles in politics, the unions, the professions, the public service, the trade unions and business, the arts and culture, the intellectual development and the religion of this country? It would be invidious to single out names, but perhaps I might put it this way: in politics, in law, in medicine, in the arts, in education, in business, in religion, in every walk of life, there have been more than one equivalent to what Rohan Kanhai is to cricket.

But it is not only the personalities. It is also the richly variegated culture which has helped to form the fabric of the nation and enhanced all our lives whether we are Indian or not. What would Guyana be without Indian customs, Indian religion and its age-old practices and philosophy, Indian festivals and holy days, Indian clothes and jewellery, Indian food and spices, Indian dance and song and music, Indian architecture, Indian learning, Indian attitudes to life and death inherited from centuries ago? Without this myriad of legacies, contributed out of a great culture, it would simply not be Guyana at all.x

The (ICT) Indian Commemoration trust has continued in the celebrations of the arrival of the Indentured Indians and will do the same for this the 171st anniversary. We would also like