Indian Arrival 2004

8/10/2019 Indian Arrival 2004

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trinidad

&

tobago


2/84

A new land

A new home

A new destiny

Through the kalapani

During that long journey

Thinking

W ith little.

Hop ing. d reaming

N ow stand a people.

proud and pros


3/84

DIVERSITY ..

THE KEY TO

LIFE

I f there is one lesson in diversi ty , i t is the impor tance

of the individual to the whole, of each member to

the family, o f each group to the community, o f each

island to the reg ion, o f every reg ion to the socie ty

of man.

A company that knows and be lieves this will itself

be characterized by the diverse skills of diverse

people, build diverse assets, create diverse products

that fit the world it serves, find diverse ways to be

an active participant in the communities it calls

home, always invest ing in li fe today

ANGUILLA' ANTIGUA' ARUBA' BAHAMAS' BARBADOS' BELIZE' BERMUDA' CAYMANISLANDS' CURACAO' DOMINICA' GRENADA' GUYANA' MONTSERRAT

NEVIS' PANAMA STKITTS ST LUCIA' SI MAARTEN ST VINCENT SURINAME TRINIDAD

s

TOBAGO' TURKS

s

CAICOS U.S.VIRGINISLANDS

A Member of the C L FINANCIAL GROUP

P e o p le C e n t re d

utu re riven

CUCO HEAD OFFICE

2951. V incent S t ree t, Port 01Spa in , T r in i dad , Wes t Ind i es .

T el : ( 86 8) 6 23 -1 42 1 F ax : ( 86 8) 6 27 -3 82 1 E -m ai l in lo@ ci rc o. com

Websile

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4/84


5/84


6/84

Prime Minister

Republic of Trinidad and Tobago

Indian Arrival Day Greetings

On behalf of the Government and People of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, wish to extend greetings to

National Community as we celebrate Indian Arrival Day, 2004.

It is now

159

years since the arrival of the first group of East Indian immigrants aboard the Fath AI Razak.

subsequent evolution of the East Indian community in Trinidad and Tobago has proven to be a constructive engagemen

Our people of East Indian descent continue to make an invaluable contribution to the development of our nation, and

are grateful for the preservation and passing on of various aspects of their traditions, cultural norms and institutions.

Appreciably, too, as with other groups among us, there have been many positive adjustments and adaptations, so muc

that after more than one and one half

r:

nturies our East Indian fellow citizens are as integrated as any other into

aspects of our national life.

It is indeed remarkable and to be commended therefore, the extent to which East Indians in Trinidad and Tohago

joined other groups, largely of immigrant background themselves, in working out a model plural society in which fo

most part our institutions are increasingly being shared and relations are growing more and more connected and positi

inextricable.

Today, rare is the citizen who does not feel or see himself or herself as part of our nation. This is not to say that there

no challenges. Notwithstanding that these are common to groups living in plural societies, the people of Trinidad

Tobago have long been exceptional and exemplary in the manner in which we have been forging before the world

nation out of the disparate social elements bequeathed by our colonial experience.

The pe-ople of our beloved country have long been more united than this and we can only sell ourselves short with

such approach, having already progressed far beyond that stage. After so many years of integration and interac

following our various arrivals we are now at that point where our ethnic diversity, for example, should he cherished

the colour, quality, character, resilience and strength that it can and has provided for our nation.

Let us therefore celebrate Indian Arrival Day this year as a nation in which all our people have truly come to terms

the fact of our diversity. Let us show ourselves as a nation fully appreciative of the merits of our cosmopolitan mak

and determined to demonstrate to the world that groups of different backgrounds can both live together and progres

peace and harmony, on the basis of genuine understanding, appreciation, and love and respect for each other.

Patrick

Manning

Does not the

Ramayana

exhort us as follows?

Jahaa sumatee tahaa sampatee

nana

Through unity, prosperity and progress flourishes unceasingly.


7/84

NO.8 Bolai T r. , I .D .C . Estate,

Chase V illage , T ri nidad , W. I.

Tel:

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Fax: 868 672-5330

E-mail: [email protected]

AUTHORISED DISTRIBUTOR ~

~~tV\t~

hat ouots _

\~Iil\)\\t


8/84

MINISTRY OF COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT, CULTURE AND GENDER AFFAIRS

51 - 55 FREDERICK STREET

PORT OF SPAIN

TRINIDAD AND TOBAGO

I bring warm greetings to all citizens of Trinidad and Tobago as we commemorate Indian Arrival Day. I

very special greetings to the descendants of those of our citizens of Trinidad and Tobago who made that long

perilous journey from India to Trinidad and Tobago many times from 1845 to 1917.

As I give these special greetings to our Indo-Trinidadian citizens, I wish to remind you. that your history.

contribution is a matter of interest and importance to all citizens of Trinidad and Tobago. This is why [ sinc

congratulate those who had the foresight to produce this ex~c1lent magazine.

I am especially pleased that it will be distributed in our schools. It is in the sharing of information that we

dissipate ignorance: that ignorance that breeds fear and hostility. So that by disseminating information pertinent t

history and contribution of our Indian brothers and sisters throughout the society. and in our schools we arc r

cementing the tolerance that still remains a hallmark of this multi-ethnic. multi-religious society. This tolerance,

ability to live in unity, cannot ever be taken for granted. The dysfunctional of many other societies warns us. alerts

treasure what we have here, to guard it. and protect it. It provides really. the underpinnings of all succe

development in our society. For without it. our society will be seriously at risk.

As we learn about and celebrate our Indian brothers and sisters, let us look towards a future, in which Trin

and Tobago will continue to shine as an exemplar of a truly harmonious society, a society in which we will recog

and applaud that harmony. We arc free to also celebrate our plurality, our diversity.

Happy Indian Arrival Day.

HONOURABLE MINISTER

JOAN YUILLE WILLIAMS


9/84

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10/84

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mGR COMMISSIONER

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~U5

HIGH COMMISSION OF INDIA

P.O. BOX 530

PORT

~f.SPAIN

TRINIDAD & TOBAGO, W.I.

TELEPHONE: (868) 627-7485/80/81

TELEX NO.: 22514 mCOMIN WG.

FAX NO.: (868) 627~985

SMAIL:

[email protected]

May 17, 2004

RINIHC/98104

MESSAGE

I extend my heartfelt felicitations to all nationals of Trinidad Tobago on the

occasion of the Indian Arrival Day.

This day serves to remind us of the many sacrifices made by the Indian

indentured workers who came to this country more than. 150 years. It was only

through their resilience and firm determination to strive against all odds and

hardship, that the East Indian community in this country has been able to achieve

success. The East Indian community deserves accolades for having set the highest

standards in different fields and for tremendous contribution made by it towards

multifaceted development of this beautiful country.

I am also happy to note that the members of the East Indian community have

carefully preserved the customs and traditions as well as the core Indian values

brought by their ancestors with them giving them a sense of continuing connectivity

and emotional attachment with the rich Indian cultural traditions.

This year once again, as in the previous year, the High Commission of India

would be embarking on a series of cultural and business promotion activities through

May-June to mark the indian Arrival Day celebrations in this country in a fitting

manner with the twin objective of creating greater awareness of Indian culture here

and enhancing the level of interface and friendship between our two countries. I

wish to take this opportunity to thank all those who have been associated with us in

organizing these celebrations.

(Virendra Gu


11/84

Leadership

Allantic Ocean

Car

i

b b e a n

5

e a

INDIA

We join the rest of the nation

in celebrating Indian rrival Day

Y O U R \N A Y A H E A D

h ttp ://www .rb tt.c om E-Mail: in [email protected] btt.c om

Bqy

of

Be n g a I


12/84

The 1884 Hosay massacre - to die for one s culture

By Dr. Kumar Mahabir

, never before was such a large, armed force assembled in colonial Trinidad, or the Caribbea

at any cultural event.

On October 30

th

1884, 22 Indian indentured labourers

died, and some 120 others were wounded in Trinidad's

most violent and devastating movement since the

emancipation of the slaves in 1838. This day marked the

observance of the annual Hosay or Muharram festival of

the Indian indentured immigrants in Trinidad. Indians,

both Hindus and Muslims, were not the sole participants in

Hosay in Trinidad. Many historians who have studied the

event claim that Africans were also very much involved in

the Hosay observances. They witnessed the spectacle

firsthand, and even participated in the commemoration by

carrying large tazias on their shoulders, or playing drums

in the procession along the streets. Onthis shocking and

horrific day in 1884, the English authorities emphatically

demonstrated their determination to control Indians on the

colony by denying them what they believed was their right

to religious observance.

According to Neil Sookdeo in his book,

Freedom,

Festivals and Caste in Trinidad after Slavery (2000),

Hosay in 1884 was regarded, as a grand, island-wide,

multi-racial festival led by Indians. This ten-day religious

celebration culminates on the tenth day with a large,

spectacular street procession involving music, song, and

mock theatrical combats. The most attractive element of

the festival is the immense tazias (model mausoleums of

Muslim martyrs) which are elaborately decorated and

paraded though the streets. In the months preceding the

'Muharram Massacre' of 1884, the English had set legal

restrictions upon the observance of the festival. Hindus

and Africans were not allowed to participate in the festival,

and processions were banned from leaving the estate to

join other processions from other estates.

Many reasons have been given by various researchers

and historians for the restrictions which were placed on the

festival, but the fundamental idea which surrounds them

all remains the need for the colonists to control the new

and rapidly-growing Indian population on the island. The

laws were meant to prevent the Indian communities in

sugarcane estates across the island from consolidating.

Hosay allowed the Indians throughout the island to form a

tremendous gathering, which the colonists believed, could

at any time attack the colonial government. It has also

been argued that there was also the need to prevent the

continuance of the 'heathen' practices of these people, and

the desire to Anglicanize the Indians, which led to the

formulation of these restrictions. The colonial militia was

alerted, armed and placed at different locations across the

island to ensure that the celebration was not performed, In

_Port of Spain, the capital,

about 40 armed policemen were stationed, and up to

were positioned in San Fernando (where the larg

processions on the island were usually to be found). In

M.A. Thesis on Hosay (1984), Dr. Kenneth Parma

notes that never before was such a large, armed fo

assembled in colonial Trinidad, or the Caribbean; at

cultural event.

Many Indians viewed the new restrictions as a di

infringement on their freedom to worship. Defying

restrictions placed upon them, Indians, Hindus

Muslims alike, from over 30 estates and villages, c

together to commemorate Hosay. Kelvin Singh's deta

account of the occurrences of October 30

th

1884 in

book,

Bloodstained Tombs

(1998), reveals the horror of

situation that took place in San Fernando that day.

In the midst of celebratory tassa drumming, sing

and shouts of joy, came screams of shock, confusion

terror as the authorities fired volleys of bullets at the l

procession gathered to worship at San Fernando that

The government had indeed kept their word to elimin

anyone who defied their authority. They hastened

ensure that the horrifying details of the Muharr

Massacre did not reach Colonial India.

The events of this significant day in the history

Trinidad are known by very few people. Sadly; this

has been overlooked in many of the texts that chronicle

nation's experiences during colonization. Our 30,

Hindu and Muslim foreparents who defiantly took to

streets on October 30

th

1884 to fight for their freedom

worship, knowing that their fate could be death, have b

all but forgotten. .

On the final day of Pitri Paksha last year, H

activist, Ravi-ji, led a procession to Mon Repos

Fernando, the site of the massacre, to commemorate

119

th

anniversary of the Muharram Massacre in Trinid

There, offerings were made to those 22 valiant men

women who risked all and lost their lives in orde

preserve their heritage in this new land. This initiative

Ravi-ji and his colleagues should act as the first step

movement towards national recognition of these b

martyrs' sacrifice. We have gone too long with

acknowledging what occurred on that tragic day

October 1884.

Dr. Kumar Mahabir is the President of the

Association of Caribbean Anthropologists (ACA).


13/84

FROM THEIR HEARTS CAME A NEW BEG INNING

To those who had the courage to fulfill their dreams in a new land. ..

WE THANK YOU

To those who carried the torch for a new generation ...

W E ARE FOREVER INDEBTED TO YOU

q~c:ll.c:n,

Clyyl.vQt 1::>Qy

~yeet:.l.~gs

t:.o t:.ke

1=

eopte of c--r

yl.

~l.c:lQc:lQ~c:l c--r obQgo.

---

---

---

.

GUARDIAN

HOLDINGS

LIMITED

~

Skill

Insi~h


14/84

Testimonies from court records of the 1884 Hosay massacre

Two Coolies ... on horseback from another estate carried swords. These men have bee

convicted and imprisoned for inciting us to come out by saying, 'The Philippine people are

women; if you won't take your tadjahs, we will.'

GOO TIE, a Mahometan Manetee from the Goorgoan

district, states:

I am an indentured Coolie and have been on the Usine

estate for three years. I went in the procession as one of

those who played with a fencing stick, but I carried no

other stick or arm of any sort. I had never heard the

procession was forbidden. I am employed on the engine.

The old Coolies said, 'there will be no trouble about this.

If you do not interfere with the Sahibs they will not

interfere with you.' I had not been with the procession in

former years, there was a general report that we were not

allowed to go in procession on the Queen's Road, but

some Coolies said that this was a lie. On the way down, a

sowar rode up and told us not to go down as it was

forbidden. Then the old Coolies said the Government will

not interfere with us if we do no harm, 'it looks upon us as

its children.'

I did not hear on the way down that there had been

firing in the other procession. When we came nearly at the

spot where we were stopped I saw a policeman trying to

persuade the people to stop, but I saw no gentleman doing

this. I was in the middle, playing, surrounded by Coolies.

After the first volley the old Coolies said, 'They are only

trying to frighten us, the ammunition is blank.' I was hit

myself but did not know it at the time, then I saw that men

had dropped and that I was bleeding; the Coolies then ran

away. Some of them bound up my wounds and I was put

into the police cart and taken to the hospital. Processions

went out on the two preceding nights. I went out with them

at night and then we went about two miles towards San

Fernando.

I have been at the Mahurum in India at Goorgoan. The

processions were regulated by the police. There the

processionists are not allowed to carry sticks, if they

carried them they would be taken away. In this procession

no big sticks were carried, only small fencing sticks.

GUNDUR, a Hindoo of the Ahir caste, states:

I come from near Monghir and have been for 25 years

on the Philippine Estate. On the 30

th

October I joined in

the procession and have always done so, although a

Hindoo. I go to join in the fun. I had heard that orders had

been issued that we were not to go on the public roads or

into San Fernando and that if we did we might be

imprisoned for six months or fined 20, but we were not

told that we would be shot. I did not believe we really

would get punished if we went. We had always

allowed to do so before and I thought we should

allowed to do so again this year.

When we got near San Fernando we saw the p

and soldiers drawn up. A policeman and some one

came up and stopped us. We were shouting, 'Ho

Hosea ' and immediately after that we were fired u

Some of the wounded men fell and all the others ran a

I was shot in the hand. I was sent to San Fernando hos

and was there for one day.

SHEIKH WAGUR, a Mahometan states:

I come from Chupra and have been on the Philip

Estate for 16 years. On the

so

October I was in

procession and I always go right up to the sea with

tadjahs. I had heard about the orders concerning

procession and I knew we were liable to a penalty of

or six months imprisonment for infringing them. Ever

went and so I went too; I was in the front of

procession. Mr. Child, the magistrate, and Gunpot,

interpreter, told us to stop. We would not stop, but

shoving on shouting, 'Hosea Hosea ' The police

almost immediately after Mr. Child had told us to st

did not hear the magistrate give the order to fire. Afte

firing the people began running away and I ran into

cane piece. I was not hit.

i

carried a long stick, and

always done so. I was about 10 or 11 when I cam

Trinidad, but I have seen processions in villages in

where there were no police and no restrictions. M

others carried big sticks, but I saw no cutlasses.

Coolies, however, on horseback from another e

carried swords. These men have been convicted

imprisoned for inciting us to come out by saying,

Philippine people are all women; if you won't take

tadjahs, we will.'

SJEOKH-AB-DOOLA, a Mahometan on the Usine Es

states:

This is the first time I have been here during the Mahu

procession; I accompanied it. I had heard it was forbid

to go into San Fernando. I was in the rear of

procession. The procession I was in went in by the n

entrance, where Captain Baker was. I was following

procession in rear when I heard the musketry fire,

crowd pushed back and I ran away.


15/84

Magic

magic mist

~

We care for Your Health

nsing Unit

tone

Duke Streets, West Port-of-Spain Trinidad W.I.

'i:'~h=.::on=e(868) 624-2964/3008. (868) 627-6692, Fax: (868) 627-6691

E-Mail: [email protected]


16/84

The Hosay massacre in Trinidad in 1884

By Dr. Neil A. Sookdeo

That the elites believed Indians posed a threat in 1884, unleashed the full barrage of police

power upon Indian celebrants, killing 16 on the roads and wounding well over a 100 more.

Opponents of Hosay who were acting in Christian

conscience failed to understand the vital role the festival

played in the monotonous, dreary lives of the indentured

and indenture-free Indians alike. Hosay made the year's

suffering and exile tolerable for isolated Indians. (Some,

though, perhaps not all, made a comparison between their

fate and that of the beleaguered Shi'ites. Historian Kusha

Haraksingh reminds us that Hosay was also a healthy

antidote to strained headman-labourer (or Indian-Indian)

relations. To the extent Hosay was therapeutic to various

levels of the estate labour force, the plantocracy failed to

see how they benefited from Hosay.

The authorities in Trinidad set out to prevent a

continuance of Hosay as a grand, island-wide, multi-racial

festival led by the Indians. In July 1884, with the Governor

in London, but with the connivance of the Protector of

Immigrants, an ordinance was introduced to prevent

Hindus and blacks from participating in Hosay festivities.

The idea was to reduce Hosay to a Muslim observance in

the privacy of the estates, although traditionally; the

tadjahs were deposited in a waterway. In 1884, Indians

were not seeking to do anything different from what they

had done at previous Hosays in Trinidad. Like all rules

governing indenture, they could be changed when it suited

anyone colony; in Trinidad we saw a dramatic and tragic

consequence of such unexplained changes only because a

very large group of Indians were involved.

The latest restrictions on Hosay were met with dismay

and indignation. A petition was drawn up under the

leadership of Sookoo, a headman of the Phillipine Estate.

The petition was summarily dismissed: Sookhoo was told

that Hindus had no reason to resent being excluded from

what was a Muslim festival. This idea that Muhurram was

purely Islamic was not true in undivided India in the

nineteenth century. Historian Hugh Tinker, in treating the

entire question of Indian interaction with plantocracies,

said: It was an absolute principle of the indenture system

that no Indian labourer become a recognized leader. ..

Their only recognized role was that of petitioners, and

humble petitioners too. Sookhoo was being told what

Indians in India did when he had been born Indian; he may

very well have felt deeply humiliated.

The brusque treatment of their petition angered many

of Sookhoo's colleagues on the estates. A groundswell of

feeling against the unjust restrictions asserted itself among

some of these Indians. Sookhoo was reported to have

declared: We will have no more petitions; we will fight it

out with the strength of our hands. It came exactly to that,

despite Indians having

hakka

sticks which were necessar

for the staged fights.

While Sookhoo displayed some leadership in 188

there is no evidence that he sought (or succeeded)

convincing Indians on other estates to his point of vie

The established prestige which the Philippine Estate h

earned in previous Hosays was at stake for Sookhoo a

his brethren, but the estate management's general hostili

to the labourers precluded clear thinking. In ninteent

century Trinidad, where the plantation had not as y

succeeded in destroying important non-western ways,

elites saw a potential serious threat posed by the Indian

The old fear of slave-masters about slave rebellions in t

thick of night was exhumed; no one rationally examine

how prepared Indians or blacks were to take over Trinid

in the 1880s. That the elites believed Indians posed a thre

in 1884, unleashed the full barrage of police power up

Indian celebrants, killing 16 on the roads, and woundin

well over a hundred more.

Subscribers to the

Times

of London read a letter fro

a Trinidadian on 8 November: About 14 or 15 were kill

and about 87 wounded, some of them will probably

before long. The details of this atrocious massacre,

narrated to me by trustworthy eyewitnesses, are so ghas

that, although it took place a week ago, ever since

sleep has been very disturbed, and my blood has been

fever heat at the idea that such an paralleled atrocity [h

been] committed at the present day under the British fl

The nation was stunned; Colonial Office scrambled

prevent British India learning about the gory details; Ind

Trinidadians themselves still live the trauma of that eve

generation by generation, as Hosay quietly continues

spread its message of the dignity of the downtrodden. Th

Hosay was diminished yet refused to die may be seen a

victory for the victims of indenture, and for those who d

on the battlefield of the estates on 30 October 1884 ...

The San Fernando Gazette assumed, arrogantly as

turns out, that Hindus had no role in Hosay: The Hindo

only join in the fray on the same principle and for the sa

motives as the Port of Spain [Carnival] bands, to enjoy

excitement of the day, and, too often, to payoff

grudges. The only plan would be to forbid Hose

processions entirely on the public roads ... Asiatics

easily cowed ....

Extract of the book by Neil Sookdeo

Freedom, Festiva

and Caste in Trinidad after Slavery (2000). Published

Xlibris Corporation. Website: www.Xlibriscom


17/84

Happy Indian Arrival Day

from BG Trinidad Tobago

A~toc ,o

SO l/icos

g

Accossol ios

IIi2.4~TOdd Street EI Socorro Road San Juan

Per n n d d

to Perf rm ngine,

Underwa

h

& To change il ilt r.

Mu

t

be Knowl dg a 1

wh nit c m t

ar

&

how th y w rk.

More than

20 year

in th Bu in

Contact: Sarika or Aklima

@

674-0978

BGTRINIDAD

8cTOBAGO


18/84

Protesting Indentured Indian women

By Moses Seenarine

Some were actively resistiIig various forms of domiIiation through emigration, and most

engaged in resistance on the estates.

Historical materials relating to Indian women under

colonialism in Guyana is extremely rare and inadequate.

This problem is complicated by the fact that until recently,

research on the Caribbean has focused on a predominantly

male model of a plural society divided by race, gender and

assumptions of cultural persistence and similarity within

ethnic categories. It is true that Guyanese society is

divided by race. Nevertheless, gender and cultural

categories need to be viewed not only as part of race, but

also in relation to issues of power and dominance in the

region.

The central argument pursued in this article is

that South Asian indentured emigration had diverse

effects on the population in Guyana based on issues of

gender, culture, class, caste, race, location and age. This

paper explores how some of these processes occurred

with relevance to women during recruitment,

migration and the indenture period (1838-1917).

Indenture means a contract, and indentured Indians

signed a contract before they left India, which bound

them to accept certain conditions. During their period of

indenture, female laborers were not free.

This article - extracted from the book

Sojourners to

Settlers (1999), edited by Mahin Gosine and Dhanpaul

Narine - disputes the myth that the shortage of Indian

women on colonial plantations during the early period

of indenture resulted in an improved status and mobility

for the majority of South Asian wqmen, relative to that in

India. This myth ignores women's subjection to control

under various forms of male domination and oppression

during the early period, including violence and abuse.

Further. it is argued that the process of male control

intensified during the later indenture period. In both

periods, the triple burdens of wage work, childcare, and

housework were excessive for most women who had to

work harder to fashion a new life for themselves and their

families in colonial Guyana.

This article explores some of the gendered-

outcomes of being a South Asian migrant labourer in

Guyana by examining the contributing factors that made

women's experiences different, in particular what

occurred in relation to labor, culture and caste. Gender

refers to the culturally defined modes of behavior deemed

appropriate to the sexes. The paper is loosely organized

ascording to the history of indentureship, and divided

into four broad areas that contributed to making women's

experiences different: (i) social and economic facto

(ii) culture, (iii) family aspects, and (iv) women's resi

ance to various structures of power, authority a

control.

To provide some background, the paper starts with

brief note regarding colonization and slavery in Guyan

followed by a short discussion on the methods a

concepts used in the paper, and an outline of

paper's limitations. A breakdown of caste, class a

gender distribution of South Asians in Guyana com

next, followed by a brief summary of the position a

status of women in colonial and present day India. Th

background provides a context for discussion of issu

within the main body of the paper.

Starting with a discussion on recruitment of Indi

women to labor colonies, the causes of indentured Ind

emigration to Asia, Africa, and the Caribbean are th

explored. A short description of the caste and class stat

of female indentured emigrants follow, along with

exploration of their experiences at the emigration dep

and during their voyage to the Caribbean. This

presented as a way of delving into a major factor

difference among the indentured population, the shorta

of Indian women compared to Indian men, and

consequences. Throughout the indenture period, t

population of East Indian females was less than half

population of Indian men in the colony.

The women who emigrated were not passive

docile coolies Some were actively resisting vario

forms of domination through emigration, and m

engaged in resistance on the estates. Murders a

transfers of many Indian women on the estates was a s

of their resistance' J to oppression by South Asian m

families and cultures in the colony. Women also resis

exploitation as cheap laborers, and being treated

sexual objects, by European men. A claim is made t

women's sexual exploitation was a contributing factor

South Asian resistance movements on the plantatio

throughout the indenture period. As a result, during

later period of indenture, the importation of Indi

females into the colony was viewed mainly in terms

them having a stabilizing effect on the predominantl

male labor force.

Moses Seenarine is a professor of Caribbean history

at Hunter College, City University of New York.


19/84

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20/84

I NEW BOOK RELEASE

Simbhoonath Capildeo

He was for his day, the single intellectual genius of Hindu Trinidad ... He laid the foundation

the most powerful Hindu organization in the history of Trinidad ... _

Simboonath Capildeo: Lion of the Legislative Council,

Father of Hindu Nationalism in Trinidad and Tobago.

By Darius Figueira

263 pages. 2003.

London: iUniverse, Inc

The book is a deconstruction of the political discourse

of Simbhoonath Capildeo the progenitor of Hindu

nationalist discourse in Trinidad and Tobago.

Capildeo's Hindu nationalism is premised _upon .a

rootedness in Trinidad and Tobago, a fervent praxis

premised on bhakti (devotion) towards rating a discourse

of Sanatan Dharma that was relevant to life in the west as a-

Hindu that was sustainable, and finally a political praxis

that was demonstrably anti-racist and egalitarian in the

tradition of democratic socialism.

Such is the poverty of intellect and the paucity of

recorded history in primitive papier-mache educational

institutes of Trinidad that there is no history of the man

who was and is the crucible of orthodox Hinduism in

Trinidad.

Few, if there are any alive know that Simbhoonath

Capildeo was the second of three sons born to Pundit

Capildeo and his wife Soogie of Main Road, Chaguanas.

The first son Omkar died in his infancy and Simbhoonath,

the second assumed elder son status. The youngest was

Rudranath. How would have Trinidad reacted to three

Capildeo brothers is left to the imagination. Simbhoonath

was born in 1914. His father, Pundit Capildeo left for India in

1926 after building what is the authentic statement of the

Indian indentured immigrant in Trinidad, the Lion House

(website thelionhouse.com) on the Main Road, Chaguanas.

At age 12, Simbhoonath became the patriarch of

Capildeo clan, the scion of Lion House. Although guided by

his mother Soogie, Simbhoonath was essentially self-taught.

Although fluent in Hindi and Sanskrit, encyclopaedic in the

knowledge of Hinduism and its rituals, Simboonath was

also conversant with the great philosophers of western

civilization. His greed for books has been immortalized in

V.S. Naipaul's, his nephew,

Mystic Masseur.

In a nine-line

biographical sketch of Simbhoonath in The Indian

Centenary Review

1845-1945 his hobby is listed as

Reading.

He rapidly assumed intellectual leadership of an

impoverished Hindu Society and from an early age,

beginning in 1928, he set about creating the structure of

It supine state. He was for his day, the single intellec

genius of Hindu Trinidad. He laid the foundation of

most powerful Hindu organization in the history of T

dad and simultaneously prepared the way for

Hindu society attempting to put spine, bone and muscl

evolution of the Hindu politician. His recorded speec

- in

Hansard

demonstrate the breadth, width and d

of his vision and thinking, but there is an untold s

of what provoked Simbhoonath into action.

It was crop time, early thirties Simbhoonath was a y

cane farmer. Perched on his bison cart loaded with

Simbhoonath was ambling down the narrow, d

Chaguanas Main Road on his way home to the Lion Ho

one foot dangling, the other propped on the cart, hat a

on his head, a blade of grass twirling between his

Simbhoonath was a typical cane farmer doomed to the b

life of sweet sugar. Suddenly, there was a noise of what

unmistakably a motorcar, a rarity on the main road at

time. The noise grew closer, and he looked up. To

surprise, the car stopped in front of the Lion Ho

Sitnbhoonath reigned in the bison, spat out the grass

straightened his hat. A fair young Indian man had alig

from the car and was leaning on the door looking at the

Is that you Simbhoo?

The young man was Dalchant Harripersad Sin

(Dixee), a classmate at Naparima College, recently retu

from studying medicine. in Ireland. The cane farm wor

Simbhoonath went up in flames. He who had a

Cambridge Certificate with distinctions, had the distinc

of driving a bison cart. He went to Soogie. He wanted

a Profession, a University, anything but cane. Soogie

not have the wherewithal, but she suggested as a tempo

measure that he take up where his father left - becom

pundit. In desperation, Simbhoonath agreed. The first

was easily arranged and it seemed as if the who

Chaguanas came to hear him recite the sacred scripture

did not disappoint, he was word-perfect, and murmu

approval greeted him. After all, it was Pundit Capil

son reciting. Simbhoonath looked forward to receiving

first payment as a

pundit.

This was the new beginning;

he too would be in a car.

When it was over, he discreetly looked at the ta

Then he looked all over. There were five copper pieces o

brass plate. His fee was the grand sum of five cents (a

wage at that time was 24 cents). Eventually Simbhoonath

articled to a San Fernando Solicitor Irwin Cameron

passed his finals as a Solicitor and Conveyancer in 19


21/84

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22/84

Indians in football

By Satnarayan Jaggemauth H.B.M

There was no Indian player in first-class football in the city then, but in South there were ma

Ahamad Charles (Forest Reserve), H.Balladin (Carlton), M. Ali, the Hassanali brothers (Spitfir

the Phillip brothers, and B. Siboo ...

There were few Indians in football in the early days of

the game, and then there were a few hundred. This opinion

is unofficial, and is just the view of our football

correspondent who thinks that the best Indian soccer

eleven that could have been put on the field were Esau

Mohammed (East St. George); M. Ali. S. Lokhoor (South) M.

Dookie (City), Ahamed Charles (Forest Reserve). L.

Jaggernauth (South): K. Jaggernauth (City), P. Khalu,

(South), B. Goolcharan (City), N. Asgarali (City), and H.

Balladin (South). This team had been selected from

performances of players in North-South Indian matches,

Indian - Chinese matches and the Indian League games of

recent dates.

East Indians with the exception of Ahamad Charles,

who had represented the colony in British Guiana,

Barbados, and at home, had not made any spectacular mark

in Trinidad football. An all - East Indian combination

called Invincible played in the TA.F.A second-class

competition in the 1930s and with such players as Norman

and Bernard Sookrarn. Manie Dookie, Aurthur Dymally,

Bernard Goolcharan, Sonny Cassy, Eric Morgan and

Robert Stephens carried off the Governor Wilson Cup.

Here and there, has been a good Indian player, but chiefly

because there has been no organised Indian soccer until last

year to help the standard of play, no real player of class

except Charles, has been unearthed.

There was no Indian player in first-class football in the

city then, .but in South there were many: Ahamad Charles

(Forest Reserve), H. Balladin (Carlton), M. Ali, the Hassanali

brothers (Spitfire); the Phillip brothers, and B. Siboo, who

lined up for the now defunct Commandos outfit, S.

Lookhoor, L. Jaggernauth and T Sahadat (Naparima) and P.

Khalu (St. Benedicts).

East Indians started their North and South Soccer

series in 1943, and it was continued in 1944, but due to the

death of Mr. Joseph Phillips, who always took a keen

interest in Indian sports, and particularly this fixture, the

1945 game was postponed. Just before his death Mr. Phillip

offered a cup to be contested between these two bodies, and

it has been decided now to call that trophy the Joseph

Phillip Indian Centenary

1945

Football Cup.

Of the two games contested, South won the first and

North the other. In 1943 South beat the Port of Spain

combination by three goals to one at Skinners Park, due

chiefly to a brilliant display by Ahamad Charles, who

smashed home two goals, while Balladin netted the other for

the winners; Bernard Goolcharan scored the lone North

goal. The second fixture was played on Casual Ground,

Queen's Park Savannah in 1944, and North returned

compliments to the visitors, also winning 3 - 1.

Goolcharan, C. Smith and Nyron Asgaralli were the

scorers for the city team while F. Hassanali found the

for the Southerners.

The IRC A team won the A division

comfortable margin, unbeaten in five games with a to

26 goals for and 5 against. In the final of the B div

Tailors Combine lost a thrilling game by one goal to no

Vallots while Australian Youths put up a splendid

against I.R.c. in the A division, but lostby 2 goals to 1

A review of the performances of some of the pla

in the league resulted in Bernard Goolcharan of the I

A team winning the goal average with 11 goals t

credit and next in order are Boysie Williams of Ta

Combine with 9, Latchman Jaggernauth of Ta

Combine with 8, S. Taylor of Australian Youths wi

F.B. Singh of Young Destroyers with 6, R. Ramchara

Young Destroyers 5, S. Maraj of Australian Youths w

and L. Joseph, N. Asgaralli and T Stephens of I.R.c. w

each. Helping Vallots to their victory were the McK

brothers, Sammy, Samnadda, Errol and C. Williams. H

scoring came from Australian Youths, who beat I.R.c.

10 goals to none; Young Destroyers who whipped St. J

Indians 10-1; I.R.c. A who scored 9 against Rosehil

and 8 against National's 1: Tailors Combine 7 ag

National's 1: Tailors Combined against India Club's 2

7 against St. James Indians' nil.

Other brilliant performances came from C. Sulle

Maynard, F. Khan, S.M. Ali, C. Smith, S. Akal. M. Do

G. Guppy, D. Williams, K. Jaggernauth, H. Akal, K

Maraj, D. Williams, H. Ramcharan, H. Bedeshi, R

M. Williams, C. Lewis, and R. Francis, while accor

to their performances in the various engagements a

of those who have exceptional promise are H. Ramcha

Young Destroyers; H. Mitchell, National; Boo

Tailors, Combined; Lionel Howard, I.R.c. - B, W

Vallots, Henry, Bedeshi, Chambalsingh, St. J

Indians. Victor Goolcharan, I.R.C B, H. Gri

Australian Youths: Boysie Beharry, Australian Youths

Roy Ali, National.

This has really been a selection from boys who

played and the majority of them are below twenty

Most of the popular footballers when they retired tu

their attention to being referees of the game.

Satnarayan Jaggernauth is the author

of the book

Indians in Sports

(1900 - 1945).


23/84

Ono hunded and lifbJ- nino

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a[p, tho liestgroup

ot Cast Indians came to Trinidad, bringing withthem

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24/84

Discover your Indian roots

By Satish Rai

Slowly the descendents of brave Indians, who left India but were not able to return to their

families, are completing the journeys on their behalf: by returning to their villages after 100-

odd long years.

The concept of Discover Your Indian Roots was first

developed in 1994 by Satish Rai after his return to his

home in London from India. In this trip Satish Rai hoped

to locate the roots of his paternal grand parents in the

district of Balrampur in Uttar Pradesh (UP). Satish had

gone to UP armed with some information which he had

managed to obtain from his uncle (father's elder

brother).

His trip took him up to Lucknow and Basti. But as a

first-time visitor to India. he came up with a number of

difficulties. mainly due to unfamiliarity with the area,

lack of knowledge of assistance and services available.

and companionship of a familiar person. After several

days he returned to Delhi, without even getting close to

his ancestral village.

Upon his returned to London his failure in Uttar

Pradesh inspired him to write a paper 'Discover Your

Indian Roots' in which he outlined the benefits India.

especially Uttar Pradesh, could get if the central

government of India and the State government of Uttar

Pradesh (as well as Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh), could

get if they assisted the descendents of indentured

Indians. (some I million of them were taken to European

plantations from 1838-1916), to trace their roots and visit

their ancestral roots in India. Today some 10 million

descendants of Indentured Indian labourers live outside

India.

In 1995 Satish Rai made another visit to India but

was unsuccessful in getting near to his ancestral village

once again. He posted information to the central Indian

Govermnent for valuable assistance. The eight-day

information session provided leads on tracing Indian

roots to over 800 people and was able to trace roots of

over 80 people. The support provided officers of India

Tourism. Sydney, the local media, the organisers of

India Week, and the national Archives in Fiji was great,

and contributed enormously to the success of Milaap

information project.

Encouraged by the success, Milaap hopes to return

to Fiji later in the year to assist thousands of others who

wish to trace their ancestral villages in India. Milaap also

plans to hold information days in Sydney, Brisbane,

Melbourne and Auckland.

However. the next project of Milaap was another

documentary film shoot in India. The project started on

11

th

September and finished on 29

th

September 2003.

The documentary shoot consisted of documentation of

visits of several Indo-Fijians to their ancestral villages in

Rajasthan, Basti, Balrampur and Jabalpur. It also docu-

mented interviews with UP government officers. service

providers and opinion-makers. The team will also try to

trace villages of some 80 indentured Indians whose

immigration passes were extracted during Milaap week

in Fiji. Visits to villages found were also to be

documented. Government and the State government o

Uttar Pradesh in 1995, Satish Rai migrated from UK to

live in Sydney Australia. While living in Sydney, h

promoted Discover Your Indian Roots via local Indian

media.

In 1999 while planning his third visit to India he

searched the net to get further information about Utta

Pradesh. During this search he came across Utta

Pradesh Tourist web site. which advertised Discove

Your Roots Project. A great coincidence, he thought and

sent an e-mail to the project. Contact was eventually

made and Satish Rai went to India to shoot footage fo

his documentary, which he named 'Milaap - Discove

Your Indian Roots.' This documentary followed the visi

of former Fijian senator Asha Singh to her maternal and

paternal grandparent's homes in Uttar Pradesh. It also

featured interviews with officers of UP government's

Discover Your Roots Project and visits to severa

villages in Rae Bariely, Gorakhpur and Basti from wher

people had migrated to Fiji, Guyana and Surinam during

the indenture period. The fmal part of the documentary

took Satish to Balrampur, where he documented hi

interview with local press regarding his search for hi

grandparent's village. Subsequently he learned from

contacts in Balrampur that his grand mother's villag

had been traced.

The documentary was shown in Sydney and in 2003

it was shown in Fiji during the India Week, which was

held in August in Suva. During the India Week. Satish

Rai provided information on Milaap - Discover You

Indian Roots - sharing booth with the India Tourism-

Sydney - its staff provided a documentary which

featured Fiji's popular opinion maker Thakur Ranji

Singh, who is a great supporter of the Milaap project

The documentary will be ready for launch in Fiji during

the next Milaap sessions in Fiji.

From its small start in London in 1994, Discover

Your Indian Roots is becoming a popular project. So fa

it has managed to provide information to some 1000

people about tracing the roots of their forefathers in India

If you needmore information about Milaap - Discover

Your Roots Project, or the documentary film, contact

Satish Rai via email: [email protected].


25/84

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26/84

I poem

I dream t of Caroni

By Khem Harrinarine

I dream't of the lush green stalks waving in Caroni,

A rice land filled with beautiful memories.

The ladies all dressed for the harvest season,

Grassknives cutting the stalks with every reason.

Soon the Christmas breeze will fill our land,

The holiday season and parang

Children busy in the schools preparing for exams,

Discussing with their friends holiday plans.

Land of grace and beauty sublime,

A place now without a reason without a rhyme.

My dream changed into a nightmare,

As 1 looked into my people eyes I noticed their fears.

The tortured grip of a visionless movement,

Propel the nation into decadence.

Wasted resources, wasted minds, futile plans,

Abandoned and lost in this fair land.

Awaken from my slumber,

I stared at the clock's number

T'was past midnight and the dawn soon approaching,

I thought of the sugar cane fields gone forever.

The majestic Caroni plains cleared of sugar,

Housing development started by massa.

Changes that grip the workers heart,

As their life gets a new strange start.

The songs of Caroni whistling in the breeze,

Has now forever ceasedl

Tribute to fallen Jahajis [brothers].

A sudden end, a heartless kill,

Another Jahaji on the ground lay still.

His only crime was his heritage,

As the gunman took advantage.

Guns are the weapons of choice,

Used every day to silence our neighbour's voice.

Yet still, the government and Amnesty says nothing,

Surely this individual's life must worth something.

Thousands cut down in a bloody discourse,

Death devours with no remorse.

When will this tragedy end,

Mortal man cannot comprehend.

The saddened face of the children, tells a story,

Of pain, anguish and an endless misery.

A father, a mother, a brother, a sister gone forever,

Their future determined by an evil murderer.

Voices echo across the nation's homes,

The unbearable pain of loved ones groan.

The tyranny of an evil society locked in racial ignoran

Why, oh why, after all we never intended this existenc

The gift of life was determined for all,

Until the day when our number is called.

When will the violence stop,

This evil started by a wicked despot.

This government has become indifferent to pain,

The blood of Jahaji's across Guyana has stained.

Who will hear our cry, who will hear our voices

Tomorrow an evil gunman will make his choices .....

Arise oh Jahajis and defend your families,

Stop the evil gang from their vengeful hate.

Khem Harrinarine lives in Penal, Trinidad.


27/84

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28/84

Bombay goes to Broadway

Bombay Dreams

comes at a time when interest in all things Indian is soaring. From authors

such as Pulitzer Prize winner Jumper Lahiri, whose novel

The Namesake

became a best

seller late last year, to the drum-heavy bhangra dance music of Punjabi Me to films like

Mira Nair's Monsoon Wedding and the teen soccer hit Bend It Like Beckham, Indian

culture seems to be finding an appreciative audience in the United States.

BOMBAY DREAMS, the successful London musical

centered on India's film industry, arrived April 29 at the

Broadway Theatre. With its young, largely unknown,

predominantly South Asian cast and music by one of

India's most famous and prolific composers, the show's

producers hoped to entice audiences with the promise of a

new expenence.

Still. with its glitzy costumes, over-the-top

production numbers and rags-to-riches story, those

behind Bombay Dreams say it also has a touch of the

familiar: The show is reminiscent of Broadway musicals of

the I930s and I940s.

It harks way back to the old days of things like the

Ziegfeld Follies .... It's showmanship. It's a spectacle

and it's fun, said Thomas Meehan, the Tony award-

winning writer of

Annie, The Producers

and

Hairspray,

Meehan collaborated on the book with original author

Meera Syal for the show's New York run.

Bombay Dreams

comes at a time when interest in all

things Indian is soaring. From authors such as Pulitzer

Prize winner Jumper Lahiri, whose novel The

Namesake became a best seller late last year, to the

drum-heavy bhangra dance music of Punjabi MC to

films like Mira Nair's

Monsoon Wedding

and the teen

soccer.hit

Bend It Like Beckham,

Indian culture seems

to be finding an appreciative audience in the United

States.

There is a sense that the US is now more receptive to

Indian popular culture than it has been in the past, said

Radha Welt Vatsal, who programmes Cinema India - a

touring Indian film festival. Her festival, in its second

year to traveling around the country. has already

expanded from four sites to nine this year.

Set in the city that is also known as Mumbai,

Bombay Dreams

tells the story of a poor young man

who dreams of being a Bollywood star.

Bollywood is India s film industry, which chums

out more than 900 movies every year. Most Bollywood

productions have elaborate song-and-dance numbers

and some sort of heavy-duty, tear-jerking emotional

conflict.

The London version of the musical, which opened in

June 2002. was the brainchild of composer-producer

Andrew Lloyd Webber and Indian movie director She

Kapur. Lloyd Webber enlisted the musical aid of

Rahman, who has scored many Bollywood films.

Bombay Dreams score includes Rahman's hit, Cha

Chaiyya, from the 1998 movie

Dil Se.

Despite mixed reviews, the show has been a h

London, which inspired the move to Broadway.

producers knew that the production would need to ch

in its cross-Atlantic trip.

In London, where there is a much deeper recogn

of Indian culture, the show poked some fun at Bollyw

conventions with its central plot and side stories, an

assumed that the audience would have a certain famili

with the genre.

That approach was not considered workable in

US, where Bollywood isn't quite as familiar, Syal said.

So the story was pared down to focus on the struggl

the hero, some songs were added and the book chan

The result, according to producer, Elizabeth William

something both new and old.

This story is of the hero who has a dream, is te

loses that dream and reclaims it in the end, she s

It's the arschetypal story.

But unlike other works on Broadway. which

range of revived shows, star-driven vehicles or cente

on familiar music, the Bombay Dreams production

blast of fresh air in terms of the music. Syal said.

Lloyd Webber liked the changes so much that

London production is shutting down in June and wi

revised along the lines of the American show b

reopening in another theatre in 2005.

The producers are making a big financial bet

successful outcome in New York. Williams said about

million had been put into Bombay Dreams. which

weekly costs of about $500,000. But there h

already been at least $6 million in advance sales.

Associated Press, New York. April 23, 2004.


29/84

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Plate Glass

Head Office: 41 Leotaud Street,

San Fernando

Tel:

652-2531, 657-7016, 657-3260,

657-3545, 657-9259, 657-5059

Fax:

657-3259


30/84

The Islamic realities of the Muharram Massacre of 1884

By Daurius Figueira

In the aftermath of the massacre of 1884, Shia Islam retreated from the public view, and in

became an esoteric practice in Trinbago until the 1970s where it resurfaced, prodded by th

Islamic Revolution of 1979 in Iran.

The Shia Muslims of India created, via their annual

remembrances of the martyrdom of the grandson of

Prophet Muhammed (uwbp) during the first month of the

Islamic calendar, Muharram, the syncretic processions of

Muharram. These processions during the month of

Muharram were structured events in which the Shia gave

space to non-Muslim participants such as the Hindu

women who were childless and the dervishes who were

outside the pale of mainstream Islam. What was also

noteworthy of the Shia Muharram processions in India was

the presence of sections of the procession bent on

parodying the colonial Raj and the elements of the Indian

comprador elites who were the vassals of English colonial

domination.

The decade of the 1880s in the colonial history of

Trinidad was one of resistance and armed engagement

with the colonial power over the repeated moves to destroy

cultural expressions of resistance which were expressed

via processions in the streets of the colony of Trinidad.

The white colonial power moved to destroy the

Camboulay procession in memory of the end of African

enslavement in Trinidad. The colonial state in the 1880s

moved to destroy the Muharram procession for the clear

and present danger that the Muharram procession

constituted to the colonial state. East Indian indentured

labour unrest especially on specific plantations on the

plains of Naparima raised the concern of sections of the

society that saw the clear and present danger of East Indian

indentured unrest on the plantations and the threat to

colonial civilization by less than civilized Hindoo brutes.

Both white planters and Afro-Trinidadian interests

sounded the early warning of the clear and present danger

of the Hindoo brutes running riot. It was then simply a

matter of logical progression for these interests to call for

the prohibition of the Muharram procession. For it was the

premier annual event when indentured labourers of various

estates merged into a stream of shouting, jumping,

chanting less than civilized coolies marching through

San Fernando to the sea.

What intensified the fear that was evoked with the

procession of semi-civilized brutes through San Fernando

to the Gulf of Paria in the minds of the colonials were the

lessons the English colonial Raj learned from the Indian

Mutiny of 1857. There was then an abiding fear of the

Islamic base of the Muharram procession which was

worsened by the inclusive syncretic nature of the

procession. This morbid abiding fear of Islam would then

convince the English colonials of Trinidad that they must

fire upon the Muharram procession of. 1884. The

same colonial state refused to fire upon the Cambo

procession instead choosing to engage the people o

Camboulay in hand to hand combat with the bois a

extension of the arm. This colonial strategy was the

most potent indication of the potency of the Muha

procession as presenting the most potent and pr

danger in the minds of the colonial officials in the co

of Trinidad in the 1880s.

In the lead up to October 1884, the Sunni line of

would petition the colonial governor to ban the Muha

procession. The Sunni petitioners insisted to the ka

(unbelievers) that the Shia and the Muharram proce

were outside the pale of Islam and therefore

Moreover the Sunni petitioners insisted that the

procession gave decent and law abiding Sunni Mu

subjects of the British Empire a bad name. The S

Muslims now joined the kafirun interests in calling fo

destruction of the Muharram, which simply legitimised

decision of the colonial state to end once and for a

most concerted and potential threat to the colonial

posed by Indian indentured labour in the history of I

indentureship in Trinidad 1845-1917.

On that fateful day in October 1884 the

procession heading to the Gulf of Paria through

Fernando was fired upon and scattered. In 1885

thereafter the colonial power made it abundantly clea

Muharram processions would again be fired upon. I

aftermath of the massacre of 1884, Shia Islam retr

from the public view, and in fact became an eso

practice in Trinbago until the 1970s where it resurfa

prodded by the Islamic Revolution of 1979 in Iran.

Islam reaped the benefits of October 1884 settling

subservient existence vis-a-vis the colonial state a

drive for hegemony over the Indo-Trinbagonian popul

through their dance with the P..NMsince 1956. Sunni

would since 1884 pursue the elusive holy gra

enmeshing the Hindu population of Trinbago in a

macabre premised upon Sunni political leadership ove

Hindu population of Trinbago clearly seen in the PN

1956-1986 and the UNC 1995-2001. It is inte

noteworthy that among the earliest prominent leade

Sunni Islam in Trinidad were practitioners of Sufi

noted for their accommodation with the kafir colonial

and their unrelenting assault on Shia Islam.

Daurius Figueira is a Ph.D. candidate in the

Department of Government at UWl, St. Augustine.


31/84

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The clash of cultures in Trinidad

By Parsuram Maharaj

The Maha Sabha has been advocating the need to replace the Ministry of Culture with a m

inclusive Ministry of Multiculturalism ... The Canadian model is worthy of examination

The Sanatan Dharma Maha Sabha (SDMS) in Trinidad

has long held that culture forms an integral component in

the development of a people and a nation. Indeed, in the

book

Culture Matters,

its editors, Lawrence E. Harrison

and Samuel P. Huntington address a difficult question: Are

some cultures better than others at creating freedom,

prosperity and justice, and answers in the affirmative.

Editor Harrison, who pens the book's concluding essay,

states that culture, offers an important insight into why

some countries and ethniclreligious groups have done

better than others, not just in economic terms but also with

respect to consolidation of democratic institutions and

social justice. Culture in Trinidad along with the politics

of discrimination is perhaps the single most influential

factor that contributes to the disharmony within the nation.

Indeed, Samuel P. Huntington's Clash of Civilizations

observed that, cultural characteristics and differences are

less mutable and hence less easily compromised and

resolved than political and economic ones. The SDMS,

for the past two to three decades, has been advocating the

need to replace the Ministry of Culture with a more-

inclusive Ministry of Multiculturalism.

Lord Bhikhu Parekh, in the paper, What is multi-

culturalism? states that multiculturalism is best under-

stood ... as a perspective on, or a way of viewing, human

life. lts central insights are three. First, human beings are

culturally embedded in the sense that they grow up and

live within a culturally structured world and organize their

lives and social relations in terms of a culturally derived

system of meaning and significance. Second, different

cultures represent different systems of meaning and

visions of the good life. Third, every culture is internally

plural and reflects a continuing conversation between its

different traditions and strands of thought. Parekh also

gives the possible reason for the resistance to the SDMS's

lobby for Ministry of Multiculturalism when he states:

The dominant group generally welcomes neither,

recognition not given willingly as a gift or an act of grace.

It needs to be fought for and involves a cultural and

political contestation and sometimes even violence as

Hegel stressed in his analysis of the dialectic of

recognition and which Taylor's sanitized version of it

ignores.

To this end, the SDMS dedicated resources and

personnel to studying Multiculturalism models across the

globe. Of the models studied, the Canadian Model has

been found to be one worth studying with the objective of

adapting it to Trinidad society. In 1971, Canada was the

first country in the world to adopt multiculturalism as an

official policy. By so doing, Canada affirmed the

and dignity of all Canadian citizens regardless of

racial or ethnic origins, their language. or their reli

affiliation. The Canadian Multiculturalism State pol

worthy of further exam ination.

The Canadian Multiculturalism policy clearly

that the Government of Canada (a) recognize and pro

the understanding that multiculturalism reflects the cu

and racial diversity of Canadian society and acknowle

the freedom of all members of Canadian socie

preserve, enhance and share their cultural heritage

recognize and promote the understanding

multiculturalism is a fundamental characteristic o

Canadian heritage and identity and that it provide

invaluable resource in the shaping of Canada's futur

promote the full and equitable participation of indivi

and communities of all origins in the continuing evo

and shaping of all aspects of Canadian society, and

them in the elimination of any barrier to that participa

(d) recognize the existence of communities w

members share a common origin, and their hi

contribution to Canadian society, and enhance

development; (e) ensure that all individuals receive

treatment and equal protection under the law,

respecting and valuing their diversity; (f) encourage

assist the social, cultural, economic and po

institutions of Canada to be both respectful and inc

of Canada's multicultural character; (g) promote

understanding and creativity that arise from the intera

between individuals and communities of different or

(h) foster the recognition and appreciation of the d

cultures of Canadian society and promote the refle

and the evolving expressions of those cultures; (i) pre

and enhance the use of languages other than English

French, while strengthening the status and use o

official languages of Canada; and U) advance

culturalism throughout Canada in harmony with

national commitment to the official languages of Can

Lord Bhikhu Parekh, however, hauntingly remin

that, Although equal citizenship is essential to foster

common sense of belonging, it is not enough. Citize

is about statu's and rights; belonging is about accept

feeling welcome, a sense of identification. The two d

necessarily coincide. One might enjoy all the righ

citizenship but feel that one does not quite belong

community and is a relative outsider ...

Parsuram Maharaj is a

Newsday

columnist.


33/84

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34/84

Nyla Marajh, who inaugurated May Indian His

and Heritage Month in 2004 said that the In

community should create smaller educational and

san

-oriented events in the communities, and seek

researchers in the field of Indian heritage such as

Permasad, Kelvin Singh, Brinsley Samaroo and Ku

Mahabir.

After 150 years, the education system in Trinidad

the wider Caribbean still ignores it. In a time when

Caribbean is challenged to make the region an attrac

destination, we are still playing games with the cultur

the region. Many visiting foreigners are still shocked t

so many Indians and samples of Indian culture in

Caribbean. Does the region have a common purpos

making the Indian community a Cinderella soc

Nobody is going to wave a magic wand and tu

koharaa into a chariot and choochaa into horses

Indians to attend the royal ball. We have to discard

aversion to chamaar and make we own jootaa, other

we will continue to walk barefooted. Or will we cont

to sing

Mere jootaa hai japaanee, patloon Inglisthaan

Indians must therefore shape Mayas a month

educating the community on our history and the

scope of our heritage. The Kendra has, over a dec

adopted Mayas a month-long opportunity for this purp

The Kendra's theme for 2004 is 'Milk ki Jai, I an interac

series through which community elders will pass

knowledge and skills of our milk heritage to the you

generation. '

On Sunday, children learnt milk-based traditi

medicine,

kaarhaa

and

sweet-peraa.

There will be a

of all the products made by the children to help with

Ramdila

later this year.

The Kendra is also participating in an internati

project in association with Antal' Raashetreeya Sah

Parished

(International Society for Cooperati

The project will assist 100 families to trace their

in India.

Make May Indian History Month

By Raviji

Many visiting foreigners are still shocked to see so

many Indians and samples of Indian culture in the Caribbean.

The 159th Anniversary of the arrival of the first batch

of Indian indentured labourers (1845) and the seventh

anni versary of Indian Arrival Day, May 30, are fast

approaching.

Over the past 20 years, Indian Arrival has become a

popular day for Indians to commemorate. In fact, it

became so popular that public functions had to take place

on successive weekends preceding May 30. It often spilled

over into June. Unconsciously, May was staked out as a

month-long commemoration of the Indian presence in

T&T.

But there are other historical reasons why May has

significance for Indians in the Caribbean. May provided

for the Indian community in 1945 a month-long period of

intense community activity to produce a massive rally of

Indians at Skinner Park. It provided a landmark day for

Indians in the Diaspora during colonialism to dream, plan,

organize, assemble, publish, envision, reflect, and to

express themselves and exercise leadership. Many an

initiative was spawned in the wake of May 1945.

May, as Indian History and Heritage Month, also

provides a common platform for all Indians in the

Caribbean to bring focus on Indian Heritage. In fact, May

holds historical value to most of the Caribbean as Indians

first came to the Caribbean in May: Guyana - May 1838,

Hesparus and Whitby; Trinidad - May 30, Fatel Rozack;

Jamaica - May 1845. Suriname missed May by a few days.

May in the centenary year, was 61 years after October

30, 1884, the date of the infamous Jahaajee Massacre at

Balidaan Tolaa in San Fernando on the occasion of

Maharram. It was an occasion of great community spirit

and inter-religious unity. Out of 22

jahaajees

who were

shot dead by the police during the religious precession,

only four were Muslims. The majority who died were

Hindus.

One could understand how much the month of May

would have meant to Indians in 1945. Not too far away

from Balidaan Tolaa is Skinner Park where Indians would

again assemble in large numbers. Within a 10-mile radius

lay over 30 villages from

whichjahaajees

were drawn to

the fatal procession and from whom blood would be drawn

in sacrifice at Balidaan Tolaa.

The story would have been recited of Bal Gopal Singh,

who jumped on a horse, wielding a sword, and crashed

through the gates of Philipine Estate to let the

jahaajees

join the procession. How much would Balidaan Tolaa

make for deep reflection of the citizens of T&T? Would

we just drink wine, wave yuh hand and mash up de place

on Indian Arrival Day?

Ravi ji is a cultural activist and

Guardian

columnis

Interested parties may apply to Roots In India,

The Kendra, Jilibia Trace, Raghunanan Road, Enterpris

Phone/Fax 665-4270, 4103. E-mail: [email protected]


35/84

EstabJlshed 1985

They Came

They Saw

They Committed ...

In 1845 the first ships sailed into

Trinidad bringing the first Indentured

Labourers from India.

What they saw was a land not only

rich in soil content, but also rich in

potential.

And though they wore many faces,

they had one common goal, to make

this country their home. Now,

because of their undying

commitment, they've been able to

leave their mark on every aspect of

our culture, religion and politics.


36/84

I poem

MAl

By Jacqulin Suepaul

Talk to me East Indian mother of this land; bolo, sub kuch

bolo, tell me all you can

From the day the Fatel Razack

la ee ho,

And you chalo, chalo straight to the fields,

Indentured servant, poiya in hand,

To work for a meal planting kitari aur dhaan.

Tell me mai, about that kaam, that work.

Sun baking. Back breaking. Salt and

roti

melting

As yuh keep on toiling,

kaam karti rahee,

for wages next

to nothing.

Every 'fore day morning' yuh up,

Khaanaa banaanaa, food to cook; capray dhona, clothes

to wash,

Bancho palan posan, children to see 'bout; barracks saaf

karan, barracks to clean,

Before yuh khait chalan, leave to go out.

And what about dem barracks? Lil' two by four;

Choke up space to bechaaway rice pal to sonay on lepay

floor;

Walls thin thin; parosin could hear if yuh choopkay say

bol, whisper too loud,

Far more for when maar khaayo, licks share

Mai, doh feel shame to admit the abuse yuh suffer

From yuh pati, and de sardar, your workmaster.

Doh feel shame to tell of the other workers too;

Sharam aur hassi,

ridicule and laughter aimed at you, Mai,

Yuh ghangri stained with curry; head tied with orhni.

They calling yuh 'coolie.'

I know Mai, how like dew on flowers,

Tears must have graced your eyes, many unshed showers;

But Mai, sir naajook yuh never complain.

Yuh varsho ka parishrum, years of struggle was not

111

vain

Dhanya hai mai, we grateful yuh brave the kala pani

Stomach six months on the Atlantic sea

Yuh land here, argayee, with just ajahaji bundle and a

Dhristi, a vision.

Humbly start building for agali pirhe, coming generations.

Pawn yuh jewels to send yuh

bachchay to college;

Khaaee nahi,

do without, so they, we, could have the

privileges, you never had.

Now, yuh bachchay aur naatay, children

grandchildren are not only

adhyaapak, vakeel,

te

lawyers and doctors

But rose to raastra pati, president and pradhan m

prime minister

Rewards are worth balidaan dio, sacrifices you offere

With the kitari aur dhaan yuh plant in this ground

You help to build people, villages, towns - Iogue,

nagar.

Yes Mai, mujhe garv hai, I proud to say, you help

Trinidad what it is today.

Yuh enrich we culture with bhojan you make cook

the chulha.

With your holy festivals, your music, your

dholak,

dhantal

With the kaseedas and bhajans yuh sing as the c

ring,

With paramparaa, values you instilled; chaahut, lon

you fulfilled.

So bolo,

Mai,

yuh have plenty to say

and I need your gyaan, your wisdom to guide me

rasatayi

So

sadi batay soona

0,

Mai,

tell all you can tell

Let this sansaar know, in your own way, you excelled

Jacqulin Suepaul is a teacher, and the author

ofthe anthology of poems, Tempo in we tongue (20


37/84

oF A _nagemenl and taff

of

t-,

I

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38/84

The first potter of Chase Village

By Dr. Harold Harrinarine

Chase Village and Edinburgh Village ...

have become the pottery capital of the country

Chase Village and Edinburgh Village, located slightly

south of Chaguanas in central Trinidad, have become the

pottery capital of the country. This was no accident. This

Documents

Indian Arrival 2004