Indian Arrival Day in the Caribbean

On May 1st many countries celebrated Labor Day. In the United States we celebrate Labor Day on the first Monday in September. It does not matter what day you celebrate it on. What matters is the celebration of the rights of workers in every nation. Every person should be treated with dignity and equality. People of different genders and races should be paid equally according to their skills, talents and abilities. People should be paid a fair, living wage. We should not be abused physically, emotionally or sexually. Indians who came to the Caribbean had to struggle for these basic, human rights when they came to this region to work in the sugar fields.

Indian Arrival Day is celebrated in a number of Caribbean countries: Guyana, Trinidad, Suriname, Fiji and Mauritius, to name the main ones. Each country celebrates on a different day. Trinidad and Guyana are the most well known countries which have Indian Arrival Day celebrations. Guyana celebrates this day on May 5th and it has been a national holiday for the last ten years. The initial year of the Indians arrival was 1838. Trinidad has celebrated Indian Arrival Day since 1995. That was the year of the 150th year anniversary of Indian Arrival Day. It became a national holiday for this very purpose and to honor the contributions of Indians in Trinidad.

Indian Arrival Day in Guyana is the focus of many Guyanese Americans who immigrated to the United States. Many of my friends from the Hindu mandirs (temples) celebrate this event in the United States or travel to Guyana to take in the celebrations there. The "Whitby" and the "Hesperus" boats brought Indians to Guyana from India to be indentured laborers in the British owned colonial sugar plantations. These individuals worked under terrible conditions similar to the African slaves they replaced when the slaves were emancipated in Guyana.

According to Vishnu Bisram, an Arrival Day supporter, "They were cheated out of their pay, battered and bruised by the white colonial masters and other ethnic groups. They overcame the adversities they faced with dignity and with much cultural retention as practiced in India." He says it took some time to convince all the political parties in Guyana to institute an official national celebration of Indian Arrival day. Even the People's Progressive Party (PPP), which is a coalition of Hindus, Indians and other progressives, did not support instituting this official day at first. Some people did not want to celebrate it because of the treatment of the British colonial masters. It brought up old wounds, denial and intense feelings for some individuals. Workers' rights should always be celebrated. We can get together and form unions and coops to change the system. We do not have to accept oppression from Trump, our bosses or the corporations who would like to go back to 19th Century labor practices.

Indian Arrival Day is also a celebration of Indian ancestral culture in the Caribbean. Indians greatly influenced the culture of many Caribbean countries and also the history and culture of the United States. Gandhi is the hero of many American activists in South and North America. He stood up to the British task masters in South Africa and India. Indian culture and values influenced the Civil Rights Movements and other movements in the philosophy of non-violence, which was used to change the actions of the oppressor.

Story telling about our ancestors can provide healing in these situations. The British colonial mentality does not have to remain in Guyana or any other country. There are workers in the sugar fields today who need support for their basic, human rights. As former President Bharrat Jagdeo of Guyana states: "This country belongs to a large number of beautiful people, all of them having equal rights. No one is inferior or superior. We are all equal in this land."

Did the British whip indentured laborers like they whipped the black African slaves? Yes, they did. In 1839 agents of the Anti-Slavery Society confronted the public with the truth when workers complained of this happening. Some of the planters in Demerara did whip the laborers just like they whipped the slaves. The Society was a watch dog group who exposed the abuses of the colonial masters. Every indentured laborer was also paid "less than a third of what they should have been receiving" under their contract with these masters. The Governor heard of these abuses and formed a commission of inquiry and the abusers were prosecuted for their abusive behavior. Not all were treated poorly by their masters. In Berbice they generally were treated fairly. Many Indians, however, died during their indenture period from various causes. Some Indians stayed in Guyana and some traveled back to India.

We can all advocate for workers' rights in whatever country we reside in at the moment. Immigrants created a great American nation. Their rights need to be upheld and respected. Vote for people of all backgrounds who support human and immigrant rights. Some legislators have fasted in support of immigrant rights at the Minnesota State Capitol recently in support of immigrant driver's licenses. Advocate for better laws on the local level if the national level is hard to change at the moment. Trump is no friend of the working class. Take Gandhi as a great role model: "Be the change you want to see in the world!" Happy Indian Arrival Day!

JAI SHRI ARRIVAL DAY! JAI SHRI WORKERS' RIGHTS! JAI SHRI MA!

Radhapriestess