The Government and the people of Trinidad and Tobago will celebrate the 64th anniversary of Independence on August 31.
At midnight on August 31, 1962, the red, white and blue Union Jack flag was lowered and the red, white and black T&T flag was raised to the accompaniment of ringing of bells and sirens nationwide.
The government inherited a fragile financial system, sovereign debt obligations and urgently needed capital investment for social services and nation-building. The newly independent nation was faced with political and socioeconomic hurdles, high unemployment, racial and social polarisation and escalating poverty.
We must always remember the many struggles of our ancestors.
Our nation comprises many descendants of European colonisers; the vast majority of the population consists of descendants of slaves out of Africa and indentured labourers from India. The first boatload of indentured labourers left the sub-continent for a land they called “Chinidad.” Chini is the Hindi word for white sugar. After arrival in Trinidad, they were quarantined on Nelson Island before being assigned to sugar estates throughout Trinidad. At the turn of the 20th century, Mahatma Gandhi fought vigorously to remove the “Pass Law” in South Africa; he launched Satyagraha (non-violent Civil disobedience).
Beginning with the Transvaal Asiatic Law Amendment Ordinance (“Black Act”), which forced Indians to be fingerprinted, carry pass certificates, there were strikes, public burning of passes that led to many arrests and jail. In 1914, this led to the Indian Relief Act.
Similar conditions were applied to our ancestors in Trinidad.
Indentured labourers were often beaten, subjected to physical violence by estate managers and overseers for breaking curfews or leaving the estate without a pass. The same applied to our ancestors in Trinidad. The jails were crowded with those who dared to break this inhumane law.
Our parents and grandparents suffered many a disability as they worked their way to complete five years of bonded labour. They had to live in barrack-style primitive conditions with no running water and only communal toilets that were opened 4 o’clock in the morning. It is a miracle our ancestors survived for any period of time.
Among our ancestors, there was a huge gender gap; only a small percentage of immigrants were female. We have been told by some of the older folks that because of the shortage of womenfolk, jealousy was rampant.
Many of our female ancestors lost their lives because of this colonial policy of limiting the number of female indentured labourers.
As we celebrate our 64th anniversary of the state of Trinidad and Tobago, we must recall that after 1956, when Dr Eric Williams and the People’s National Movement took power through a “deal” struck between the British colonial authority, the descendants of indentures suffered many deprivations. In fact, we describe ourselves as a sub-class of Trinbagonian. A number of pejoratives were used to describe and humiliate the descendants.
To flee a hostile Trinidad, thousands of our descendants fled to other lands. We had thousands of our citizens applying in the United States and Canada for “refugee” status. Their departure led to a flight of private capital. If today we are able to display a greater sense of belonging, it is thanks to the efforts of no one except us, ourselves, the descendants of the indentures.
There are tens of thousands of Hindus who are linking back to us to re-establish Hindu religious, cultural and social contacts; Hindus who have made the state of Florida their home have built scores of Hindu temples and annually invite the pundits of Trinidad to fly across to perform pujas, weddings and funerals.
New York City has a sizeable presence of Trinidad Hindus who have built their own temples. Pundits provide the same religious support as if devotees were in Trinidad. Canada also has a large presence of Trinidad Hindus and their families.
They have erected massive Hindu temple complexes and are as active as we Hindus in Trinidad.
Our Hindu families overseas hanker for their old country, Trinidad and Tobago. Through social networking, they keep in touch with activities in T&T on a daily basis, and it is our experience that through the Maha Sabha’s radio and television station, Radio/TV Jaagriti, they keep abreast of not only the religious and cultural activities, but also the politics of T&T.
It is our experience, therefore, that the majority of our citizens who had to flee T&T are still in love with our beautiful land.
