Op­po­si­tion Leader Pen­ne­lope Beck­les, the Mem­ber of Par­lia­ment for Ari­ma, has ex­tend­ed greet­ings to the East In­di­an com­mu­ni­ty of Trinidad and To­ba­go as the coun­try marks In­di­an Ar­rival Day 2025.

This year com­mem­o­rates 180 years since the first East In­di­an im­mi­grants left their home­land, crossed the Kala Pani, and ar­rived in a for­eign land to work as in­den­tured labour­ers un­der harsh con­di­tions.

“On 30 May 1845, in­den­tured labour­ers from the moth­er­land of In­dia, on board the Fa­tel Raza­ck, first sight­ed the Port of Spain har­bour,” the Op­po­si­tion Leader re­called. “Those brave men and women, our fore­fa­thers, would go on to shape the de­vel­op­ment of our land­scape and re­de­fine the sto­ry of what we know as our beloved Trinidad and To­ba­go.”

She urged all cit­i­zens to re­flect on the strength and per­se­ver­ance of the ear­ly ar­rivals who faced dan­ger­ous work­ing and liv­ing con­di­tions.

“Their jour­ney is a true sto­ry of per­se­ver­ance and a com­mit­ment to over­come ad­ver­si­ty. That per­se­ver­ance, that re­silience—that is what we, the peo­ple of Trinidad and To­ba­go are made of, and that is the in­ner strength from which we must draw in these try­ing times.”

The Ari­ma MP paid trib­ute to the sac­ri­fices of those who came be­fore, not­ing their last­ing in­flu­ence on re­li­gion, cul­ture, cui­sine, and work eth­ic.

“Ours is a blessed, unique her­itage deeply root­ed in cul­ture and re­li­gion,” she said. “The cul­tur­al prod­ucts brought by in­den­tured labour­ers such as mu­sic, dance, food, and fes­ti­vals have been etched in his­to­ry and con­tin­ue to play a piv­otal role in our so­ci­ety.”

The Op­po­si­tion Leader called on all cit­i­zens to em­body the spir­it of the in­den­tured labour­ers and to ho­n­our their lega­cy by com­mit­ting to a bet­ter fu­ture.

“This day is an op­por­tu­ni­ty for us to ho­n­our their con­tri­bu­tions,” the Ari­ma MP ob­served, “and reaf­firm our com­mit­ment to cre­at­ing a bet­ter Trinidad and To­ba­go.”

“This is a clar­i­on call for us to work to­geth­er to over­come the ad­ver­si­ties and chal­lenges that we face as a coun­try in this 21st Cen­tu­ry,” she said. “On this his­toric oc­ca­sion mark­ing the 180th an­niver­sary of the ar­rival of our fore­fa­thers, we must now look for­ward, guid­ed by our past, but de­ter­mined to re­build and re­store all as­pects of our Trinidad and To­ba­go.”