c qoi o jus' ? ki sa sa ki sa yé ?

NELSON MANDELA : GANDHI, THE SACRED WARRIOR

■ India is Gandhi's country of birth; South Africa his country of adoption. He was both an Indian and a South African citizen. Both countries contributed to his intellectual and moral genius, and he shaped the liberatory movements in both colonial theaters. He is the archetypal anticolonial revolutionary. His strategy of noncooperation, his assertion that we can be dominated only if we cooperate with our dominators, and his nonviolent resistance inspired anticolonial and antiracist movements internationally in our century.

    Both Gandhi and I suffered colonial oppression, and both of us mobilized our respective peoples against governments that violated our freedoms. The Gandhian influence dominated freedom struggles on the African continent right up to the 1960s because of the power it generated and the unity it forged among the apparently powerless. Nonviolence was the official stance of all major African coalitions, and the South African A.N.C. remained implacably opposed to violence for most of its existence.

    Gandhi remained committed to nonviolence; I followed the Gandhian strategy for as long as I could, but then there came a point in our struggle when the brute force of the oppressor could no longer be countered through passive resistance alone. We founded Unkhonto we Sizwe and added a military dimension to our struggle. Even then, we chose sabotage because it did not involve the loss of life, and it offered the best hope for future race relations. Militant action became part of the African agenda officially supported by the Organization of African Unity (O.A.U.) following my address to the Pan-African Freedom Movement of East and Central Africa (PAFMECA) in 1962, in which I stated, "Force is the only language the imperialists can hear, and no country became free without some sort of violence."

    Gandhi himself never ruled out violence absolutely and unreservedly. He conceded the necessity of arms in certain situations. He said, "Where choice is set between cowardice and violence, I would advise violence... I prefer to use arms in defense of honor rather than remain the vile witness of dishonor ..." Violence and nonviolence are not mutually exclusive; it is the predominance of the one or the other that labels a struggle.

    Gandhi arrived in South Africa in 1893 at the age of 23. Within a week he collided head on with racism. His immediate response was to flee the country that so degraded people of color, but then his inner resilience overpowered him with a sense of mission, and he stayed to redeem the dignity of the racially exploited, to pave the way for the liberation of the colonized the world over and to develop a blueprint for a new social order. He left 21 years later, a near maha atma (great soul). There is no doubt in my mind that by the time he was violently removed from our world, he had transited into that state.

    He was no ordinary leader. There are those who believe he was divinely inspired, and it is difficult not to believe with them. He dared to exhort nonviolence in a time when the violence of Hiroshima and Nagasaki had exploded on us; he exhorted morality when science, technology and the capitalist order had made it redundant; he replaced self-interest with group interest without minimizing the importance of self. In fact, the interdependence of the social and the personal is at the heart of his philosophy. He seeks the simultaneous and interactive development of the moral person and the moral society.

- Nelson Mandela.

SOURCE

1933 : A MESSAGE FROM GANDHIJI (click to enlarge)

INDENTURESHIP DREAMS

Indentureship Dreams- my ancestral scene !!

T'was a long, long journey across the Kala Pani,
Churning sea and chilling breeze amazed our jahajies.

Food was rationed and everyone given a small portion,
Days were long & sad, nights filled with dreams in anticipation.

Alas!! many died from a lack of clean drinking water,
Their relatives will never know of this horrible torture.

Land ahead!!, land ahead!! came the scream from the tired sailors,
Behold!! the majesty of the promised land ripe for new labourers.

Slowly stepping on the land, hungry and tired but happy!!
The wonderful names of jahajies were recorded in a jiffy.

Their new homes were a mystery--barracoons aplenty,
This tiny living space was indeed a pioneer's misery.

Days were long and hard, early morning toil in the fields began,
They were not spared the whip, by the overseer a cruel man.

Their hands were blistered and their backs beaten by the Sun,
Ordinary humans could not this job have done.

Their labour resulted in the wealth of the British Empire,
Little was given to them by the greedy colonial masters.

Sun and rain attack their countenance,
Stealing their beautiful, youthful radiance.

The life we live today is their gift of love and sacrifice,
They came to a hostile land and paid this awesome price.

Jahajies zindabad!!, zindabad!! zindabad!! forever,
Zindabad !! eternal gratitude for your great fervor.

Khem Harrinarine

See also:

• MERE DESH, AN ODE TO TRINIDAD WORKERS
• MORE about the author

ANTILLAIS A PANAMA

    ■ Au début du XXème siècle, entre 1846 et 1914, des milliers de Guadeloupéens et Martiniquais partent en vagues successives pour Panama participer, aux côtés d'Américains, d'Européens et d'autres Caribéens, aux travaux de creusement du Canal inter-océanique.

    Les facteurs essentiels qui ont poussé ces personnes à s'embarquer pour Colon, souvent de façon définitive, sont les crises sucrières successives et l'éruption de la Montagne Pelée.

    Les recrutements d'ouvriers sous contrat étaient effectués par la Compagnie américaine du Canal qui organisait le transport des émigrants. Les registres du Canal, du 28 octobre 1914, montrent que la Compagnie a ainsi recruté en Martinique : 2.733 personnes en 1905, 585 seulement en 1906, et 2.224 en 1907.

    En définitive, sur les dix années qu'ont duré les travaux, 5.542 Martiniquais et 2.052 Guadeloupéens auraient été recrutés.

    Encore faut-il noter que ces évaluations sont sans doute sous-estimées, car elles n'incluent pas les départs individuels; de plus, après la fin des travaux et jusqu'au cours des années 20, des individus sont allés rejoindre des membres de leur famille qui s'étaient installés au Panama.

    Les conditions de travail difficiles et les maladies ont été la cause de nombreux décès. Non loin de l'écluse de Miraflores, dans le cimetière de Paraïso, reposent des Antillais décédés pendant la construction du Canal; une stèle y a été édifiée à la mémoire des Français.

    Pour les familles restées sur place et leurs descendants, la vie n'a pas été toujours facile, malgré la création à Panama-City, en 1917, d'une société de secours mutuel, "La Fraternité", qui regroupe, aujourd'hui encore, les Martiniquais et Guadeloupéens de Panama.

    Il a fallu 13 ans pour que les lois discriminatoires prises à l'encontre des émigrés soient abrogées. La minorité antillaise francophone, restée sur place, fut longtemps victime de sa marginalité et il faudra attendre 1981 pour que les droits de ses descendants soient officiellement reconnus.

    Dès 1917, la communauté a créé une société de secours mutuel, la "Société française la Fraternité", qui survit encore de nos jours. Depuis quelques années, l'association "Martinique- Panama" a renoué les contacts, elle organise des rencontres, dépouille les registres des compagnies et de la mutuelle.

ATAHUALPA YUPANQUI : CON UNA MODESTIA ENVIDIABLE

AIME CESAIRE : ADAGIO POUR LA DA

  

    N'oublions pas la Da qui berça le petit Aimé.

    En Martinique on appelait la nourrice d'un enfant sa Da, en Guadeloupe on disait la Mabo (de “ma bonne”). C'était, dans les familles qui pouvaient se le permettre, la seconde mère, la servante attentionnée qui était attachée à l'enfant et veillait à son confort et à sa bonne éducation.

 C'est sur la Plantation Eyma à Basse-Pointe, dans le nord de la Martinique, qu'Aimé Césaire naquit et passa son enfance. Sa Da était d'origine indienne, comme le sont encore bon nombre d'habitants de l'endroit. Âgée, cette dame avait libre droit d'accès en Mairie de Fort-de-France même en période de crue, pour voir l'enfant devenu écrivain, puis maire, puis député - car celui dont elle avait été la nourrice ne l'avait pas reniée. Les comptines en Tamoul dont elle le berça restèrent dans sa mémoire. Il les évoquait à l'occasion.

FLEURS PAYS POUR CESAIRE

Je veux  dire le combat contre tout ce qui opprime l'homme
Le combat contre tout ce qui écrase l'homme
Le combat contre tout ce qui humilie l'homme
Où qu'il se trouve
Et que dans ce combat là
Chaque peuple quelque petit qu'il soit
Tient une partie du front
Donc en définitive est comptable
D'une part même infime
De l'espérance humaine.
                              - Aimé Césaire

BRÈVE BAFOUILLE
Césaire aimé fils et bon père de ta terre
tu t'es grandi en te frottant au petit peuple
avec Senghor, consorts, parmi Paris tu te trouvas
des Clovis et des Huns tu te fis une orgie...

Et les chiens s'asseyaient en humant le Cahier
Tandis que nous passions notre temps à la plage 
tu nous mettais au nez la bimbeloterie
tu dénonçais l'arnaque en humant le vent large.

Au Nobel de Bonbel tu préfèras les Peuhls
les arbres d'en-Guinée la femme noire altière
le sein qui t'a nourri, la brave Da tamoule
le lait de la savane, camarade Aliker

Le Letchi mûr pour maire, l'alizé vert des mornes
chemin seul, la lumière intérieure et vibrante
loin de la foule aux cris, reste avec nous chez toi.
- Parolier du Dru.       

Le langage poétique est le seul qui permette d’exprimer la complexité de l’homme. - Aimé Césaire.

Most novels are very boring. I’m incapable of following all those characters and stories for thousands of pages.
Poetry quickly distils a sensibility and a sense of the world.  - Amadou Lamine Sall, Senegalese poet.

«… lie ma noire vibration au nombril même  du monde
              lie, lie-moi, fraternité âpre
              puis, m’étranglant de ton lasso d’étoiles
              monte,
              Colombe
              monte
              monte
              monte
              Je te suis imprimée en mon ancestrale cornée blanche.
              monte lécheur de ciel
              et le grand trou noir où je voulais me noyer
              l’autre lune
              c’est là que je veux pêcher maintenant  la
              langue maléfique de la nuit en son immobile
              verrition! »

(fin du Cahier)

Aïeux nègres, koulis, cannes de Basse-Pointe
Fertile Salutation, l'ombre nage en corps de fantômes.
Temps, le temps c'est ta flamme des mots sobres,
Un doigt, et vent surpris, la rosée suite
En poèmes de l'ami Aimé.  - Khal Torabully

• 1977, Maldoror, Césaire, Senghor, entretiens : ICI
• Sang tamoul dans l’ascendance du Chantre : ICI
• Coolitude/Négritude de Khal Torabully : ICI
• Quelques textes forts d'Aimé Césaire : ICI
• Blog de Tony Mardaye, photos : ICI
• Textes poétiques de Césaire : ICI
• Hommage Indo-Karuk : ICI
• Eloge video-chanté : ICI
• Aimé : English LINKS

Mots d’une histoire singulière, tragique et toujours espérante.
Mots d’une géographie péléenne où viennent boire les mangroves, éclater les coraux, s’enflammer les balisiers.
Mots d’une existence plus tourmentée qu’on ne le croit, trempée dans une foi inébranlable en l’humanité souffrante.
Mots conjugués en flamme de beauté et portant la torche d’une vérité sans pourquoi.
Aimé Césaire, absolument poète, sincèrement poète, mondialement poète.
A cette heure où l’ombre attise tes paupières, nous te pleurons !
Désormais, il nous appartient de regarder l’avenir en face car nous savons que les plus grands bâtisseurs sont ceux qui réveillent l’énergie des cendres à travers les décombres.
- Ernest PEPIN

Ecoutez le monde blanc
horriblement las de son effort immense,
ses articulations rebelles craquer sous les étoiles dures,
ses raideurs d'acier bleu transperçant la chair mystique;
écoute ses victoires proditoires trompeter ses défaites,
écoute aux alibis grandioses son piètre trébuchement
Pitié pour nos vainqueurs omniscients et naïfs !

Car l’esclave, à la limite, n’a pas de responsabilités : théoriquement, il se contente de faire le travail qu’on lui ordonne de faire, de manger et de dormir.

Naturellement, il est bien plus difficile d’être un homme libre que d’être un esclave.
Mais toute la dignité de l’homme vient de ce qu’il préfère la liberté difficile à l’esclavage et la soumission faciles. - Aimé Césaire, source.

Je ne m’enterre pas dans un particularisme étroit. Mais je ne veux pas non plus me perdre dans un universalisme décharné. (Lettre à Maurice Thorez).

LE SENS DU BIEN : René Sahaï

«Il faut avoir le Sens du Bien.»
René Samson SAHAÏ
Guadeloupe, 1913-2006.

René Samson SAHAÏ à 44 ans en 1957.

René Samson SAHAÏ à 93 ans en 2006.

My father René Samson SAHAI born July 28, 1913 passed away peacefully on Nov. 15 at 1 pm Guadeloupe time after a short illness. He was a man of heart and a defender of nature. He was raised as a Christian but was above religious systems and was knwown for his great spiritual kindness, tolerance, and patience towards all. He always thought the presence of indians in Guadeloupe was a key factor of evolution and an example for the country and they should never let others dilute their culture and moral values. He was always thrilled to know someone from India was visiting. He was an ebenist and made sacrifices to give his 2 sons Jude and Jean the best education and an acute sense of always being ready to help others. He always objected to the cutting of a single tree and would never eat a fruit without keeping the seeds in envelopes and sowing them later. He rejected chemical drugs all his life and always believed in eating local fruits and vegetables, instead of imported foodstuffs. He was sad about the growing degradation of our peaceful lifestyle due to influences of Europe and America. He always prayed to God for others and many adults today thank him for having rescued them from idleness and helped them create their own job. At a very young age he thought me to always read something or write something every day, and felt it was necessary for us to learn English.

We are convinced he is in the Light now and we feel no sadness but serene joy at his liberation. Towards the end of his life he regretted that he had not seen India. My mother also passed away peacefully in 1990. J.S. Sahaï.

Papan mwen fèt an 1913, manman'y té ni 14 an! Sété on vré gwadloupéyen kréyol. I té ébénis kafè mèb péyi, apré sa i fè réprézantan a machin a bwa é fouw a pen. I toujou palé kréyol akaz, sa ki pa anpéché nou aprann ki fransé ki dot lang, é pèsé lékol. I toujou défann pyébwa annou, manjé péyi, pran rimed-hazié péyi, é défann sajès péyi. I pa té kontan vwè nou ka pèd fos, afos manjé kochonni enpowté, é i pa té enmé vwè ti moun ka ped tan an lari, olyé yo pran liv pou aprann kèchoz. I toujou édé tout kalité moun, san gadé la ansèt a yo té sòti. I pa té gè ankont a médikaman chimik. I pa té pou mété tousa angré an tè a péyi-la. I té pou sové sa ki tannou, i té vlé vwè abfwityé annou planté toupatou é moun o péyi manjé sa ka pousé o péyi plito. I paté ka manjé on fwi pou'y té jété sé grenn-la, i té ka mété sé grenn-la adan ti anvlop, é i té ka simé yo lè'y té kay pronmné. E i té ka pran po a mango ouben ju a pastek apré i té fin mangé yo, é pasé si figi a'y, pas sa té plen vitamin!  I viv 93 lanné, é i pati trankilman lè 15 nov. 06. Sé té on mèt. On jou i di mwen konsa si'y pa ni ni lajan, ni tè, pou lésé banmwen, i ka ban mwen on mo, pou an sa fè chimen anmwen : pasyans. E sé épi pasyans i réglé tout pwoblem a'y.

Kivédi nou pa ni a enni pléré gwodlo si mò a on moun à limyè, mé a maré ren é voyé respé, lonè é lanmou monté an drapo pou yo. Sa nou aprann é konprann èvè moun annou, sa nou rivé gadé andidan kè annou lè'w vwè moun-la pati, sé sa ka fè'y ka kontinyé viv andidan nou. Sa dwètèt fè nou viv pli ho ankò, é voyé lé bon prensip monté ho, ho é pli ho. Fos ! - Jean S. Sahaï. 

Moksha Archanai was performed for René Samson Sahai, and prayers sent to the devaloka on his behalf at San Marga Iraivan Temple, Kauai's Hindu Monastery, Hawaii.

KURAL 994
The world commends the civility of those who
combine fruitful effort and kindly benevolence.

Notre vrai tombeau n'est pas dans la terre, mais dans le coeur des hommes.
- Proverbe persan.

«L'âme des êtres libres ne meurt jamais, leur Soi non plus», écrivait Jean Sahaï à une de nous à la mort de Gérard Lauriette. Il en est de même pour son père qui savait si bien "mordre" dans la vie, dans l'humour, et dans la tranquilité. Leçon pour nous tous ! Fos à Jean de tous ses amis de la Guyane. Nithyanandam ! - Rosine Maroudy.

My Dear Bhaiya,
Please do accept our most sincere condolences on the passing of a beloved Pita Ji. That you had him for 93 years is a great blessing. Please know that our prayers, wishes and love are with you during this time. Sincerely, - Nanda Sahadeo, Devar and the Entire IJP Parivaar, Guyana.

Nos pensées sont avec vous. Il devait être bien honorable. Nous avons demandé une moksha archanaï en son nom. Il est davantage vivant aujourd'hui qu'avant-hier. Aum Namasivaya. - Sadhaka Jothinatha, Kauai Hindu Monastery, Hawaii. 

Un père c'est un toit, un totem, un arbre géant qu'aucune forêt ne saurait remplacer. Il faut te dire qu'il continue à travers toi, tes frères et sœurs à être plus vivant que jamais... - Ernest Pépin.

Om Sivaya, Jean: I am sorry to hear of your father's passing. He lived a good long life, and is happily on the antar loka now. - Sannyasin Arumugaswami, Managing Editor, Hinduism Today Magazine.

La mort d'un être cher est toujours un arrachement, mais Jean, je suis sûr que tu as emmagasiné des trésors en vivant avec ton père disparu à 93 ans. Wishing you the very best, - Robert Romney. 

Mes pensées fraternelles à toi.  - Fred Négrit, Association Culturelle Guadeloupéenne des Amis de l'Inde.

Une ombre claire est passée près de moi,
J'ai voulu la retenir, mais elle s'en est allée.
Elle m'a filé entre les doigts,
Me laissant juste son empreinte auréolée.
Son souvenir me ceint, emplissant mes pensées.
- Gaelle Linfide.

A deux reprises, j'avais rencontré ton père et échangé quelques paroles avec lui. J'avais de l'affection et beaucoup de respect pour lui. C'était un homme discret, qui avait beaucoup de sagesse. J'espère qu'il est parti paisiblement pour son voyage dans la Lumière. Vous l'aviez bien entouré et fêté pour ses 90 ans. Je t'accompagne, je pense également à Karim qui aime beaucoup son Grand-Père. Ce soir, chez moi j'ai installé une fleur et allumé une bougie pour lui. Les deux rayonnent de lumière. Demain, j'irai à l'abbaye de Solesmes. Je t'envoie courage et soutien et t'embrasse de tout coeur.  - Chantal Godeau.

J'ai appris la nouvelle du départ de ton Père pour La Grande Lumière. Je suis près de toi par la pensée et par le coeur, et prends part à l'évènement... - Renée Rollé, Basse-Terre. 

J'ai eu la chance de le voir à l'hôpital peu de temps avant son départ, il m'a paru être un homme d'une grande sagesse. Je suis sûr qu'il a atteint l'illumination. Sé on dot vi ka koumansé pou'y. Fos ! - Félix Héry.

Your dad is 'fine' now... that is the Truth... You need to do what is to be done... that is reality... I am sure you will manage... Take care? - Nithyananda Advaith (Ram).

Kouté monfi, Sa toujou rèd pèd on moun ou enmé, menmsi i té ja ni laj pou té lésé-zòt fè chimen-la i konmansé la. Déparfwa sa ka boulvèsé-nou sitèlman, ...nou ka konpwann plibyen poukisa nou té si latè. Kenbé é sav nou ka ba-w fòs é kouraj pou sa. - Hector Poullet.
 
An sòti-sòti dékouvè nouvèl-la. Fòs é kouraj pou voumenm a'w é tout fanmi a'w. Sé konsa nou pé di: "lanmò an siyaj a lavi". Jòdi sé vou, dèmen sé mwen. Men, pa krent, an sèten ou ké sav sèvi épi lèkspéryans a tousa ou ja viv a dòt pagna i ja pasé pa la. Kenbé fò. - Alain Rutil.

 

Ton père était comme du feu à mes yeux d'enfants, tournoyant, vif, fulgurant... tel un dragon !
An pawol saj, ki ka fan'an sonjé'y :
L'essence même de la philosophie hindoue,

c'est que l'homme est un esprit,
et qu'il a un corps ;

pas que l'homme est un corps,

et qu'il peut aussi avoir un esprit.

- Swami Vivekananda.

Bien-être et bénédictions à toi, Jean. - Rosine Viranin.

 

GUADELOUPE'S INDIAN ARRIVAL MONUMENT

INAUGURATED IN GUADELOUPE, FRENCH WEST INDIES

In Guadeloupe in the French West Indies, 2004 brought a whole year of commemoration of the 150th anniversary of the arrival of the first indentured Indian workers in 1854 to a close with the inauguration of a First Day monument in the business capital, Pointe-a-Pitre, near the sea-side spot where the indentured Indians alighted between 1854 and 1889.

The plaque on the monument carries an eloquent and very pedagogical text, which is  necessary  considering that almost no mention of the history of the Indians and their contributions have been made so far in the French school text books.

The plaque reads:

"On December 24, 1854, the sailing ship "Aurelie", after a dreadful three-month passage, disembarked on this spot 314 East Indians, requested by the Colony to cope with the loss of labour resulting from the abolition of slavery in 1848.

Thus began a long period of transplantation that brought 42,326  East Indians to Guadeloupe,  of which 24,891 were to perish, particularly because of the ill-treatment they received, and 9,460 returned to India.

In memory and homage to the contribution of those from India who founded the multicultural Guadeloupe of yesterday and today, the Regional Council, the General Council, the City of Pointe-a-Pitre, in accord with the Bharat-�-Gua Federation, have erected this First Day monument, on the occasion of the 150th anniversary of the arrival of the first Indians in Guadeloupe."

The more than 600-kilogram bronze monument by Indrajeet Sahadev, an Indian-born sculptor residing in France, is a combination of symbolic representations of the long Kalapani journey, a boat with  Lord Ganesha's figure at the prow, masts with Lord Siva's trident and damaru engraved in gold obliquely sectioned at the top to form a golden OM.

The art piece stands on a circular lotus mandala base, the whole monument resting on a marble yantra. On the four sides of the rectangular base block are figures of a conch, a golden sun with the date 1854 in the middle, and sugar cane shoots - the bitter reason that brought the Indians to the island. The auspicious Indian symbol for water also turns out to be the letter G, representing the Universal Master, the initial of Lord Ganesha, and that of Guadeloupe. Guadeloupe was called  Kalaoukera, meaning "island of beautiful waters" by the original, now decimated, Amerindian inhabitants.

As Dr.  Henry Bangou, Mayor of Pointe-a-Pitre and a renowned historian, and all the official speakers said, the contributions of the Indians to the evolution of Guadeloupe and its population is incalculable. Today Indians in Guadeloupe are to be found in all sectors of society, from agriculture to politics. Their painful integration, in spite of all the hardships and persecutions, is considered today a success. This is due to their non-violent attitudes and determination in the work place, since the time of the sugarcane fields.

Their integration was achieved at great expense - the almost total loss of their original languages from South and North India, replaced by French and Creole, the forced abandonment of their religion to Catholicism, and the transformation of their customs and culture to becoming Europeanized.  However, in the crucible of change, they have managed to do much more than just influence the local cuisine, costume and folklore.

Many cultural associations, under the federative banner of Bharat-a-Gua ("From India to Guadeloupe") are reawakening the Indian awareness. Rituals clandestinely kept across time are being revived, scholars are researching and documenting the past. Interestingly enough, people of all cultural heritage, Indian or mixed ethnic backgrounds, are attracted and are participating  in these activities.

People of all origins also took part in the year long commemoration events.

Originally scheduled for December 23rd, 2004, the inauguration of the monument took place on January 23rd, 2005, due to an earthquake in Guadeloupe in December 2004. After the official discourses and the unveiling of the monument at the sound of the "tapu" (a flat Indian tambourine drum), flower petals were thrown by Guadeloupeans of mixed ancestral heritage, onto the nearby sea.

This homage was accompanied by moving prayers that the offering may reach ancient ancestors, across the sea of time.

Visitors are kindly requested to leave their comments.

See Photographs accompanying the French version of this text.

JUSTICE MARCH COMMEMORATED IN ST. VINCENT

article in
The Vincentian
2006/10/06

The events of Saturday October 7th, 1882, will be commemorated here in honour of those East Indian estate workers, who marched from Argyle to Kingstown, in protest against harsh and unjust treatment handed out to them on the Argyle estate.

Come Saturday October 7th, 2006, the SVG Indian Heritage Foundation will host a cultural rally to commemorate this courageous feat, from 6:30pm at the Pitani Resort. Members of the Foundation, other supporters and well-wishers are expected to gather in celebration of the anniversary of the event.

A number of government officials are expected to make short addresses at the ceremony, including Hon. Rene Baptiste, Minister of Culture who will also present a digital copy of the Immigrant Register of Indians. 

President of the Foundation Mr. Elmore Gaymes will receive the register and address the gathering. 

The feature address will be delivered by Dr. Arnold Thomas. The India ambassador to Trinidad and Tobago will attend and bring greetings.According to Historian Dr. Arnold Thomas; fifty (50) Indians marched, October 7, 1882 to Kingstown in protest against the abuse and loss of wages on the estate.  Some also claimed that they had been cheated out of their return passage (seventeen pounds as per their contracts) back to India.

The SVG Indian Heritage Foundation (SVGIHF) has taken the decision to celebrate this protest march in recognition of the courageous stance of those 50 Indian indentured workers.  They demanded justice in times of adversity. They followed the example of Mohandas Gandhi and succeeded in the end.

An invitation is extended to all Vincentians to join in solidarity, by participating in the celebration at Argyle on Saturday.

The SVGIHF is a non-political, non-religious, non-gender, non-racial, and non-biased organization which seeks to preserve Indian heritage, and foster continued amicable cultural relations with the wider community.

----------------

St. Vincent's East Indian Diaspora

This article was written by Steve S. Bullock, a descendant of indentured Indians on St. Vincent.  Bullock is the Associated Press reporter on St. Croix in the United States Virgin Islands.  He is also a part time professor at the University of the Virgin Islands.

"The following is based on my research into the origins and settlements of indentured east Indians on St. Vincent between 1860's and 1920's.

At least four brothers with the last name Ram Ballack Singh were part of a contingent that came to St. Vincent from the Bihar province.

Each was assigned to separate estates in Argyle (southeast coast of the island), Calder-Escape (five miles away), Fountain, south of the island (four miles from the current location of the E.T. Joshua Airport, and in the Yambou-Acers-Dickie area, located six miles inland from the Argyle estate.

The Indians who settled in Argyle-Calder-Escape-Yambou areas worked on the Argyle Estate, which was one of the largest sugar cane plantations on the island.

Many subsequently befriended King Jaja, (1821-1891) the exiled king of Opobo (Opobu), Niger Delta, who was banished to St. Vincent in the early 1880's after he opposed British interference and colonial attempt to monopolize the lucrative palm oil industry in the delta regions of Nigeria, which his Ana Pepple Trading House (tribe) controlled.

King Jaja was taken to St. Vincent and lived for about three or four years on the Spring Estate, located to the north (on the outskirts) of the Argyle Estate.

King Jaja and the Indians of the day shared and learned from each other's agriculture and culinary traditions before the British agreed to repatriate him to Africa.

He died en route to his native country, according to the British.

He was so loved and adored by his Opobo people that they offered to pay the British to return his body to Nigeria, where he was buried.

My research and interviews with ancestors of the four brothers indicate that all four came with their wives from India.

Their last name Ram Ballack Singh was changed by the plantation owners to Bullock, which is a popular Anglo-American (Caucasian) last name. For example Sandra Bullock, the American movie star and Mayor/Councilman Steve Bullock of Lewisham, London, England

The Bullock's family and lineage is now one of the more prominent Indian families on St. Vincent. Their extended family number about 500 and they continue to live in or adjacent to their original settlement locations.

The Bacchus family is another prominent Indian family who settled in the Richland Park area of the island (five miles north of Marriaqua located in the middle of the island).

Many descendants from the Bacchus and Bullock families subsequently married and are now closely related by marriage.

Other indentured Indians who were brought to St. Vincent were also given (assigned) Anglo-Saxon surnames including Deane, Lewis, Laban, Woods, Jack, Latchman, Baptiste, Carr, Harry, Sutherland and Leisure.

One or two families were allowed to keep) retain their Indian names. For example, the Singh family of Dickie.

Today the descendants of Indian indentured servants in St. Vincent number between 3,000 and 4,000 out of a total population of 115,000.

Many are prominent government employees, including doctors, dentists, bankers, and educators, while others are involved in commercial and entrepreneurial activities.

One prominent Indian, Dr. Sinclair Thomas, an ENT Specialist, was a senator and minister of Health in the former James Mitchell administration between 1996 and 2000.

Dr. Junior Bacchus, another indentured Indian descendant is a prominent optomologist on the island.

Murray Bullock is the director of the government run St. Vincent & the Grenadines National Lotteries.

Indian owned businesses include JAX (Jack's) Enterprises, Summer Ware, Linmur, Murray's Ville, Deane's Pharmacy, Eatrite, Ken's Enterprises.

Many have intermarried with other races including the indigenous Carib Indians, Afro-Caribbean and Garifuna extractions.

Garifunas or black Caribs are descendants of Carib Indians who intermarried/ interbred with African slaves who were shipwrecked or brought to the island.

Most of the original Garifunas (4,300) were captured/abducted by the British colonial powers and banished to two barren/uninhabited islands (Baliceaux and Battoweia) located a few miles south of St. Vincent in 1797.

The Garifunas were later taken to Roatan, an island off the coast of Central America near  Honduras and were subsequently resettled in present day Belize.

Many of the remaining Garifunas who escaped British capture live today in the north and northeast coastal areas of Sandy Bay, Owea and Fancy in an unofficial Carib reservation.

Many descendants of indentured Indians and Garifunas have intermarried.

Today, Indians live in other areas of the island, including, Georgetown, Dixion, Caratal, Park Hill, South Rivers, Colonaire, Dorsetshire Hill, Biabou, Rosehall and Mesopotamia."