26 Issues of integration in Hostlands: Caribbean

1.0 INTRODUCTION

The Caribbean region, wedged between the continents of North and South America, including both island and mainland countries, is a very important location for the Indian labour diaspora that migrated in the 19th century. The major countries that will be considered in detail in this module are Republic of Trinidad and Tobago (henceforth Trinidad), Guyana (formerly British Guyana) and Surinam. All three are multi ethnic societies with the ethnic Indian population (mainly Bhojpuri speaking) being in a majority (In 2002, Trinidad 40.3%. , Guyana 50% Surinam 37%). All three have built a distinct Indian cultural identity.Further all three have substantial minorities of African descent (In 2002, Trinidad 39.5%, Guyana 36%, Surinam 10%) (Shepherd 2006: 3011). and the interaction between these two major ethnic groups has left its imprint on all issues of integration. The other countries in this region which had Indian indentured labour are Jamaica and the French territories of Guadaloupe and Martinique islands, but the proportion of ethnic Indians is tiny, nor have they consolidated an Indian identity.

The three countries have other similarities. The nativeAmerindian population is miniscule. The plantation economy run by Europeans was fueled by imported African slave labour. After abolition of slavery, indentured labour from India and elsewhere was imported to fill the gap. In all three, there relations between the Indian and African segments of the population are uneasy, but it is less violent and hostile in Surinam.In all three, Indian origin people have remained attached to their religion – both Hinduism and Islam and to the broader cultural tapping associated with these religions. The reformist Arya Samaj had some influence in the 1920s and 30s, but it did not erase the devotional Hinduism at the popular level, which adapted to the new circumstances. Traditional caste relationships have lost most of their religious sanction and the Brahmin, who is not a religious leader, is not given any special deference. The connectedness to India and the search for roots by visiting ancestral villages continues as a theme as can be seen in the writings of Devant Maharaj (2014 ) and others

Trinidad is by no means a wealthy country but it has faired better than Guyana due to its oil deposits, tourism appeal and it’ s automobile manufacturing. Nevertheless, the masses still suffer in both countries. This is a reason for the mass exodus of immigrants from both countries to the United States and Canada. Surinam citizens have an easier access to Dutch citizenship, and so when there has been political crisis, as in the years immediately preceding independence, there was heavy migration to the Netherland

The genesis of the intense hostility between African and Indian ethnic groupsin Trinidad and Guyana lie in British colonial policy, as we shall see in later sections. Although it had an economic basis, it was also reinforced by the rulers stereotyping each community as embodying certain characteristics which racialized differences. There existed a high degree of racial exclusivity in residential concentration of the population in villages, communities, and in villages, communities, and in broader geographic areas. (Hintzen 1989) This is a problem that still affects these countries: the lack of intermingling.In the early 1900’s Garveyism began to preach “Africa for Africans” which spurred a great resurgence in Afro-centricity and black pride. Almost simultaneously there was resurgence in regaining ties with India. Indo Guyanese and Indo Trinidadian women began wearing Indian garb. These factors compounded to widening the divide between these two races.(Hookoomchand and Sinarine 2000) Most Indians want a state in which cultural pluralism will be an accepted norm, in which they can be both Guyanese or Triidadian and Indian. Africans tend to acknowledge only one cultural standard as congruent with Guyanese or Trinidadian identity, and also do not accept the legitimacy of a continued uniquely Indian identity. The two groups share the same state, but have very different conceptions of the nation. (Baksh, 1999) Surinam is distinct in some ways, stemming mainly from its Dutch colonial history in contrast to British colonialism in the other two. For example, conversion to Christianity has not been prominent since Dutch policy was not inclined to combine education and conversion. Conditions of work were somewhat better here, because, as late entrants to indenture, Dutch policy learnt some lessons from the neighbouring Guyana’s experience.

With this introduction, we will now visit the specific histories and issues in each of these major countries in the Caribbean.

2.0 TRINIDAD AND TOBAGO

Trinidadis a twin island country (Trinidad and Tobago) in the Caribbean, rich with ethnic and cultural diversities thatdeveloped through colonial policy. People of African descent and people of Indian descent are the two major groups. The native Amerindian population is miniscule, andall the other groups are relatively recent immigrants. Small numbers of black slaves were brought in by European settlers from the 16th century onwards and this increased in the early period of British colonialism. In 1807, the UK Parliament passed the Slave Trade Act 1807 that abolished slave trade and the Slavery Abolition Act 1833 abolished the practice of slavery. Indentured labour was brought mainly from India to replace freed African slaves who refused to continue working on the sugar plantations. Their descendents are today’ s Indo-Trinidadians or East Indians as they are colloquially referred to.Afro-Trinidadian and Tobagonian constitutea substantial minority. Euro Trinidadians, descendents of the early settlers andpeople of Chinese and Arab descent form very tiny segments of the population. Given the large number of ethnic identities in Trinidad and Tobago, one-fifth citizens have a mixed ethnic heritage

drawing from varied ancestry http://www.trinidadexpress.com/news/Census__Mixed_population_on_the_rise-191944721.html

2.1 Immigration from India

When immigrants from Indiafirst arrivedin Trinidad in 1845, as indentured labour, they were relatively small in number as compared to the African population.85% of the immigrants were Hindu, 14 % Muslim; they were drawn from a large number of castes. (Haraksingh 2006: 278). Today, the Indian community is divided roughly half-and-half between those who maintained their original religions and those who have converted to Christianity or have no religious affiliation (ibid.).

Within the first three decades, the East Indians constituted one third of the population.Presently at half a million, they are the largest single ethnic group in the country(Haraksingh 2006: 278-9).The immigrants were employed mainly in the sugar plantations. Though indenture provided for return, many chose to stay on and become cane farmers. They acquired property first through commutation of return passage to India and second by land purchases. They remained rural workers and farmers for many decades and thus a peasant based culture, steeped in the Indian ethos but adapting to the Trinidadian environment emerged (Ibid 281-82) .

2.2 Process of Adaptation of a Peasant Community

Upto the 1920s, Indians, especially in places where village settlements developed were caught up in everyday organization of their lives, adapting to the new location.While there was some homogenization to create an ‘Indian’ culture and ethos, its dominant component was Bhojpuri culture.Devotional Hinduism, revolving around temple worship, played a central role in immigrant peasant life. The Ramayana was a prominent presence as an ideal and as a performative motif. Festivals, ceremonies and rituals were adapted to fit the seasonal cycles of cane growing . Indian ideals, organizational forms and ethos were taken recourse to initially. Yet, at this distance from home and in the changed circumstances, orthodox Hinduism loosened up and caste and gender rules were modified and simplified. Over the decades, the forms of religiosity became more organized and canonical, as we shall see later, but at the popular level, local devotional practices continued to hold sway. (Haraksingh2006: 282; see also Vertovec (2000: 39- 62)        for an account of ‘Official’ and ‘Popular’ Hinduism in Trinidad, Surinam and Guyana)

2.3 Urbanization and Professionalization

From the early 20th century, Trinidadian society itself was getting urbanized. The peasant immigrants from India started making forays into business, menial services, middle level retail trade. From the 1930s onwards , they made rapid progress, entering professional occupations. Already oriented towards education for children, like Indian diasporas elsewhere, the communitytook advantage of the educational opportunities provided by Christian missionaries and emerged as an urban, educated professional class. The advent of Arya Samaj triggered a trend of greater reflection on religion.The high rate of conversion of Hindus into Christianityelicited a response of greater religious cohesion . Since the 1950s, the Sanatan Dharma Maha Sabha has given Hinduism in Trinidad an organizational structure, which has also functioned as a base for propagating the Hindu view point in the ethnic politics of the country (Vertovec 2000: 69-72). The earlier family structure, adapted from the Hindu patriarchal joint family started shifting towards nuclearization.Till the 1950s, Bhojpuri was the language of primary group communication. By the 1940s, English had started making inroads and bilngualism was common. By 1970s, English had replaced Bhojpuri as the primary mode of communication. English schools were set up which were popular with the Indians. Hindu and Islamic community institutions became less influential and effective(Haraksingh 2006: 284). Apart from the macro proces of modernization, these shifts also reflected the desire of the Indians to integrate better into evolving Trinidadian life and society.

The economic position of the East Indians also underwent an upward shift in the hydrocarbon based economy which witnessed a boom in the 1970s. Some Indians were able to exploit this boom to ther advantage. The Indian tendency to pool family resources, helped this process. With the economic downturn in the 1980s, there has been emigration to US and Canada. The twice migrants in Toronto and New York , starting from rural Trinidad, in the spirit of entrepreneurship of their forbears, send remittances back to Trinidad.

However, there were limits to the nature of this adaptation as also to the level of acceptance of Indians by the large African segment of the population.

2.4 Social stratification

Right from the time of independence in 1962, the relations between Indians and Africans was not cordial, and this had its genesis in the colonial period, which started out with black slaves and a white ruling class. With the abolition of slavery and importing of Indian and Chinese indentured labour, the social composition during the later colonial period changed with a dominant white upper class below which stood the coloured middle class and at the bottom the ex- slaves and the Indian and Chinese indentured labourers (Ryan 1972). The Africans and the East Indians formed the two big ethnic groups . (Ryan 1972:3). They were ignorant of each other’s history and culture and this gave rise to racial stereotypes. Africans considered the Indians to be a threat to their newly won freedom from slavery while the Indians feared contact with the Africans which they considered would diminish the purity of their race (Ibid). This mind set became the fulcrum on which the ethnic politics and electoral dynamics of the country developed, and ideas of integration were built, as we shall see shortly.

2.5 Labour and the Colonial Govt.

Indian labour had some brushes with the colonial govt. on issues of the practice of festivals, wage cuts, etc. “Generally Indians resorted to protest to protect some accustomed right or privilege, and hardly ever in defence of any new claims” (Haraksingh 2006:284). The bulk of the rural Indian population remained outide mainstream Trinidad politics, until the 1920s, when partial elections were held, and then with adult franchise in 1945, their value as a vote bank became recognized. Before this, the colonial govt. restricted political participation to those whoshared the values of the elites. Indian labour, it was feared, would take over the country unless controlled and divided.

2.6 Indian vs. African Ethnic Politics

By the middle of the 20th century , East Indians were mobilizing around Indian identity and participating in electoral politics. Independence of India in 1947 added to their pride in their identity. Post Independence politics revolved around African vs Indian ethnic based parties. Thus, over the decades the electorate has been mobilized on the basis of race, and both African and Indian parties have had their turns at forming the government.

You can read about the development of ethnic politics in Taylor ( 2012 ) and Cudjoe (2011). Inthe major Indian based political parties, labour issues relating to sugar workers merged with cultural and religious issues affecting the Indian population as a whole (Haraksingh 2006: 285). Thus political, labour and religious mobilization overlapped and strengthened the cohesiveness of the community. For example, People’s Democratic Party in 1953 was headed by Bhadase Sagan Maraj, who was also president of the sugar workers’ union and head of Sanatan Dharma Mahasabha.

The Democratic Labour Party (DLP), established in 1957,was the main opposition party until 1971. The African based People ’s NationalMovement (PNM) was the ruling party at the time of Independence. After several splits brought about by leadership struggles, DLP lost its hold on the Indo-Trinidadian community in the 1976 General Elections and the United Labour Front under the leadership of Basdeo Pandaybecame the representative of the ethnic Indian community.

Around 1970, the PNM was under attack by young black radical elements for the continuing racial and class discrimination under the umbrella of the ‘Black Power Movement. ’ There was an appeal for African East-Indian solidarity but this was rejected by the East Indian community on the grounds that it could not identify with the struggle of the Black Power Movement (Gosine 1986).

After this, the East Indian community pressed on for inclusion into the Trinidad cultural identity but had become strong enough to insist on its terms. On the other hand, cracks started appearing within the PNM, a once united political party. In addition a chasm developed between the black elite and the black masses on whose behalf Williams was supposed to be governing (Ryan 1972:367), which created further fissures within the African community quite unlike what was happening within the strong cohesive East Indian community(Taylor 2012: 105)

In 1976, when the United Labour Front (ULF) emerged as the party to challenge the PNM, there was a lessening of racial tension, celebrated by a more inclusive concept of ‘class consciousness’. ( Ryan 1996:70-71). Even so, Basdeo Panday, bitterly complained about continued dominance by African elements in the bureaucracy (La Guerre 2001). Helaunched a determined challenge on African capture of the political process. In the general elections of 1995, the Indian based faction successfully acquired cross over support to win as the United National Congress (UNC) . Basdeo Panday became Prime Minister, the first person of Indian origin to do so. He was also the head of the sugar workers union . He again won in 2000 but narrowly.

Indians were never legally excluded from the Trinidad identity but for a long time chose to operate within a communal framework where they felt much more secure. With societal maturity however, and with the growing economic pains of the nation, their gradual inclusion was noticeable. When Panday took office in 1995, the multiculturalist model adopted in countries such as Canada and Australia built around the growing immigrant ethnic minority groups was considered not applicable to Trinidad since East Indians were able to retain their cultural identity without being denied full participation as citizens. There was no expressed desire for any official policy to address discrimination despite concerns having been raised in the past by East Indians (Ryan 1996,Taylor 2012:107 ).

With the change in government from a predominantly African based PNM to a predominantly East Indian based UNC, there was the perceptionwithin the African community of racial bias in distribution of state resources members. The Prime Minister addressed the treatment of the East Indians by the former government by establishing an Equal Opportunity Commission to bring the balance that was being demanded by all constituents. However the National Council of Indian Culture continued to attribute unfairness and inequity tothe African based party which helmed the government from 2002 to 2010 (Taylor 2012:109 ).

2.7 New Politics of Multiculturism

Culture and nurturance of cultural diversity seems to feature prominently in all the political discourses in Trinidad at various points in time. For instance, VISION 2020 National Strategic Plan says :

“Our pursuit of development will not be at the expense of our uniqueness and cultural heritage. We are a people rich in diversity, and we have exported aspects of our culture around the world…… (Taylor 2012: 109).

At the time of independence, Trinidad was a divided society, which was the background against which Eric Williams, regarded widely as the father of the nation of Trinidad and Tobago made his famous and widely quoted statement:

There can be no Mother India…there can be no Mother Africa…there can be no Mother England…there can be no Mother China…no mother Syria or no Mother Lebanon. A nation, like an individual, can have only one mother. The only mother we recognise is Mother Trinidad and Tobago and a mother cannot discriminate between her children; all must be equal in her eyes (Williams 1962:281).

There was a clear signal that communities must express not merely political but cultural and other loyalties to the nation. This approach was not geared to accommodate the distinct cultural and religious identity that East Indians had developed. They therefore remained somewhat aloof from mainstream cultural developments; nevertheless they were politically visible and assertive.

The constitution that came in force after independence in 1962, created some misgivings among Indians. A new constitution came into force in 1976. With increasing Indian assertiveness, questions have been raised over some constitutional provisions. For eg., electoral politics are based on geographical constituencies, the boundaries of which have been adjusted from time to time by a supposedly neutral Election and Boundaries Commission but most Indians think that a system of proportional representation would provide fairer provisions. Both Hindus and Muslims claim that the country’s highest award the Trinity cross has a Christian bias and is not sufficiently neutral. (See for instance, The Trinidad Guardian 24.11.2004).

This simmering discontent over the decades among Indo -Trinidadians is the backdrop against which the rise of organized Hinduism in the form of the Sanatan Dharma Maha sabha and its influence on the current government headed by Kamala Persad-Bissesar can be analyzed. Between 2002 and 2010, when the PNM was again in power, and was emphasizing on a more nationalistic policy, there was a call from Mahasabha for a formal official multicultural policy. (Taylor 2012:109 ).

In 2010, when Kamala Persad-Bissesar, the Prime Minister changed the name of the Ministry of Culture to the Ministry of Arts and Multiculturalism, thus inaugurating the official multicultural policy, it was widely interpreted as a gesture towards Sat Maharaj, secretary general of the Sanatan Dharma Maha Sabha. The official policy was geared to giving Indo -Trinidadians an equitable representation in society and polity. But critics argued that official multiculturalism was based on a “…naive and indeed pernicious ideology which assumed that it was somehow natural that society should be divided into separate and disconnected ethnic groups, each with its own tribal spaces, political values and cultural traditions” (Kymlicka 2008:5) while at the same time expecting barriers to participation in national life to be effectively removed. Levy (2000) argues that diversity could be taken as an inevitable fact of life but not a goal to be furthered by means of state policy. He further noted that “a programme of recognising difference as a matter of right, rather than dealing with it pragmatically would not only contradict the public-order-oriented way in which states accommodated such claims but it would also be theoretically inconsistent as it is premised on the normative assumption that one’s pre existing culture includes the resources for judging others in the world” (Levy 2000:32).Multiculturalism used as part of the political process in Trinidad ignores, say critics, the fact that the country’s cultural diversity has been an ongoing lived experience. Adopting an official multiculturalism policy, which is the product of a demand from the Hindu community places people in ‘ethnic boxes’ with labels bearing specific cultural identities as they fight each other for a greater allocation of state funding. (Cudjoe 2011)

For a long time after their arrival, Indians were regarded as outsiders . They themselves also nurtured grievances over their treatment by the Africans and African based political regimes. But over time, Indians have become assertive and also held political power. Despite racial, ethnic and cultural differences, there is a great deal of integration as well. They consider themselves and are considered by other ethnic groups as an integral part of Caribbean society. Some common concerns of all Trinidiadians include rising crime, Trinidad being located on the drug route to US, the overburdened judicial system, weak social service sector in govt., and so forth.

The highly popular ‘soca’ dance form, which is a syncretic fusion of the traditional Caribbean calypso and Indian dance forms, has been named to reflect this merger: the last letter of calypso (so) and the first letter of the Hindi alphabet (ka) have come together in the name ‘Soca’. (http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-chutney-soca.htm#)

In the same visit, as she met India’s President, the much older Pratibha Patil, she bent down and touched thelatter’s feet. In India the image was lauded as a sign of respect that the daughter of the soil, returning albeit on a temporary visit, showed to her ancestral nation and a senior leader. In Trinidad, it received criticism, since touching the feet of a foreign leader was seen as a gesture of submission

3.0 GUYANA

Issues of integration of the Indian diaspora in Guyana cannot be understood without reference to the contemporary social and political situation characterized by extreme ethnic hostilities between the people of African descent and those of Indian descent, with the ever- present danger of violence erupting. Currently, the latter are in a majority (50 %) , and the party that represents them is in power, but the people of African descent are also a substantial minority ( 36%), (Shepherd 2006: 311). The latter have a prominent presence in the army, police and in public service institutions, their representative party has also had its stint at running the government.

The origins of ethnic divisiveness in Guyana could be traced to early colonialism with the importation of slave labor from Africa by the Dutch and, subsequently, by the British, importing of cheap indentured labor from Portuguese Madeira, China, and finally India to work on white-owned sugar plantations. This divisiveness later became fundamental in several ways, including ethnic competition for work on plantations that drove down the price of labor to the great dissatisfaction of Afro-Guyanese workers following emancipation from slavery in 1838. Ethnic divisiveness became the fault lines for future political mobilization, competition and conflicts giving rise to serious ethnic-political polarization throughout the country (Mars 2010) .

3.1 Arrival of Immigrants

The topography with flat coastlands and mangrove swamps below sea level made its colonization a tough task, and it was the Dutch with their experience and skill in polder engineering in their own country, who occupied Guyana in the 16th and early 17th centuries. Due to its relative underdevelopment, 1830s freed African slaves were able to buy land adjacent to the sugar plantations and create their own villages. Some continued to work part time in plantations as wage labour and agitated succesfully in the 1840s for reversing wage cuts. From 1845, planters strengthened their position by importing indentured labour from India. The financing for indentured labour came partly from general revenue to which the Africans contributed through indirect taxes. Thus , Africans looked at the Indian advent with some suspicion and worry.

Between 1838 and 1917 , 238909 Indian labourers were taken to Guyana. 81% came between 1851 and 1900 and 31.7 % were repatriated between 1843 and 1955. 12.7% returned to India after 1917. The were drawn primarily from Uttar Pradesh and Bihar regions and a few from Madras Presidency. Migrants comprised a mix of castes: Brahmins and Kshatriyas, middle level agricultural and artisanal castes, low and outcastes, Muslims. Reasons for migration had to do with geniune social and economic distress. There was considerable labour unrest in indentureship. ‘Task’ work calculations were disputed by Indian labour and met with brutal and violent reprisals, giving rises to protest and resistance. “By 1920s and 1930s, a predilection for radical change had permeated Indian plantation workers” (Seecharan 2006: 287-89).

3.2 East Indian Social Universe

The East Indian Guyanese social universe was permeated by Hindu mythology, Ramayana, and Rama Rajya, not the contemporary real India. The theme of exile and return was cathartic, given the trauma of indentured labour. Orthodox sanatani Hinduism with a bhojpuri linguistic and cultural ethos was prevalent , but it was a modified form that challenged brahmanical hegemony; Brahmin priests too were adaptive faced with proselytizing Christianity. They accepted interdining with other castes. By accepting low castes into mainstream positions, brahmin priests in fact created a vast pool of devotees for themselves. The inclusive sanatana dharma accepted the lowest of castes into the orthodox canon which was not preoccupied with austerity or philosophical and exegetical nuances. Despite the advent of the reformist Arya Samaj of 1920s, devotional accessible every day festive Hinduism was widely prevalent.(Ibid : 290. See also Mahabir 2013 for an account of the social and cultural ethos of the East Indians in colonial Caribbean).

Owing to the difficulty of reclaiming land, due to Guyana’s distinctive topography , many more Indians remained in the plantations for a longer time than was the case in Trinidad. The travails of plantation created unprecedented solidarity in the Indo Gyanese community, and the power and support of joint family, helped them to move into middle class status, fuelled economically by rice cultivation, cattle farming, commerce and western education. Indian ascendancy through land acquisition aggravated African fear in the villages.

An Indian middle class was established by the 1920s. They were pioneers in education, especially law and medicine. The Canadian Presbyterian Mission (Canadian Mission) aided this process tremendously. There was proselytization as well but through Indianization of worship. In any case for the pioneering missionaries like Rev. J.B.Cropper and Rev. J.B.Scringeout, educationwas priority over proselytization.

Girls education also flourished and the ‘Swettenham-circular’ which sanctioned non attendance of girls in schools for religious reasons was removed, primarily because of the efforts of Indian educationist J.I.Ramphal (Seecharan 2006: 291). His son Shridath Ramphal who later became the Secretary General of the Commonwealth, is an example of the outstanding educational and professional achievements of the new East Indian middleclass in Guyana.

In the early decades after migration , the proportion of African and Indian segments was virtually equal. The swampy topography created high incidence of malaria, to which Indians were particularly vulnerable. With the eradication of Malaria by the late 1940s, there was a sharp demographic change with the Indian population growing faster than the African. This sharpened the political rivalries between the two. Hookoomchand and Sinarine (2000) have illustrated how deep stereotypes about Africans and Indians had percolated with children’s songs and poems which were in use in the colonial period, for example, the ditty

Coolie Man Eat Rhaggi fit get scrawly

Black Man Eat Flour fit get Power

The proportion of women was very low in the early decades; but they were workers in their own right and exhibited a degree of freedom in sexual and marital choices. Family structure stabilized over time, when the proprotion of men and women became nearly equal by the 1920s, and this also resulted in the firm entrenchment of the patriarchal joint family.So in this phase gender relations were of the traditional Indian kind, with many controls and restraints on women as compared to the earlier phase of relative freedom and mobility (Seecharan 2006: 292). Still later, with the influence of Christianity and specifically the work of the Canadian Mission, women’s education got a fillip and in contemporary Guyana and the Guyanese diaspora in Canada, there are a large number of women professionals with succesful careers.

We have seen how a strong sense of community solidarity developed among the Indians in Guyana. It also had a very sentimental notion of connectedness with India as motherland. All this was reinforced by a powerful intellectual discourse within Guyana on the glory of ancient Indian civilization Contributing to this were the books of Rev. H.V.P Bronkhurst, an Anglo-Indian missionery and writer, his acolyte, Joseph Ruhomon of Indian descent, and Bechu, who wrote critically of the indentured labour system (Seecharan 2001).

3.3 African – Indian Ethnic Politics

With the ascendancy of the East Indians numerically and educationally, as well as economically, the undercurrent of fear and resentment among African segment became more pronounced. In the 1920s, a proposal for a colonization scheme was mooted by some Indo Guyanese, as well as plantation owners, to revive free immigration from India, after the cessation of indentured immigration in 1917. Mahatma Gandhi when approached did not support this idea. (Seecharan 2006:2). In 1923-24, the Negro Progress Convention, the prime organization of blacks in Guyana, fiercely opposed the plan as having the potential to create demographic lopsidedness in favour of Indians. So already the racial tension had become an explicit presence in the politics of the country.

In this overall climate of resurgent Indian pride and assertiveness, the continuing violence and suffering of Indian plantation labour gave rise to vigorous trade unionism to defend the rights of workers and politicize them. Prominent Indian figure in this was Ayube Edun, who formed the Manpower Citizens’ Association (MPCA) and wrote popular as well as scholarly critiquing the plantation system and advocating a reforming of the British Empire (Guyana Chronicle online Feb 16, 2013) Elaborating on this theme of the exploitative nature of the plantation economy was the Marxist leader Cheddi Jagan who become a key player in the ethnic politics of the country, through his People’s Progressive Party or PPP.

Mars (2010) and Hintzen (1989) trace the source of ethnic-political polarization to this period when electoral democracy dawned in the country. The debacle started when the British took umbrage at the Marxist PPP’s electoral victory in 1953 notwithstanding the best efforts of the colonial authorities to. They suspended the democratic constitution, dismissed the party from office, and engineered a split in the party between what they discerned as “extremists” and “moderates,” which materialized in 1955. Although the split was initially along ideological/factional lines (Marxists against ‘moderates’), the ethnic fault lines soon kicked in such that subsequent democratic elections were polarized along strict ethnic lines, principally between people of Indian descent in support of Jagan’s PPP and Afro-Guyanese in support of a break-away faction (which eventually became the PNC or People’s National Congress) led by Forbes Burnham.

Despite visionary qualities and the overwhelming support of the Indian segment, Jagan failed because of his inflexible Marxism and overtures to Cuba which resulted in the western powers collaborating to defeat him. The PNC led by Forbes Burnhamand his successor Desmond Hoyte ruled autocratically between 1964and 1992. Their long regime is widely considered to have undermined democratic institutions, failed to keep the economy bouyant and led to an outmigration to Canada and US. Eventually, after the end of the cold war, Cheddi Jagan was relected and became Prime Minister in 1992. Electoral politics was no doubt underpinned by racial politics, but unlike Trinidad, in Guyana additionally Jagan’s communist leanings brought in concerted international action to unseat him. (Seecharan 2006: 295)

3.4 Contemporary Situation

The contemporary situation in Guyana is rife with problems and issues arising out of the decay from the 1960s onwards. Apart from the official economy based on sugar, rice forestry, bauxite and gold, Guyana is a key location for the transhipment of drugs from Brazil and Columbia to North America. A small rich minority – both African and Indian – have engaged in illegal financial activities that are feeding into the capital

invested in the country. Corruption at the highest levels exists and is tolerated. Crime has escalated and its roots are implicated in the drug trade. Since Cheddi Jagan’s comeback in 1992, his party PPP has continuously been in power and the African PNC is out of government, even though Africans dominate the army, police force and have a strong presesnce in public service. The Indian distrust of Africans and the latter’s resentment as having been electorally worsted has kept the racial tensions simmering and unless there is some negotiated power sharing arrangement, dangers of violent upheavals are lurking (Seecharan 2006: 295). The central difficulty in erasing ethnic-political violence and divisiveness resides in the fact that major political and social interests derive material and tangible, though usually corrupt, benefits from ethnic divisiveness and conflicts (Mars 2010).                                                                  .

There have been some efforts to bridge this divide through multi racial alliances.The United Force (UF) party, emerged in the 1960s as a right -wing pro-British party led by a combination of Portuguese, Chinese, and mixed-race elite leadership. In the 1970s Walter Rodney and his party, the Working People’s Alliance (WPA), emerged in pursuit of a multi-racial more humanistic socialist vision for Guyana. However, the WPA in practice, was unable to penetrate the steep ethnic polarization of the time. In 2006 a new party, the Alliance for Change has surfaced with a constructive agenda of bridging the racial divide and bringing economic development and social harmony to Guyana (Mars 2010).It is a multiethnic movement that has given voice to a new generation of Guyanese who say that politics has held the country back by favoring race over merit. It has drawn support from both Afro- and Indo-Guyanese, as well as members of indigenous groups. It emerged as a real political force during the elections of 2011.Since then, it has challenged several initiatives of the PPP govt led by Ramotar and forced both the major parties to rethink their ethno-politics. It represents hope for the future (New York Times 17.1.15) .There are increasingly insistent voices of intellectuals who see the race-ethnic divide as not inherent or inevitable, economy, politics, class, culture and ideology conjoin in historically specific ways. This can also be unravelled; in fact it must be, for the future of Guyana (Misir 2006)

4.0 SURINAM

Surinam is the third major country in the Caribbean. It is a multi ethnic and plural society ofhalf a million. The people of Indian descent are calledHindustanis.They immigrated as indentured labour in the 19th and early 20th centuries. Even though some returned to India at the end of their contracts, most stayed back and today form the largest ethnic group of the population at 37%. The second largest ethnic group are the Creoles (persons of mixed African and European heritage) who form 31%. (Shepherd 2006: 311). Javaneseat (15%), Maroons 10%(descendants of Africans brought as slaves in the 17th and 18th centuries, and who escaped into the interiors) form significant minorities. The Maroons did not intermingle with the Europeans and kept their racial identity as blacks intact. Chinese , Amerindian , white are the other groups; they are tiny.

4.1The History of Indentured Immigration

Surinam was first conquered by the Spanish inthe 16th century, then it became a bone of contention between various European powers, was defacto ruled by the Dutch and in 1866 traded by the British in return for New Amsterdam (New York). It was a plantation economy. In 1863, the Dutch government abolished slavery in its Caribbean colonies. To meet the labour demand , they first imported indentured labour from Portugal, Madeira, China and West Africa, but finding this inadequate, looked to India. Already in neighbouring British Guyana, labour from India had been brought in 35 years ago. The 25,000 Asians (Indian, Chinese, Javanese) who immigrated in the 19th century and 40,000 in the 20th century changed the character of Surinam from an African-Caribbean into a multi ethnic society (Hoefte 2006: 297).

The differences between society and culture in Surinam as compared to both Trinidad and Guyana lies to some extent in the nature of the colonial rule. The Dutch opened negotiations with the British government , and an agreement was signed in 1870 according to which they would appoint an agent, approved by the British, in every centre of recruitment, and follow the British regulations. Source of labour was mainly UP, Bihar and a mix of castes emigrated. Being relatively lateimporters ofindentured labour, Surinam could establish certain improved conditions. For example, Hoefte (2006: 298) documents how each shipment of emigrants was to have at least 33% women, and that it was prohibited to separate married couples or parents from their children under the age of 15.

But of course, like elsewhere in the Caribbean, the conditions of work were difficult: low wages, harsh punishments, inadequate govt. supervision, high rates of suicides. After 8 shipments and complaints from the consul in Paramaribo about the health of the migrants and system of justice, the Indian administration decided to suspend emigration to that colony in 1875. After 1880, it was restored. In later years some labour was imported from the Dutch colony of Indonesia. In 1920, indentured labour was legally abolished. The response of the indentured ranged from resignation to open and violent resistance(Hoefte 2006:301).

4.2 Social transformation and continuity

From the end of 19th cent onwards, govt. actively promoted the permanent settlement of Hindustanis, by offering plots of land to those who had fulfilled their contractual obligations and did not claim return passage. They moved occupationally to becoming small holders who produced rice, vegetable, fruit, meat and milk.

Post World War II, Surinam shifted from an agricultural base to bauxite production. There was also mechanization of agriculture. New employment opportunties opened up and there was a trend towards urbanization and westernization. The Hindustanis too got pulled into these currents and by 1970s their educational and economic development of had improved to match the Afro Surinamese. Internal economic differentiation was the highest among Hindustanis.Due to a higher birth rate, gradually they became the largest group by 1970. But, afterwards their numbers declined, as well as those of the Creoles, because large numbers of Surinamese emigrated to The Netherlands, particularly in the years preceding the independence of Suriname in 1975. (Choenni 2014:409). Later in the 20th century, they also wielded cultural influence and political power.

The vast majority of Hindustanis are Hindu. Out of a plethora of diverse local traditions a fairly homoegenous Hinduism has emerged, guided by Brahmins, but highly adaptive, with no caste system. Arya Samaj was influential but it also provoked a reaction among orthodox Hindus who consolidated under the association called ‘Sanatan Dharm’ established in 1939. The 20% of Muslims, initially from Punjab,are followers of Urdu based Hanafi Sharia. Later Javanese immigrants, follow the Arabic tradition of Shafi Sharia. In 1930s, Ahemdiyya sect with its reformist bent also entered the scene, creating a splintering of Islamic groups.

There has been some influence of Christian missioneries, in education and to some extent through conversion. But over the decades, resistance of Indians to conversion, and official policy of assimilation through conversion also given up in the 1930s. (Hoefte 2006: 302-3) .

4.3 Adaptation and Conservation

Hindustanis have socially and culturally evolved a distinct identity by maintaining their Indian cultural profile, while adapting to some aspects of Caribbean culture. Inter-ethnic marriage and miscegenation among the Asian groups (Indian, Javanese, and Chinese), on the one hand, and between the Asian groups and the other groups, on the other, is not high. Thus, in 1999, among the Hindostani heads of households, 92 per cent had a partner of the same ethnic background; among the Creoles, 82 per cent. (Choenni 2014: 410).

In the early decades, the low standard of living, displacement,social marginalisation, geographical isolation in plantations, ethnic distictiveness, combined to compel Hindustanis towards recreation of little India in the Caribbean environment.

Most migrants were from North India, but from a variety of regions and districts. So, in the Surinami location, they created a certain kind of Indianness, based on a syncretic mixture of pre – migration traditions, the equivalent of which does not exist in contemporary India. (Hoefte 2006:302) One striking example of this is the Sarnami language also called the Caribbean Hindustani, a creole which the migrants created while communicating with each other on the sea voyage and onlanding. This has a Hindustani base, but is distinct because of words added from Dutch and from the Africo-Surinami lingua franca, ie Sranan Tongo. This is a unique development in the Caribbean. In the British colonies of the Caribbean, mother tongue has been virtually replaced by English, which had been lingusitically and civilizationally promoted by the colonial regime. The Dutch educational and cultural policy did not have similar emphasis. Sarnami became the home language of the Hindustani people of Surinam. You can learn more about this unique linguistic development in a paper by Yakpo, Kofi and Pieter Muysken (2014).

Initially, the government assumed that the Indian immigrants were temporary, and education in Hindi and Urdu was encouraged. From 1876,compulsory Dutch educationwas introduced, with Hindi taught as a special subject .Stilllater, integrated schools where Hindustani children would learn on par with other Surinami children came into existence, suppored by Hindustani organizations. However, the Dutch colonizers did not Christianize through education. In the early phase, assimilation was the favoured policy. During the administration of C.Kielstra, emphasis shifted to ethnic diversity. For example, earlier, marriages performed according to Muslim or Hindu rites were not recognized. In 1937, Kielstra decided to legalize them ( Hoefte 2006:303- 4 ).

Immigrants, especiallyin 20th century, started forming associations to promote their ethnic interests: SIV, the largest, most important association was founded in 1910. It promoted immigration from India, persuaded Hindustanis not to get repatriated, and in 1922 changed its name to Bharat Uday (Rising India). But to get their communal identity established, they did not embark upon confrontation but rather cooperated with the authorities.

On the eve of the 21st century, ethnicity took on a cultural dmension as well. The rise of the diasporas and the impact of global diasporic culture, particularly on the Asian groups in Suriname, have reinforced ethnicity in the cultural domain. The idea of the Indian diaspora and the ‘digital penetration of Bollywood’ have given a boost to the ethnic identity of the Hindostani community. (Choenni 2014: 410).

4.4 Ethnicity and Politics

In the 20th century, ethnicity was important in politics. One of the early ethnic formations in politics was the Hindostaans-Javaanse Politieke Partij, where the Indians were the dominant partners. TheVHP orVerenigde Hindostaanse Partij (United Hindustani Party) was founded in 1949. It consolidated Indian ethnicity under its leader Jagernath Lachmon.

Jagarnath Lachmon, influential Surinamese politician of Indian descent, one of the founders of the Progressive Reform Party (http://www.refdag.nl accessed on August 13, 2015 )

1958-67 was a period of political stability, economic progress and ethnic cooperation between Hindustanis and Afro Surinamese called ‘fraternization’, supported by the VHP.This was challenged by young Hindustani intellectuals , the ‘Actie Groep’ who feared that fraternization would lead to dominance by Afro Surinamese. Plans for independence not welcomed by Hindustanis who wanted the protective hand of the Dutch for fear of Afro domination. It triggered large scale Hindustani migration to Netherlands. After indepedence in 1975, there was widespread deterioration of socio-economic and political conditons, leading to a military take over in 1980-87. After this, VHP joined with Afro Surinamese and Javanese parties to win elections. But VHP did not remain for long and a splintering happened, made inevitable by Lachmon ’s style of functioning. By then the trend of power sharing and alliances between political parties had got established (Hoefte 2006: 305).

Regarding the role of ethnicity and modes of the political adaptation of the Hindustanis in Surinam, Choenni (2014: 411) chronicles six historical phases in the 20th century. (i) ethnic marginality (1900–20), (ii) ethnic consciousness (1921–49), (iii) ethnic fraternity (1950–68), (iv) ethnic polarisation (1969–79), (v) depolitisation of ethnicity (1980–87), and (vi) ethnic power sharing (1988–2000). Ethnicity gets translated into concrete modes of living through ethnic institutions, communal networks, and group identities. Ethnic institutions are familial structures, language, religion, recreation and social life, and behaviours that underlie group-specific values such as the pursuit of harmony or social progress .

While, at the end of 20th century, the role of ethnicity in the political field became less prominent for the Hindustani group in Suriname, ethnicity in the cultural domain became more important. The cultural diversity was reinforced, particularly because the Asian groups came in contact with the rising diasporas and improved their cultural infrastructure through the use of information and communication technology. Satellite television, DVDs, CDs, the Internet, etc. facilitated the exchange of cultural goods (for example, films, songs, music, information). Films, music, songs, dance, and stories from their ancestral land became easy available. They consumed and relied more heavily on their ancient and now global culture. Also, low international travel costs, mobile phones and the Internet became driving forces. (Choenni 2014:425 ).

The nature of ethnic relations in Suriname during the 20th century can be characterised as one of mutual tolerance and harmony, but also of ambiguity. The role ethnicity played in daily interaction was tremendous and overt, but sometimes covert. The inter-ethnic relations were cordial. How persons presented themselves in Suriname in ethnic relations in daily life and in public discourse and politics could best be understood with the metaphor of front stage and backstage (Goffman 1984). In public life and also in political speeches, ethnic harmony and inter-ethnic solidarity prevailed. This can be labelled as front stage behaviour. In private domain, however, and inside ethnic political parties, intra-ethnic solidarity, loyalty, and ethnic preference were dominant. This backstage behaviour was even detectable in government agencies. (Choenni 2014: 426).

In conclusion, taken together, the three Caribbean countries are a remarkable example of the power of colonial policy to shape and mould inter-ethnic relations and impact the nature of diasporic consciousness even a couple of centuries after the demise of colonial rule. The somewhat contrasting legacies of Dutch and British colonialism are also revealed. Unlike some other countries in the Old Diaspora like Fiji, Malaysia and South Africa, in these Caribbean countries, the Indian diaspora is numerically anad culturally strong. The legitimacy of their citizenship is not under question, yet inter racial tensions underpin the issue of their integration.