May, 2003 commemorates the 165th Anniversary of the arrival of East Indian indentured immigrants in Guyana. Indeed, for over three-quarters of a century East Indian indentured labourers were exported from the Indian sub-continent to the West Indian colonies, ostensibly to fill the void created by the mass exodus of ex-slaves from the plantations following the abolition of the apprenticeship scheme in 1838.
This influx of East Indian labourers into the Caribbean in the post-emancipation period of the 19th and early 20th centuries was only one segment of a wider movement to other parts of the world including areas such as Mauritius, Sri Lanka (formerly Ceylon), Fiji, the Strait Settlements, Natal and other parts of the African continent. As far as Guyana (the former colony of British Guiana) is concerned, the 'Gladstone Experiment' proved to be the basis of East Indian immigration. John Gladstone, the father of the liberal British statesman, William Ewart Gladstone, was the proprietor of West Demerara plantations, Vreed-en-Hoop and Vreed-en-Stein at precisely the time when the British Guianese planters were beginning to experience an acute labour shortage as a consequence of the mass withdrawal of ex-slaves or apprentices from plantation labour.
It was in this initial period of 'crisis, change and experimentation' in the late 1830s that John Gladstone envisaged social and economic advantages in a scheme of East Indian indentured labourers. On this matter this initiator of East Indian immigration wrote, "a moderate number of Bengalese might be very suitable for our purpose". To this end Gladstone wrote the Calcutta recruiting firm, Gillanders, Arbuthnot and Company, inquiring about the possibility of obtaining Indian immigrants for his estates. The firm's reply was that it envisaged no recruiting problems as Indian labour was already in usage overseas, as for example, in another British colony, Mauritius and moreso "the natives being perfectly ignorant of the place they agree to go, or the length of the voyage they are undertaking." This reply obviously set the stage for the fraud, deceit and coercion, which was to permeate the whole recruiting system in India throughout the period of Indentureship.
Subsequently, Gladstone obtained permission for his scheme from both the Colonial Office and the Board of Control of the East India Company. In relation to the former body, Secretary of State, Lord Glenelg in acceding to Gladstone's novel request, reiterated the necessity of providing a free return passage when the contractual period was over. However, what was seriously lacking in this initial experiment were the necessary safeguards on issues such as overcrowded ships, unwholesome food, the rather lengthy voyage, and change of climate and other related matters.
In the final analysis, through the 'Gladstone Experiment two ships, the 'S.S. Whitby' and the 'S.S. Hesperus' departed India with a total of four hundred and fourteen (414) immigrants. This first batch of labourers was referred to as "Hill Coolies" mainly because of the areas from where they were acquired specifically the Chota Nagpur and Bankura districts of the Bengal Presidency.
Three hundred and ninety six (396) immigrants survived the long, arduous crossing, and on their arrival in May, 1838 they were distributed not only to Gladstone's two West Demerara estates and Belle View, West Bank Demerara but including far-flung ones such as Highbury and Waterloo in East Berbice and Anna Regina on the Essequibo Coast as well.
These first arrivals were on a five-year contract of industrial residence and were described by leading colonial officials of the time as "conservative, docile, simple and able-bodied". A labour force with such characteristics was quite naturally considered as sine qua non to the survival and prosperity of the plantocracy and the sugar industry.
Exposed to the plantations soon after their arrival in the then British Guiana, these newcomers experienced several problems. There were numerous complaints of intimidation, assault and gross negligence on the part of the powerful and arrogant planters. The mortality rate was quite alarming and many immigrants fell victims to malaria, dysentery and other tropical diseases. As a matter of fact within the first eighteen months of the scheme, sixty-seven deaths were recorded. The then governor, Henry Light, even criticized the acute disproportion of the sexes with a paucity of females. At the end of the five-year stint, two hundred and thirty-six (236) indentured labourers opted to return to India. Of significance also, was the temporary suspension of the scheme largely through the active role of the Anti-Slavery Society and its hard-working Secretary, John Scoble, in publicizing the grave injustices. Scoble for his part visited the colony and verified instances of ill-treatment and other abuses within the system. He advocated 'truth, mercy and justice' where the operation of the scheme was concerned.
With the implementation of the Government of India Act in 1844, the subsequent approval of a 500,000 pound loan by the British Government for future investment in immigration, and a worsening of the labour situation in the colony, East Indian immigration to British Guiana resumed in 1845. Large- scale importation commenced around the mid-nineteenth century and was to continue virtually uninterrupted until its termination in 1917.
Despite its numerous problems, the first batch involving the 'Gladstone Experiment' had paved the way for 239,909 East Indian indentured labourers to come to Guyana. Of this figure 75,547 were repatriated to the land of their birth. The remainder who survived the system chose to remain here and to adopt this country as their homeland. Indeed, our first batch of forefathers who came to Guyana through the Gladstone Experiment' have been inspirational in the furtherance of national development and progress.
They toiled unceasingly to ensure the survival of the sugar industry. Their successors and their descendants continued in the same vein and have contributed and continue to contribute to almost every sphere of activity including economic, social, cultural, religious and political fields.
The first batch of pioneers has certainly earned the respect of many as Guyana marches forward into the new millennium.
We ought to take pride in their contribution. In these trying times of mounting tension, socio-political instability and increased violence and crimes let us commit our lives to ensure that tolerance, mutual understanding, respect and social and economic justice prevail in this dear land of ours.
The pioneering batch and our foreparents in general would have settled for no less. A Happy 165th Anniversary to all!