Why in the News?
PM Narendra Modi, while speaking in Trinidad and Tobago, paid tribute to the Girmitiyas—19th-century indentured Indian labourers who helped shape Indo-Caribbean culture.
About Girmitiyas:
- Overview: The word “Girmitiya” comes from “agreement,” which was pronounced as “girmit” by Indian labourers who signed contracts to work abroad.
- Origin of the Labourers: Most Girmitiyas were recruited from eastern Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, especially from areas suffering poverty or famine.
- Language and Community: These workers primarily spoke Bhojpuri, Awadhi, or Hindi and came from agricultural castes and communities.
- Role of Recruitment Agents: Agents known as arkatis enticed labourers with promises of good wages while hiding the reality of harsh plantation conditions.
- Scale and Scope of Migration: Between 1834 and 1920, over 1.2 million Indians were sent to British colonies like Mauritius, Fiji, Trinidad & Tobago, Guyana, South Africa, and Suriname.
- Cultural Continuity Abroad: Despite minimal belongings, Girmitiyas preserved Indian languages, religious practices, and cultural expressions like Ramleela in the Caribbean.
Indentured Labour System: A New Form of Slavery:
- Post-Abolition Labour Need: After slavery ended in 1834, the British created the Indian Indentured Labour System to meet the demand for plantation workers.
- Contract Terms and Reality: Although the agreement lasted five years, labourers were often deceived, worked in poor conditions, and could not change employers.
- Criminalisation of Movement: If a labourer was found outside the plantation without documentation, they could be arrested for vagrancy.
- Punitive Wage Deductions: Tactics like the “double-cut” system—cutting two days’ pay for one day’s absence—made the system exploitative.
- Wage Withholding: Employers often withheld wages to delay repatriation and trap labourers in economic dependence.
- Gender Exploitation: Women were underrepresented, often brought for demographic balance, and suffered wage discrimination and sexual abuse, as documented by scholars like Kamala Kempadoo.
- Critique by Historians: While colonial rulers called it a “Great Experiment,” historian Hugh Tinker famously termed it “a new system of slavery” in his 1974 book.
Gandhiji’s Campaign Against Indenture:
- Early Opposition: Mahatma Gandhi opposed the system after witnessing its abuse during his legal work in South Africa.
- Malaviya’s Blocked Attempt: In 1917, Pandit Madan Mohan Malaviya tried to introduce a bill for abolition but was denied by the British colonial government.
- Protest Strategy: Gandhi launched an all-India movement, using the press, public meetings, and moral advocacy to gather support.
- Engagement with British: Gandhi met with Viceroy Lord Chelmsford and united national leaders in opposition to the practice.
- Finally, Abolition: The mounting public pressure led to the official abolition of indentured labour on July 31, 1917.
- Moral Significance: Gandhi later wrote in My Experiments with Truth that the victory represented India’s moral and spiritual awakening under nonviolent protest.
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| [UPSC 2019] With reference to the British colonial rule in India, consider the following statements:
1. Mahatma Gandhi was instrumental in the abolition of the system of ‘indentured labour’.
2. In Lord Chelmsford’s ‘War Conference’, Mahatma Gandhi did not support the resolution on recruiting Indians for World War.
3. Consequent to the breaking of the Salt Law by the Indian people, the INC was declared illegal by the colonial rulers.
Which of the statements given above are correct?
Options: (a) 1 and 2 only (b) 1 and 3 only* (c) 2 and 3 only (d) 1, 2 and 3 |
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