Dear Editor,

In response to Rajendra Bissessar’s letter titled ‘Why are we arguing about who suffered more?’ and the accompanying editorial comment (SN May 13), I think there is a complete misunderstanding of the objective of my letter of May 11 titled ‘The Indian and African experience has been similar’ which triggered several unjustifiably angry outbursts.  Let me make it pellucidly clear that I do not think slavery and indentureship are the same, and my letter never made that claim or insinuated or suggested it. In my view, these are two forms of slavery and at times scholars use the term “indentured slavery” instead of indentureship.  This in no way suggests the two forms of ‘labour’ were the same or identical. My central point is that Indians and Africans suffered during slavery, indentureship and colonial rule, and as such they need to live together in peace and harmony instead of engaging in racial rivalry. It is a simple point with no hidden agenda and there is no attempt to rewrite history. Nothing else should be read into it.

I agree with Mr Bisessar that we should not focus on who suffered more – slaves or indentured servants – and at no point did my letter attempt to make such a comparison. It is indisputable that the slaves suffered far more but that was never my point and it was never in contention in my letter. It was not my intention to compare or contrast the two systems and it was not the focus of the letter.

I re-read my letter several times looking for words like equal, same, identical, etc, in comparing slavery with indentureship, and came up blank.  So it is incomprehensible why a claim is made that the two are the same. It is indisputable that the two economic systems led to human degradation and countless abuses for the slaves and indentured servants. The intensity was different. But they were gross violations of human rights regardless of how you look at them. That claim cannot be disputed as it is factually correct and as such I do not agree with the editor that it is untenable.

I wish to note that a few of the respondents to my letter are ignorant of the indentured system.  It is incorrect to say that Indians came voluntarily and were not kidnapped like slaves and that the Indians received payments.  Indians were lured into servitude with false promises. Many Indians were kidnapped and brought to Guyana.  My maternal great grandmother (nani’s mother and father) were victims of kidnapping. My investigations of indentureship found many Indians who were kidnapped and brought on board the ship.  It is also not true that Indians were not abused or were free to move around the colony.  They needed “passes” from the estates where they were bound to visit other estates.  If found without a pass on an estate, they were fined heavily from their “contracted wages” that took away weeks of pay at a time.  Sometimes bogus charges were filed against them to deny them their due pay.  My research also showed that they were beaten with cat-o-nine tails for running away or any other violations.  But as I noted, the main point of my letter was not that Indians and Africans suffered equally but that both races suffered from their first days in the colony until now, and as such need to work together to develop the nation instead of engaging in a zero sum rivalry.

I end by reiterating that Indians and Africans  need to share the country and the racial rivalry must end. There is no hidden motif or any untenable view on the history of slavery or indentureship. Peace!

Yours faithfully,
Vishnu Bisram