Dear Editor,
A letter calling on the government to reinstate the “Indian” in “Arrival Day” and recognize May 5 as such was made by Ravi Dev, a former parliamentarian (4/28/24). This call has now become a yearly ritual. Sadly, it was the PPP parliamentarians who were largely responsible for this anomaly.
On the first Saturday of May 1838, about 400 Girmitiyas (indentured Indians) survived the Kala Pani odyssey of more than 10,000 nautical miles across two oceans to reach Berbice and “Damra Tapu” (Demerara). Guyana bears the unique distinction of being the first Caribbean country to receive Indian labourers premised upon an arrangement brokered by John Gladstone, the wealthy Scottish absentee plantation owner. British Guiana was the only colony in which the first two ships transporting Girmitiyas, the SS Whitby and SS Hesperus, arrived on the same day in May 1838.
For indentured Indians, their journey began with a pioneering, voluntary, as well as involuntary initiative, which today is nationally and officially commemorated in post-colonial diasporic societies to where Indians were taken: Jamaica (May 10- Indian Heritage Day), Trinidad & Tobago (June 1- Indian Arrival Day), Suriname (June – Pravas Din), Fiji (May 4- Girmit Remembrance Day), St. Vincent (June 1), St. Lucia (May 6), Grenada (May 1), Mauritius (November 2), and South Africa (November 16).
Historically, the British Guiana East Indian Association (BGEIA), established in 1916, with its origin in Berbice, gave recognition to the importance of Indian arrival. The British Guiana Dramatic Society (BGDS), starting in 1937, held its yearly theatrical performances in May. The BGDS selected May month for their activities to mark Indian arrival to British Guiana and to pay tribute to their patron-dramatist, Rabindranath Tagore, the Bengali poet and writer from Kolkata who was born in May.
In recognition of this historic event, in the preamble to his Message on May 5, 2021, President Mohamed Irfaan Ali, said “I greet all Guyanese on the occasion of Arrival Day 2021. This special day is commemorated as a public holiday on May 5 each year. It celebrates the contributions to the national development of our African, Indian, Chinese, Portuguese and European ancestors and their descendants.” In contrast, former President Granger’s Message delivered during the previous year read: “Indian Arrival Day is celebrated each year on 5th May. The East Indians who arrived came largely from the Uttar Pradesh and Southern Indian regions of India.”
The presidential narratives are distinctly noteworthy. Emancipation Day is dedicated to our African brothers and sisters, Amerindian Month is dedicated to our First People, and the Chinese first arrived in January (1853). The two groups that arrived in May were the Portuguese (May 3) and Indians (May 5). President Granger, as early as 2017, had established a precedent for the designation of Indian Arrival Day when he issued public notices proclaiming, “Chinese Arrival Day,” “Portuguese Arrival Day” and “Indian Arrival Day.”
That May 5 was officially intended as “Indian Arrival Day” dates back to a process started on April 14, 2003, when a Special Select Parliamentary Committee was established to review “The Public Holidays Act, Chapter 19:07.” The fact remains that Dr. Cheddi Jagan was committed to recognizing May 5 as a holiday. It now remains to be seen whether the government will continue to remain impervious to the sentiments of its large Indian constituency, who has provided unbroken multi-generational support.
Sincerely,
Baytoram Ramharack
