Dear Editor,
I write to extend support for the call by Mr. Ravi Dev (SN April 28) and others of renaming Arrival Day (May 5) as Indian Arrival Day and to salute those who played a significant role in getting the then government to approve the holiday in 2004. May 5 was tied to the first arrival of Indians in Guyana in 1838. The day has been historically commemorated annually going back over 150 years and celebrated as Indian Arrival Day; no other ethnic group has any ties to that date (May 5). To call it any other name than Indian Arrival was disingenuous.
In New York, a group of Indian Guyanese and Trinidadians observed Indian Arrival Day on college campus (City College of New York) during the late 1970s and early 1980s. That observance continued after my contemporaries left college. Other student groups continued the tradition of Indian arrival observance at other colleges and universities not the least being York, Hunter, Queens, Baruch, Brooklyn, Lehman, NYU, among others.
In 1984, I was involved with a group (Bhanu Dwarika, Baytoram Ramharack, Gora Singh, myself, Rudra Nauth, and others) that conceived and founded the Indo-Caribbean Federation of North America (ICFNA that was renamed ICF a decade ago) that started hosting Indian Arrival Day celebrations — the first one being held at Rufus King Park in Jamaica, Queens. The observance continued at Smokey Park (Richmond Hill) the year after and held annually since then in late May or early June. It was always called Indian Arrival Day.
Our group petitioned and lobbied for a holiday in Guyana and Trinidad for Indian Arrival Day. A proposed bill piloted by Trevor Sudama, MP between 1981 and 1991 for the recognition was rejected multiple times by the PNM and NAR governments over several decades. I flew down to Trinidad in 1981, 1983, and countless other trips, appealing to MPs to champion the holiday. Prime Minister Patrick Manning finally acceded to a holiday (May 30) on the occasion of 150th anniversary of Indian presence in Trinidad in 1995, calling it Arrival Day. He opposed the nomenclature ‘Indian’ Arrival Day. He was defeated in elections in November that year. Basdeo Panday became PM and the coalition government he led (with NAR) renamed it Indian Arrival Day in 1996. That name remains till this day.
In Guyana, successive governments (PNC and PPP) opposed a holiday for Indian Arrival Day. Several groups petitioned both governments for a holiday in recognition of the presence of Indians in and contributions to Guyana. Through the intervention (lobbying of Yesu Persaud and the Kissoons) and their group that organized celebrations to commemorate the 150th anniversary of Indian presence in Guyana, Desmond Hoyte acceded to a one-off holiday in 1988. Our group in NY continued to lobby for a permanent annual Indian Arrival Day holiday on May 5. It was rejected.
In Guyana, Swami Aksharananda, Ravi Dev, the Jaguar Committee for Democracy, JAIAG, GIHA, Ryhaan Shah, Guyana Islamic Thrust, Baytoram Ramharack, Vassan Ramracha, myself, among others pressured the PNC and PPP for a holiday for Indian Arrival. Hoyte and PNC remained opposed. The PPP was also opposed to the holiday. I appealed to MPs on both sides of the aisle during my countless trips to Guyana from 1981 onwards, almost annually. Ravi Dev led the battle inside parliament from late 2001.
Finally, the PPP government caved in to sustained pressure from several prominent Indians and organizations, including religious groups (Hindu and Muslim) and decided that parliament would hold hearings in 2003. Minister Ronald Gajraj served as Chair of a Committee to examine a holiday for Indian Arrival and Independence Day. Everyone and every organization that testified and made submissions, including Guyana Islamic Thrust, referred to the proposed holiday as Indian Arrival Day. Ravi Dev informed me that the PNC representatives on the committee unanimously supported the name Indian Arrival Day. But the majority group on the committee from the government side decided to name it Arrival Day and remit to the full parliament. It was approved without opposition by parliament but Ravi Dev registered his objection saying it was fitting to call it IAD.
From 2004 onwards, Indian organizations and prominent Indians in the diaspora and Guyana have continued to petition for an appellation change, Indian Arrival Day. That is how it is referred to by celebrants nationwide and in the diaspora. The AFC and APNU Members of Parliament and MPs I spoke with on the PPP side support the name change. The government should formally table a motion to correctly refer to the day as IAD.
Sincerely,
Vishnu Bisram
