Exploring the Indo-Caribbean diaspora

The Construction of an

Indo-Caribbean Diaspora

Brinsley Samaroo and

Ann Marie Bissessar (editors)

UWI School of Continuing Studies, 2004.

ISBN 976-620-206-0, 287 pages.

The 13 essays in this book attempt to give insights on various aspects of the culture and challenges faced by the descendants of Indian indentured immigrants in the Caribbean. The quality is variable, since there is a paper by historian Brinsley Samaroo (“Restructuring the Identity: Hindu organisation in Trinidad during their first century”) as well as by Maha Sabha leader Satnarayn Maharaj (“Sanatan Dharma Maha Sabha in Context”).

Maharaj’s paper is an argument that “Trinidad and Tobago today is what it is because of the Indian contributions, and the Hindu presence is indelibly stamped on every aspect of our existence.”

In this context, he makes a litany of complaints about historical and present-day oppression of Indians, including a claim for reparations based on the assertion that, since only Christian marriage was legal until 1946, “The marriage ceremony was used as a tool by the State to convert thousands of Hindus to Christianity”. Maharaj claims that this prevented Hindus from bequeathing their land to their children, and cites Samaroo as saying that expropriations did take place.

Ironically, though, Samaroo’s own essay in the book refutes Maharaj’s initial claim about conversion, since he provides statistics showing that in 1891 Christian Indians made up 8.5 percent of the Indian populace in Trinidad. Since the present percentage is now only 10 percent, Maharaj’s “thousands” of converts vanish like Sai Baba palming a gold ring.

Samaroo’s essay, in fact, examines the influence of rival (and more open-minded and progressive) Hindu sects to the dominant Maha Sabha, which were either absorbed or overwhelmed by that dominant body. Samaroo also gives the history of Indian non-religious organisations set up in Trinidad, reflecting the early involvement of the community in civic life.

The two most rigorous essays in the book, however, are written by historian Radica Mahase and political scientist Ann Marie Bissessar. Mahase’s paper is titled “Caste, Religion and Gender Differentiation amongst Indentured Labourers”, and provides interesting statistics on the different groups coming from India to Trinidad. She gives some support to the “Brahmins by boat” argument, showing that just 15 percent of the labourers belonged to the Brahmin caste and most of them to the agricultural level of that caste.
Bissessar’s paper, “Barriers to Mobility in the Public Services of Guyana and Trinidad and Tobago” is a variation on her PhD thesis, and she uses extensive statistical data to demonstrate that the low percentages of Indo public servants in both countries must be the result of political and racial bias.

Natasha Ramnarine also provides some interesting historical insights into the panchayat system and its decline in Indian communities.

While her analysis is superficial, the information on the village’s social structure, and the social and educational progress of Indians, especially women, provide valuable insights into the background of Indo-Trinidadians.

For those interested in religion, two essays on Hindu funeral practices and the goddess concept in Hinduism provide general information, but no cultural analysis. Shivan Maharaj’s Hindus, Leadership and Politics from 1940 to 1986 also provides good historical data, though the paper is marred by his uncritical recording of the careers of Adrian Cola Rienzi, Bhadase Sagan Maharaj, and Rudranath Capildeo.
As a source of historical and sociological information, therefore, this is a very useful text. But the reader will have to read with a sceptical eye in order to decide what the history means for Indo-Caribbean people today.

The book is avilable at the UWI bookstore and Nigel Khan Bookstores.