180th anniversary of Indentured Labourers

Indentured Labourers were mostly from India (Bihar). They came after the abolition of slavery in the British Colonies such as Mauritius, Guyana, Surinam, and Trinidad and so on to replace the African Slaves. 68,413 slaves were freed in a total population of 101,469 people, whilst  slaves’ owners reaped the sum of 2,112,632 pounds and 10 shillings as compensation. Ex-slaves cost 50 pounds yearly, the Indentured Labourers deprived from their rights were treated as slaves and cost 3 pounds yearly and were given a salary of Rs 5 per month.

The Coming of Indentured Labourers

Indentured Labourers from India came to replace the slaves as a source of cheap labour to work in the sugar cane plantations. They changed Mauritius into a prosperous sugar producer in the British Colonies. The 1st batch of 137 Indian artisans came from Pondicherry in 1740 during the Governorship of Mahe de Labourdonnais. The 2nd batch of about 700, came as soldiers during the battle between the British and the French in December 1810, most of them were from Madras, Bengal and Bihar. There were also some prisoners that revolted against the British Rule in India. The 3rd batch of 68,613 from 1835 to 1838 as Indentured Labourers, the 4th batch from 1843 to 1861, four times more; 200,000 in a total population of about 300,000. The 5th and last batch of 1,500 came in 1923, a total of 451,776 Indians migrated to Mauritius. 157,639 of these Indians left after the completion of their 5-10 year contract end, whilst the remaining 294,137 stayed behind.

Conditions of work:

1. A Contract of 5 years
2. 3 pounds per year or Rs 5 per month
3. A percentage of the Rs 5 per month was deducted for the cost of their voyage from India to Mauritius
4. At the end of their contract they supposedly had the option to return to India but owners often succeeded in eliminating their choice
5. Many plantation owners punished the workers by beating them, hunting those who ran away and imprisoned them.
6. They had to work everyday except Sunday from sunrise to sunset
7. The double cut . This implied if a labourer was absent for 1 day, the employers would hold two days’ salary

 

Adolphe de Plevitz and Manilall doctor

Adolphe Von de Plevitz was a Prussian (Now Germany) planter in the District of Moka. He treated his Indian Labourers well, while most of the other planters treated them as slaves. He got a petition  signed by 9,401 Indian Labourers and sent same to the Secretary of State of Great Britain asking for a Royal Commission to look upon the grievances of the Indian Labourers. For this act,  he was threatened and beaten by the Sugar Planters (Colons) like Louis Lavoquer and Victor Merven. Finally a Royal Commission took place in 1872 under two Commissioners, William Edward Frere and Victor Alexander Williamson. The Colons grouped under « La Chambre d’Agriculture»was represented by Sir William Newton and Sir Georges Guibert. The Royal Commission of 1872 gave some good privileges in the interest of the Indian Labourers. In 1901 Gandhi visited Mauritius and in 1907 he sent one of his Lieutenants, Manilall, to defend the interest of the Indian Labourers in Mauritius. This person who really fought for the interest of the Indian Labourers was Manilall Maganlall Doctor. He held a MA and LLB degree and came to Mauritius on the 11th of October 1907. When Manilall came, the Indian Community had no leader of its own, so he was the first Indian to appear at the Mauritian Bar and is remembered as a courageous fighter who defended the cause of Indian Labourers and small planters. Manilall addressed public meeting gatherings all over Mauritius to ventilate the grievances of the Indentured Labourers and the small planters. At one of the meetings, the audience voted resolutions on the abolition of the double cut, more powers to the protector of Immigrant, ban on Indian Immigration, no taxation on poor men’s food, small planters’ complaints, facility of loans, control of the weighbridge and better price for Sugar. Above all he advocated the abolition of Indentured Labourers.

Manilall doctor and d’Action Liberal

Manilall’s name is generally associated with D’Action Liberal and the Royal Commission of 1909, Manilall transcended the communal barrier to make common cause with non Indian and in return support to his cause. D’Action Liberal was the first democratic political party that was close to the population. Founded by Mauritians like Dr Egene Laurent, Nairac Anatolle de Boucherville and Goolam Mohamed Issac in 1906 to combat against Capitalism of Parti de L’ordre under the Leadership of sir Henry Leclezio. The role of D’Action Liberal in the beginning was simply to defend the colored population; by 1907 with the participation of Manilall the Party started to defend the interests of the Indentured Labourers. Manilall deponed before the 3rd Royal Commission: He was sworn in a Barrister before the Supreme Court on the 16th of October 1907, while taking the oath, he refused to remove his turban, and said removing it would be a sign of disrespect according to the Indian customs. Amongst his demands before the 3rd Royal Commission of 1909 were:

1. To nominate English Magistrates
2. Human treatment towards Hindu Labourers
3. Strict control in regards to the Sugar Cane tonnage for small planters
4. To establish an Agricultural Bank
5. To legalize Hindu Marriage for the Children to become their legal heirs
6. Introduction of the Hindu culture
7. Introduction of the Hindi language in schools
8. To establish a co-operative bank
9. To reform the legislation of the Indentured Labourers
10. To reduce the salary of the Governor of Mauritius from Rs 75,000 to Rs 50,000 per year (at that time Indentured Labourers were getting Rs 5 per month or Rs 60 per year.

To conclude, after 180 years (1835-2015), our forefathers came to Mauritius as Indentured Labourers; today we are the Master of our destiny and what we are today is by the grace of our forefathers. We cannot forget the effort made by Manilall Maganlall Doctor and D’Action Liberal.