Reflections on the hardships of the indentured diaspora in SA

THE roots of the contemporary Indian diaspora can be traced to the colonial domination by the British and the exploitation of cheap indentured labour from the Asian sub-continent in different parts of the colonial empire, including Fiji, Trinidad, Suriname, Mauritius, Malaysia and South Africa.

Studying the histories of indenture has emerged as a specialised area of research, in contrast to its earlier relegation as a footnote of imperial or colonial history. Some of the leading scholars in the field are the progenies of indentured labourers, who are contributing to an understanding of “history from below”.

As the indentured labourers tried to adjust in an alien and hostile environment, they encountered conflict with their colonial rulers as well as with the indigenous majority, and this tension, persists to this day.

According to Susan Koshy, in the colonial and post-colonial eras, the Indian diaspora has raised questions of belonging: “Were they partial citizens, pariah citizens, permanent minorities, resident aliens or where they are simply excluded by recent culture from the possibility of citizenship altogether – what political rights did their economic contribution confer?”

The tensions between the indigenous communities and the indentured labourers were evident from the time of arrival.

Conventional history in South Africa, for example, portrayed the Zulus as “lazy”. However, the Zulus were smart because they refused to work for low wages. The indentured labourers worked for lower wages in Natal province, and the Zulus were displaced.

This was the beginning of Indozulu tensions, which still persists and periodically resurfaces, even in the democratic era.

Yunus Carrim, a sociologist turned politician, has emphasised that the “presence of Indians poses interesting challenges for the tasks of nation-building and non-racial, democratic transformation in South Africa. The ways in which and the degree to which Indians are integrated into the post-apartheid society will be a not unimportant measure of how successful a non-racial democracy South Africa has become”.

From a sociological perspective, Indians essentially occupy a middle-man minority position in indentured territories – a buffer between the white colonial rulers and the indigenous majority. So, they get portrayed as “scapegoats” and villains in times of economic and political crises.

Historian Hugh Tinker raised the question of whether Asians were architects of their own problems in terms of their lifestyles. In spite of the distance and disconnection from India, they retreat into their religious and cultural cocoons – which meant that they were often isolated from mainstream society and hence, the tendency to view them as aliens and exploiters.

This was compounded by the colonial government policy that kept different groups apart with the divide-and-rule strategy.

What is the nature of connections with India? And how does India connect with the indentured diaspora? The majority of the descendants of indentured labourers have no links with India except as an abstract, spiritual motherland, which many pilgrims find disappointing as faith has been commodified

and where religion betrays the poor and disadvantaged.

Sometimes the indentured diaspora reminds India of a less sophisticated past. After all, the indentured were low caste peasants and labourers, unworthy of the attention of the Indian ruling elite. However, the indentured diaspora did have some influence on the liberation of India from the shackles of colonialism. Mahatma Gandhi developed his ideas about Satyagraha in South Africa. After India’s independence in 1947, the indentured were expected to integrate in their host countries.

In September 2000, the Indian government established a High-level Committee on the Indian Diaspora to investigate and report on “problems and difficulties, the hopes and expectations” of Non-resident Indians (NRIS) and Persons of Indian Origin

(PIOS) in their interaction with India.

The intention was to attract those with dollars, pounds and euros to invest in India. There was initially little interest in the descendants of indentured labourers in countries like Malaysia, Fiji, Trinidad, Suriname, and South Africa.

An interesting issue from which the motherland could benefit was an acknowledgement from the High-level Singhvi Committee (2001) that in the indentured diaspora, “a form of Hinduism… was being practised by people who had rid themselves of traditions and customs like jaati and sati, gotra and sutra… and dowry”.

The experiences of indenture is one of families torn apart by separation and the humiliation of poverty, alienation, resistance, and struggles to forge new lives under harsh conditions, which highlight the multiple ways in which Indians tried to retain a measure of self-respect and autonomy in a system that sought to deny them the rudiments of bare life and dignity.

Indentured labourers and their descendants were vulnerable during the colonial and post-colonial eras, and their association with India has been tenuous. Women continue to be susceptible to violence and abuse. In both eras, there were common problems related belonging and identity – race, ethnicity, citizenship – which continue in the 21st century.

There is also a significant degree of coalescence between race and class as the colonial authorities had defined and maintained ethnic categories and used discriminatory regulations and institutional practices to structure inter-ethnic relations. The tensions, conflicts and prejudices of that era still persists, with third and fourth-generation descendants likely to be victims.