Sarita Boodhoo, while tracing the history of the Indian Diaspora in Mauritius, explains how the Indian heart of the island nation is still in the right place.
The Advent
In the year 1834, a tiny island called Mauritius was all set to witness a historic event. The British brought in a group of 75 contract laborers from India and employed them in the island’s sugarcane fields. With time, this handful of individuals grew to form the Indian Diaspora of Mauritius.
This arrival was unique for one more reason. Among all the plantation colonies across the world, Mauritius was the first to observe the new trend of indentureship, or contractual labor, after the abolition of slavery.
It is the Aapravasi Ghat (Immigration Depot), which bore the first footprints of Indians on the island. Located in the harbour of Port Louis, in 2006, this historical spot gained the status of a World Heritage Site. The credit of preserving the site goes to Bickram singh Ramlallah freedom fighter, politician and the editor of Mauritius Times, a reputed daily of the region who has braved many odds over several decades in his endeavor.
Forgotten Traces
It would be incorrect to state that there was no Indian presence in Mauritius before 1834. Prior to the British, the Dutch, too, had brought in menial workers from Bengal during their reign on the island nation. Later, in the early 18 century during the French era arrived artisans, engineers, and traders from Pondicherry. In 1810, during the early British period, few soldiers had also set foot on the island while usurping it from the French. However, for various reasons, prior to 1834, the Indian populace in Mauritius could not blossom.
Things changed during the later part of the 19 century, when Mauritius experienced massive Indian immigration, mostly from the hinterland of Calcutta to the Gangetic plain including Bhojpuri-speaking districts of present Bihar and UP. The recruitment center of these laborers was located in and around the metropolis of Calcutta, the capital of British India, where recruiting companies used middleman to lure poor peasants. In the wake of this exodus, there followed traders from Gujarat and Madras (now Chennai), whose objective was to supply food, clothes, jewellery, etc., to the migrants.
The Emergence of PIOs
In 1924, when indentureship finally came to a halt, it was observed that an astounding number of Indians had migrated to Mauritius. Within a span of 90 years, around 450,000 indentured labourers had climbed those critical 16 steps of the Aapravasi Ghat! Today, after 175 years, the small island is still a ‘home away from home’ for many Indians.
From the 1860s, the composition of Indians in Mauritius has more or less remained constant at two-third of the total population. Around 70 percent of citizens are Indian descendants, with lion’s share from North India to be precise, from the Bhojpuri belts of Bihar and Uttar Pradesh. This demographic aspect has been a major source of concern to the oligarchy, and to those who have been at the seat of power.
Mauritius is the only country in the whole Diasporic system, where the PIOs hold political power and all ethnic groups participate in power sharing. There are many countries, like Fiji, where, even though the PIOs comprise a sizeable chunk of the population, they have found that economic and political powers have eluded them.
Preserving the Culture
The tenacity of the Indian indentured workers has been well inherited by their descendents, which helped them in resisting onslaughts on their languages, culture, and religions. In a bid to preserve Indian languages for the future generations, Hindi, Tamil, Marathi, and Urdu have been made an intrinsic part of the country’s education system. In fact, at the University of Mauritius, Indian languages are now studied till the PhD level.
Unsurprisingly, India’s ancient culture and moral values lie at the social core of this enchanting island. That explains how despite facing great obstacles, humiliation, and social injustice the Indian Diaspora has grown stronger and indomitable even in the face of insolent might.
