Indian Arrival Day
Encyclopedia
Indian Arrival Day is a holiday
celebrated on various days around the world, usually commemorating the arrival of people from the Indian subcontinent
to that nation.
the holiday is celebrated on May 5 commemorating the first arrival of indentured servants from India
to the country, on May 5, 1838. On this day, the workers arrived to work in sugar plantations. Their descendants today comprise 44 percent of Guyana's population of over 750,000.
, the holiday is celebrated on November 2 to commemorate the arrival of indentured laborers.
celebrated on May 30 in Trinidad and Tobago each year since the 1990s. It commemorates the first arrivals from the Indian subcontinent
to Trinidad
, on May 30, 1845, on the ship Fatel Razack
(a rendering of the Arabic Fath Al Razak 'Victory to Allah the Sustainer'). The many versions of the spelling for this historic ship reflects the difficulties of pronunciation and transliteration of foreign and East Indian names in Trinidad (as with the street festival of "Muhurram" or "Hosay" and "Hussay").
, Lord Wavell, and Colonel Stanley, the Secretary of State for the Colonies.
After the 1945 Centenary extravaganza, however, the celebration of the anniversary of May 30 gradually declined. By the 1950s, the East Indians who followed the Fatel Razack as immigrants to Trinidad were brought over not as free immigrants and farmers, but as "coolies". By the early seventies only the Hindu
group the Divine Life Society of Chaguanas was staging an annual procession and ceremony under the name Indian Emigration Day.
Indian Emigration Day, as it was called then, had been celebrated by various organizations after 1945 with limited success. By 1973 the latest was organized by the Divine Life Society, which had organized small annual processions in Chaguanas for Indian Emigration Day. By the late seventies even that small remembrance was dwindling.
In 1976 the Indian Revival and Reform Association (IRRA) was formed. They were concerned about racism against Indians and were interested in developing ideas, writing pamphlets to bring about an Indian revival and renewed pride in Indian heritage and Indian culture. The IRRA wanted to preserve the good things about Indian heritage and reform the ones that were no longer useful or relevant. The anniversary of the coming of Indians to Trinidad was one of the good things that came to the IRRA notice.
In 1977 IRRA formed committee was established to revive the memory of the coming of Indians to Trinidad on May 30, 1845 - Indian Emigration Day. The initial historic Committee comprised Anand Singh, Khalik Khan, Ramdath Jagessar, Rajiv Sieunarine, Azamudeen "Danny" Jang, Michael Sankar, Rajesh Harricharan, Rajnie Ramlakhan, Anand Maharaj and Ashok Gobin.
The first active step was taken in early 1978, when they produced and distributed an onepage pamphlet with the title “Indian Emigration Day May 30, 1978”. It gave a brief account of the coming of Indians in 1845, and the importance of the event. The names of the first pioneers on the Fath-al Razack were listed, and there was a short description of the achievements of Indians in Trinidad since 1845. The Trinidad Express carried a press release, and the Trinidad Guardian printed an article by Kusha Haracksingh on the voyage of the Fath-al Razack. Mastana Bahar dedicated a show to Indian Emigration Day. San Fernando Secondary School organized a celebration.
A major turning point occurred in 1979 when the group expanded by approaching the Sanatan Dharma Maha Sabha
. The SDMS Secretary General Satnarayan Maharaj
receptive to the idea, agreed to organize a major celebration at Lakshmi Girls College on May 27, 1979. IRRA and the SDMS in discussions agreed that Indians were no longer emigrants to Trinidad, but citizens who had arrived 134 years before. Coming out of this discussion the name was then changed to Indian Arrival Day.
The 1979 celebration was a great success and included the presence of some of the original immigrants born in India. Government ministers Sham and Kamal Mohammed were there, as was the Indian High Commissioner and Presbyterian Church moderator Idris Hamid. The event was widely covered by the local media and immediately knew about the event. In fact it took just two years and an idea to revive the memory of the Arrival of Indians in Trinidad to awaken the entire Indian community in Trinidad.
Subsequent years the Hindu Seva Sangh and other smaller groups approached the IRRA for guidance in developing in various communities throughout Trinidad. By 1980 Indian Arrival Day celebrations were held at the Spring Village, Cedros, Penal, San Juan, Chaguanas, and many other parts of the country. The National Joint Action Committee, the Catholic Church, libraries, mosques, mandirs and schools at this point joined in the observances. In a remarkably short time, Indian Arrival Day was sweeping through the country. By 1985 there were more than 10 significant Indian Arrival Day celebrations taking place. The Hindu community took the lead in the development of the celebrations.
In 1991 Members of Parliament
Trevor Sudama and Raymond Pallackdarrysingh first introduced to the House of Representatives the concept that Indian Arrival Day should be made a national public holiday. This call to make Indian Arrival Day a public holiday continued to be unheeded until 1995 Prime Minister Patrick Manning
declared that the 150th Anniversary would be a public holiday called Indian Arrival Day, but thereafter the holiday will be called Arrival Day. The 1995 celebrations surpassed the 1945 celebrations with the Maha Sabha having major celebrations in Trinidad.
In 1995 Prime Minister Basdeo Panday
declared that 30 May would be known as Indian Arrival Day and not Arrival Day. Ironically, in the birthplace of Indian Arrival Day – Trinidad – there is a lobby to remove the word 'Indian' from the name. In the 1990s the Maha Sabha expanded the Indian Arrival Day celebrations and dubbed May as "Indian Heritage Month" which ends on Indian Arrival Day.
, the United Kingdom
, the United States
, Canada
, and Australia
.
Holiday
A Holiday is a day designated as having special significance for which individuals, a government, or a religious group have deemed that observance is warranted. It is generally an official or unofficial observance of religious, national, or cultural significance, often accompanied by celebrations...
celebrated on various days around the world, usually commemorating the arrival of people from the Indian subcontinent
Indian subcontinent
The Indian subcontinent, also Indian Subcontinent, Indo-Pak Subcontinent or South Asian Subcontinent is a region of the Asian continent on the Indian tectonic plate from the Hindu Kush or Hindu Koh, Himalayas and including the Kuen Lun and Karakoram ranges, forming a land mass which extends...
to that nation.
Guyana
In GuyanaGuyana
Guyana , officially the Co-operative Republic of Guyana, previously the colony of British Guiana, is a sovereign state on the northern coast of South America that is culturally part of the Anglophone Caribbean. Guyana was a former colony of the Dutch and of the British...
the holiday is celebrated on May 5 commemorating the first arrival of indentured servants from India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
to the country, on May 5, 1838. On this day, the workers arrived to work in sugar plantations. Their descendants today comprise 44 percent of Guyana's population of over 750,000.
Mauritius
In MauritiusMauritius
Mauritius , officially the Republic of Mauritius is an island nation off the southeast coast of the African continent in the southwest Indian Ocean, about east of Madagascar...
, the holiday is celebrated on November 2 to commemorate the arrival of indentured laborers.
Trinidad and Tobago
Indian Arrival Day is a holidayHoliday
A Holiday is a day designated as having special significance for which individuals, a government, or a religious group have deemed that observance is warranted. It is generally an official or unofficial observance of religious, national, or cultural significance, often accompanied by celebrations...
celebrated on May 30 in Trinidad and Tobago each year since the 1990s. It commemorates the first arrivals from the Indian subcontinent
Indian subcontinent
The Indian subcontinent, also Indian Subcontinent, Indo-Pak Subcontinent or South Asian Subcontinent is a region of the Asian continent on the Indian tectonic plate from the Hindu Kush or Hindu Koh, Himalayas and including the Kuen Lun and Karakoram ranges, forming a land mass which extends...
to Trinidad
Trinidad
Trinidad is the larger and more populous of the two major islands and numerous landforms which make up the island nation of Trinidad and Tobago. It is the southernmost island in the Caribbean and lies just off the northeastern coast of Venezuela. With an area of it is also the fifth largest in...
, on May 30, 1845, on the ship Fatel Razack
Fatel Razack
The Fatel Razack was the first ship to bring indentured labourers from India to Trinidad. The ship was built in Aprenade for a trader named Ibrahim Bin Yussef, an Indian Muslim merchant in Bombay. It was constructed from teak and had a carrying capacity of 415 tons...
(a rendering of the Arabic Fath Al Razak 'Victory to Allah the Sustainer'). The many versions of the spelling for this historic ship reflects the difficulties of pronunciation and transliteration of foreign and East Indian names in Trinidad (as with the street festival of "Muhurram" or "Hosay" and "Hussay").
History of the celebration
Indian Arrival Day was first celebrated in Skinner Park, San Fernando, as the East Indian Centenary on May 30, 1945 which marked the hundredth anniversary of the coming of Indians to Trinidad. The Acting Governor representing the Government of the United Kingdom attended indicating the significance of the observance. Other local dignitaries who addressed the large crowd included Timothy Roodal, George Fitzpatrick, Adrian Cola Rienzi, and Murli J. Kirpalani. Greetings were also read from Mahatma GandhiMahatma Gandhi
Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi , pronounced . 2 October 1869 – 30 January 1948) was the pre-eminent political and ideological leader of India during the Indian independence movement...
, Lord Wavell, and Colonel Stanley, the Secretary of State for the Colonies.
After the 1945 Centenary extravaganza, however, the celebration of the anniversary of May 30 gradually declined. By the 1950s, the East Indians who followed the Fatel Razack as immigrants to Trinidad were brought over not as free immigrants and farmers, but as "coolies". By the early seventies only the Hindu
Hindu
Hindu refers to an identity associated with the philosophical, religious and cultural systems that are indigenous to the Indian subcontinent. As used in the Constitution of India, the word "Hindu" is also attributed to all persons professing any Indian religion...
group the Divine Life Society of Chaguanas was staging an annual procession and ceremony under the name Indian Emigration Day.
Indian Emigration Day, as it was called then, had been celebrated by various organizations after 1945 with limited success. By 1973 the latest was organized by the Divine Life Society, which had organized small annual processions in Chaguanas for Indian Emigration Day. By the late seventies even that small remembrance was dwindling.
In 1976 the Indian Revival and Reform Association (IRRA) was formed. They were concerned about racism against Indians and were interested in developing ideas, writing pamphlets to bring about an Indian revival and renewed pride in Indian heritage and Indian culture. The IRRA wanted to preserve the good things about Indian heritage and reform the ones that were no longer useful or relevant. The anniversary of the coming of Indians to Trinidad was one of the good things that came to the IRRA notice.
In 1977 IRRA formed committee was established to revive the memory of the coming of Indians to Trinidad on May 30, 1845 - Indian Emigration Day. The initial historic Committee comprised Anand Singh, Khalik Khan, Ramdath Jagessar, Rajiv Sieunarine, Azamudeen "Danny" Jang, Michael Sankar, Rajesh Harricharan, Rajnie Ramlakhan, Anand Maharaj and Ashok Gobin.
The first active step was taken in early 1978, when they produced and distributed an onepage pamphlet with the title “Indian Emigration Day May 30, 1978”. It gave a brief account of the coming of Indians in 1845, and the importance of the event. The names of the first pioneers on the Fath-al Razack were listed, and there was a short description of the achievements of Indians in Trinidad since 1845. The Trinidad Express carried a press release, and the Trinidad Guardian printed an article by Kusha Haracksingh on the voyage of the Fath-al Razack. Mastana Bahar dedicated a show to Indian Emigration Day. San Fernando Secondary School organized a celebration.
A major turning point occurred in 1979 when the group expanded by approaching the Sanatan Dharma Maha Sabha
Sanatan Dharma Maha Sabha
The Sanatan Dharma Maha Sabha is the major Hindu organisation in Trinidad and Tobago. It operates 150 mandirs and over 50 schools. It was formed in 1952 when Bhadase Sagan Maraj engineered the merger of the Satanan Dharma Association and the Sanatan Dharma Board of Control. An affiliated group,...
. The SDMS Secretary General Satnarayan Maharaj
Satnarayan Maharaj
Satnarayan Maharaj Chaconia Medal is a religious, cultural and political leader in Trinidad and Tobago. He is the Secretary General of the Sanatan Dharma Maha Sabha, the major Hindu organisation in Trinidad and Tobago. He also writes op-ed contributions in many newspapers in Trinidad and Tobago...
receptive to the idea, agreed to organize a major celebration at Lakshmi Girls College on May 27, 1979. IRRA and the SDMS in discussions agreed that Indians were no longer emigrants to Trinidad, but citizens who had arrived 134 years before. Coming out of this discussion the name was then changed to Indian Arrival Day.
The 1979 celebration was a great success and included the presence of some of the original immigrants born in India. Government ministers Sham and Kamal Mohammed were there, as was the Indian High Commissioner and Presbyterian Church moderator Idris Hamid. The event was widely covered by the local media and immediately knew about the event. In fact it took just two years and an idea to revive the memory of the Arrival of Indians in Trinidad to awaken the entire Indian community in Trinidad.
Subsequent years the Hindu Seva Sangh and other smaller groups approached the IRRA for guidance in developing in various communities throughout Trinidad. By 1980 Indian Arrival Day celebrations were held at the Spring Village, Cedros, Penal, San Juan, Chaguanas, and many other parts of the country. The National Joint Action Committee, the Catholic Church, libraries, mosques, mandirs and schools at this point joined in the observances. In a remarkably short time, Indian Arrival Day was sweeping through the country. By 1985 there were more than 10 significant Indian Arrival Day celebrations taking place. The Hindu community took the lead in the development of the celebrations.
In 1991 Members of Parliament
Parliament of Trinidad and Tobago
The Parliament of Trinidad and Tobago is the legislative branch of the Government of Trinidad and Tobago. The Parliament is bicameral. It consists of the elected House of Representatives, which has 43 members elected for a five year term in single-seat constituencies, and the Senate which has 31...
Trevor Sudama and Raymond Pallackdarrysingh first introduced to the House of Representatives the concept that Indian Arrival Day should be made a national public holiday. This call to make Indian Arrival Day a public holiday continued to be unheeded until 1995 Prime Minister Patrick Manning
Patrick Manning
Patrick Augustus Mervyn Manning was the fourth and sixth Prime Minister of Trinidad and Tobago, as well as the former Political Leader of the People's National Movement . He served as Prime Minister from 17 December 1991 to 9 November 1995 and held that office again from 24 December 2001 until 26...
declared that the 150th Anniversary would be a public holiday called Indian Arrival Day, but thereafter the holiday will be called Arrival Day. The 1995 celebrations surpassed the 1945 celebrations with the Maha Sabha having major celebrations in Trinidad.
In 1995 Prime Minister Basdeo Panday
Basdeo Panday
Basdeo Panday was the 5th Prime Minister of Trinidad and Tobago from 1995 to 2001 and has served as Leader of the Opposition from 1976–1977, 1978–1986, 1989–1995 and 2001–2010. He was first elected to Parliament in 1976 as the Member for Couva North. He is the former...
declared that 30 May would be known as Indian Arrival Day and not Arrival Day. Ironically, in the birthplace of Indian Arrival Day – Trinidad – there is a lobby to remove the word 'Indian' from the name. In the 1990s the Maha Sabha expanded the Indian Arrival Day celebrations and dubbed May as "Indian Heritage Month" which ends on Indian Arrival Day.
Similar observances in other countries
Since its establishment in Trinidad, Indian Arrival Day has given rise to similar celebrations in JamaicaJamaica
Jamaica is an island nation of the Greater Antilles, in length, up to in width and 10,990 square kilometres in area. It is situated in the Caribbean Sea, about south of Cuba, and west of Hispaniola, the island harbouring the nation-states Haiti and the Dominican Republic...
, the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
, the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
, and Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
.