Indian Diaspora Conference in Grenada – 5th anniversary
This month (May 2021) marks the 5th anniversary when Prime Minister Dr. Keith Mitchell formally opened the first International Conference on The Indian Diaspora in Grenada and the Wider Caribbean. The weekend conference was held at the St. George’s University in Grenada.
The weekend conference, from Friday April 29 to Sunday May 1, 2016, commemorated the arrival of East Indians in Grenada on May 1, 1857. May 1st has been officially recognised by the government since 2009 as Indian Arrival Day. Attendance at the conference was free of charge and open to the public.
The Grenada conference brought together academics, historians, teachers, tourism and culture workers, and other persons with an interest in the Indian Diaspora in the Caribbean to discuss their research findings. Space was provided for less formal presentations from activists and practitioners in the field in order to contribute to the limited store of public knowledge on Indians in Grenada.
The weekend conference and family vacation was organised by the Indo-Caribbean Cultural Centre Co. Ltd (ICC) and The Indo-Grenadian Heritage Foundation (IHF) with support from
Belmont Estate Group of Companies, and The High Commission of India to Trinidad and Tobago with concurrent accreditation to Grenada, Montserrat and the Commonwealth of Dominica. It was spearheaded by Dr. Kumar Mahabir (Trinidad), Shadel Nyack Compton, and (Grenada), Jai Sears (Grenada).
Conference presenters included His Excellency Gauri Shankar Gupta, Dr. Kumar Mahabir, Jai Sears, Shadel Nyack Compton, Sat Sookdeo, Junior Bacchus, Dr. Jennifer Japal-Isaacs, Luann Hadaway, Rev, Roy Bishop, Dr. Beverly Steele, Wilbur Adams, Mansraj Ramphal, Shalima Mohammed, Dr. Susan Chand, David Chand, Jalaludin Khan, Dr. Visham Bhimull, Natasha Mahabir, Shoba Ramsumair, Vimla Ramsumair, Sylvia Gilharry Perez, Roopnarain Persaud, Rev. Seopaul Singh, Krystal Ghisyawan, Parvati Persaud-Edwards and Jean Sahai. Also participating were Surujdeo Mangaroo, Brian Mangaroo (dancer), Akshay Khandoo (vocalist), Swami Aksharananda, Mahadai Sears, and Brother Noble Khan and his wife, Maimoon Khan.
On the historic day of May 1, 1857, the Maidstone docked at Irwin’s Bay in St. Patrick’s with 287 passengers who were brought as indentured labourers to replace the emancipated African slaves. Over 22 years (1856 to 1878), 3,033 Indians were brought from India to Grenada to work on the sugarcane estates. Mortality rates were high, both in the Middle Passage and on the various estates where harsh treatment was inflicted by planers and supervisors. To offer “salvation,” Presbyterian missionaries came from Canada to educate (convert) them, resulting in the sudden disappearance of Hinduism and Islam.
However, some Hindu cultural traditions were able to survive over generations, for example,
“borgh” [death anniversaries] and the “mundan” [the shaving of a baby’s hair]. Indian cuisine has also been retained in the form of roti, curried goat and various types of tarkari [cooked vegetables]. In an African-dominated society, Indians now comprise of 1,700 (2%) of the total population of Grenada. Race relations continue to be harmonious to the extent that the rate of inter-racial marriages in Grenada is the highest in the Caribbean.
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