Africa-Press – Mauritius. Government considers the memory and legacy of the girmitiyas (indentured Indian labourers) in Mauritius as being one of the pillars of our national heritage along with the Le Morne Cultural Landscape and the history of the slaves, said the Prime Minister, Mr Pravind Kumar Jugnauth, this afternoon at the launching of activities of GOPIO International at Water’s Edge Banquet Hall, in Ilot.
The Minister of Land Transport and Light Rail, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Regional Integration and International Trade, Mr Alan Ganoo, the Attorney General, Minister of Agro-Industry and Food Security, Mr Maneesh Gobin, the Minister of Labour, Human Resource Development and Training, Minister of Commerce and Consumer Protection, Mr Soodesh Satkam Callichurn, the High Commissioner of India to Mauritius, Mrs Nandini Singla, the president of GOPIO International, Mr Mookhesswur Choonee, and other personalities were present.
The Prime Minister was offered a book by Mr Anand Mulloo, as well as a Souvenir Shield, on that occasion. GOPIO, recalled Prime Minister Jugnauth in his address, was set up about 30 years ago and has grown to become an international organisation that is playing an increasingly important role today and contributes in increased interactions between Indian communities outside India thus promoting the common culture and heritage of people of Indian origin.
For him, the links between our connected communities are built around our Indian roots and traditions. We share values that India has always stood for: peace, pluralism, progress and universal brotherhood, he emphasised.
The Prime Minister expressed gratitude to the Indian Government for organising every year the Pravasi Bharati Divas, an annual convention that brings together people of the global Indian Diaspora and provides a platform to keep alive our cultural and historical legacy.
In Mauritius, the Government has always ensured that the necessary support is given to each group to enable to preserve and promote their ancestral and cultural languages, he pointed out.
Mauritius, underscored Mr Jugnauth, is fortunate to be a multicultural country where citizens share many common values such as solidarity and mutual respect. Throughout the years we have been able to uphold the spirit of brotherhood and forge national unity out of our diversity, he indicated.
The Prime Minister moreover expressed appreciation to GOPIO for organising festivals and events that focus on cultural and social promotion and contribute in passing on heritage from one generation to the next with great success.
GOPIO also celebrates the Aapravasi Divas each year on 02 November at the site where the first batch of indentured labourers who came to Mauritius were sent to work, he recalled.
Such commemorations, he opined, help to keep alive the memory and legacy of the girmitiyas as the indentured labourers who worked in the sugarcane fields were known.
To pay tribute to the girmitiyas Government decided in 2001 to proclaim the 02 November as a public holiday. It was on a 2nd of November 1834 that 36 Indian immigrant pioneers reached the Mauritian shores at the place we now call Aapravasi Ghat, said the Prime Minister.
The values and culture that these men, women and children carried with them when they left their homes to work in sugarcane estates in Mauritius need to be preserved for the benefit of future generations, he stressed.
Immigrants, said the Prime Minister, experienced the bitterness of indentured servitude but showed remarkable moral strength to adapt to the rigors of the plantation regime.
They achieved advancements socially, economically and politically in a relatively short period of time, he observed. Their perseverance and hard work can inspire and motivate all the citizens of our country, he highlighted.
The Prime Minister also acknowledged the remarkable work being done to set up an indentured labour route project which will complement the slave route project.
An inter-ministerial virtual meeting was held in July 2021 to kick-off the project and brought together countries that have experienced the migration of indentured labour in the 19th and mid 20th centuries, he pointed out. The project was presented to the UNESCO in October 2014.
The objective of the indentured labour route project is to establish a network of persons and institutions that will disseminate knowledge about the indentured system as well as the history and culture of its descendants, he said.
That route will strive to contribute in nation-building and create a greater understanding amongst peoples and societies across the indentured Diaspora, he added.
For her part, the Indian High Commissioner, highlighted that GOPIO is the biggest Diaspora organisation of the whole world and was set up in the United States in 1989.
The Indian Diaspora is the largest Diaspora in the world and there are more than 30 million people living in nearly every country of the world and what is interesting is we are also the country with the largest number of migrants going out of India every year, she said.
As the population of most countries continues to decline the workforce of the world will come from that one country which has the biggest demographic dividend in the world today that is India, she underscored.
As for Mr Choonee, he retraced the history of indentured labourers in Mauritius who discovered their new homeland in dire and inhuman circumstances and toiled day and night with sheer hard work and with discipline and tolerance they adapted to their new surroundings while preserving their cultural and religious rituals, traditions, foods and spices and festivals.
GOPIO International is a non-partisan Global Organisation engaged in the promotion of the Non-Resident Indians and of the People of Indian Origin and its focus lies on the their socio-cultural and economic development, in the spirit of ‘Vasudeva Kutumbakam’.
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