History of Girmitiya Journey
Girmitiya or Jahajis are indentured Indian Labourers brought by British Govt. to work in Sugarcane fields. The history is very painful but it was a great Challenge. Everyone knows the meaning of GIRMITIYA. More than 2 million Indians men, women and children took a very long perilous journey across the Black Waters. They were Indentured Indian labourers (modern slaves ) to work as bonded labour in Sugarcane plantations in various British Colonies between 1834 to 1916. However, narraties about their journeys, hardships and silenced voices have been long forgotten. They were brought to Fiji, Mauritius, South Africa and the Caribbean's Trinidad and Tobago, Guyana, Suriname and Jamaica to work on sugarcane plantations for the prosperity of British Empire.
Agreement is the term that has been coined into Girmit referring to the « Agreement « of the British Government with Indians labourers as to their lengths of stay to these countries and when they would be allowed to go back to India their Motherland. Indentured emigration began on the 19th century because of the shortage of labour supply caused by the abolition of Slavery, during the British Empire in 1833. Many families were approached by the offer of a better life and a chance to own fertile lands. Many Girmitiyas were seeking better opportunities , some were escaping from the droughts that have killed many of them , some were fleeing from the unemployment, their land has been stolen away , some were kidnapped and recruited . Yet all of them at that time knew that they are going to some places that they had never heard before, with the firm conviction that they will be back one day.
So it came to be that many Indentured Labourers and their family, originally farmers from the villages of UP / Bihar and other part of India left their homes and Identities in India for a life far away. Thus began the great adventure into the unknown, those hundreds of thousands, Sons and Daughters leaving their land / country , across the Oceans to far distance lands. With their earthly possessions bundled on their heads, eyes heavy with unshed tears, leaving behind them mother , father, brothers, sisters, family and neighbourgs, ready to take on the challenge for the future with all the pains and terrors. Then started the very - very long and painful journey of Girmitiyas, working nights and days on sugarcane fields in very bad conditions....
Girmitiyas has participated to empowered many countries in the world, due to their commitment, their work skills and their determinations to give a better future to their family. Girmitiyas has spread Hinduism and have created a little India every where they have been. If today the Hindu culture, Indian festivities, Ceremonies, Temples, Reeti and Riwaz are still alive, in those countries it is only due to those Grimitiyas.
