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Indian Arrival Day commemorative magazine 2004 -  Theme: The massacre of Indians in the 1884 Hosay

29 May 2004, Trinidad and Tobago, Caribbean

The Indo-Caribbean Cultural Council (ICC) wishes to announce the publication of its latest magazine commemorating Indian Heritage Month (May 2004) in Trinidad and Tobago (Caribbean). The theme of this magazine which marks the arrival of East Indians from India to Trinidad during indentureship (1845-1917) is the massacre of Indians in the 1884 Hosay

On May 30th 1845, the Fatel Rozak docked in the Port of Spain harbour in Trinidad and Tobago with 225 adult passengers onboard. The passengers were immigrants from India who had come to the then-British colony to work in the sugarcane plantations after the abolition of African slavery. In many ways, they brought India to the Caribbean. They continued with their traditions of Hinduism and Islam, and eventually transformed Trinidad into a colourful cosmopolitan society. Descendants of these Indian immigrants, who now comprise about half of the multi-ethnic society of the island (1.3 million), commemorate the arrival of their ancestors to these shores annually.

On October 30, 1884, 22 Indians were killed and over 100 were injured in a hail of police bullets fired at a Hosay procession in San Fernando, Trinidad. The nation was stunned in disbelief. This tragedy is is described by historian Dr. Kelvin Singh as the bloodiest event of British rule in colonial Trinidad. In the wake of industrial strikes in Trinidad in the 1880s, the colonial authorities had set about to prevent the continuance of Hosay/Muharram as a grand, island-wide multi-racial procession led by Indians. The latest petition restricting the staging of Hosay was met with dismay and indignation. Armed with courage and determination, indentured Indian celebrants ignored the ban and took to the streets in their annual religious procession. Their resistance was met with batons and bullets from British soldiers and marines.

 

TABLE OF CONTENTS

The 1884 massacre of Indians
[Editorial]

Greetings from the Prime Minister
By the Honourable Patrick Manning

Greetings from the Minister of Community Development, Culture and Gender Affairs
By the Honourable Joan Yuille-Williams

Greetings from his The High Commissioner of India
By Excellency Virendra Gupta

The Hosay massacre – commemorating Indian martyrdom
By Dr. Kumar Mahabir

Testimonies from court records of the 1884 Hosay massacre
[Colonial court transcripts]

The Hosay massacre in Trinidad in 1884
By Dr. Neil A. Sookdeo

Protesting Indentured Indian women
By Moses Seenarine

Simboonath Capildeo
[New book release]

Indians in football
By Satnarayan Jaggernauth H.B.M

Discover your Indian roots
By Satish Rai

I dream’t of Caroni [poem]
By Khem Harrinarine

Bombay goes to Broadway
Associated Press Release

The Islamic realities of the Muharram Massacre of 1884
By Daurius Figueira

The clash of cultures in Trinidad
By Parsuram Maharaj

Make May Indian History Month
By Ravi ji

MAI [poem]
By Jacqulin Suepaul

The first potter of Chase Village
By Dr. Harold Harrinarine

The need for a Jahaji Massacre memorial
By Devant Maharaj

Mere Desh in Trinidad
[Festival announcement]

Hindi words in Trini English
By John Mendes

A new way of looking at Caribbean history
By Dr. Baytoram Ramharack

Lowkee/Bottle Gourd Talkari
[recipe]

Info Tool – All-In-One Business Reference [New book release]
By Vijay Luthra

Labour disturbances during Indentureship in Guyana
By Dr. Basdeo Mangru

Strikes and protest action by indentured labourers
By Dr. Ron Ramdin

Ancient Indian Ayurvedic Medicine Protected
[Brief news item]

Indians take over Queens
[Brief news item]

The persistence of Indian culture in Trinidad
By Dr. Gita Bajpai

The Indian family in transition
By Dr. Simboonath Singh

Being Indian in the Caribbean
By Ryhaan Shah

From Caste to Class [book review]
By Rosabelle Seesaran

Naipaul and Bissoondath reflect on Indentureship
By Dr. John Persaud Rampaul

The Panchayat [village court] system in Trinidad
By Dr. Harry Ramnath

Colonial newspaper articles on the 1884 Hosay massacre
[Newspaper items]

Anthropologists find ancient habitation in India
[Brief news item]

Britons getting a curried cheddar
[Brief news item]

The need for scholarly discussion
By Rajiv Malhotra

Spicing-up the English Language
By Vijay Dutt

The medicinal uses of chalta/elephant apple
By Dr. Kumar Mahabir

Heart to heart [short story]
By Kamla Williams


May-June 2004.
11 x 8 ½ inches. Glossy pages and cover.
ISSN 1683-4143
76 pages with advertisements and articles.
Available through mail service ONLY.
TT$20 (includes handling and local postage),
US$10 (includes handling and foreign postage).

Make check or money order payable to Indo-Caribbean Cultural Council.

Postal address:
Indo-Caribbean Cultural Council (ICC)
Swami Avenue, Don Miguel Road
San Juan, Trinidad and Tobago
West Indies

Tel: (868) 674-6008. Tel/fax: (868) 675-7707

E-mail: mahab@tstt.net.tt 

Of related interest is the website on books on (East) Indians in the Caribbean: http://www.geocities.com/chakrapub/index.html