‘Indentured labor just started with the abolition of slavery, that’s 150 years ago’

This year marks the 150th anniversary of the final abolition of slavery in Suriname. A historical landmark.

This year is also 150 years ago when the story of indentured labor began, the story of Hindustani migration. A story of which my great-grandparents are a part. Indentured laborers were sent from India to Suriname as replacement labor to operate the plantations: a new system of colonial exploitation. Contract workers were also brought in from Java and China.

Contract workers

Commissioned by Writers Unlimited, I put together a program around the 150th anniversary of the abolition of slavery. In parole (April 19, 2023) a week later there was an article about the Amsterdam think tank’s motion to also include the plight of contract workers in the year commemorating the abolition of slavery.

The appeal caused misunderstandings within the Afro-Surinamese community. “With all due respect,” radio producer Iwan Leeuwin said in this article, “but the contract workers were transferred to Suriname on luxury steamers.”

It reminded me of a literary godmother, the Surinamese author Bea Vianen (1935-2019). Her first novel Sarami, hello (Suriname I am) from 1969 is about a young woman from the sixties in Suriname.

His novel penalty box (1971) shows how Suriname forms a collection of “penalty pens” as a result of the divide-and-conquer policy in the colonial era, and how difficult it is to crack them. The ethnic division in Suriname is an extension and a mirror of colonialism, and each group is therefore locked in its own penal box. Vianen attributes this both to the colonizer and to the Surinamese themselves.

Vianen’s books first appeared in the 1970s and in 2021 these novels were “rediscovered” and republished. No doubt she wrote these books to make readers think. Do we want to live in these prison enclosures? Do we want to maintain it? The literary heritage, but also the mission of Bea Vianen, still seems relevant.

“No Single Boxes”

Fortunately, I also hear a completely different sound in the conversations and initiatives of today’s generation. There’s a lot going on here: descendants can be drawn both from those who had to live through the heavy consequences of colonialism and from those who contributed to it as authors.

The consequences of colonial history are not easy to catalog. The sound after Writers Unlimited was also hopeful, sharing and connecting the various stories in this story struck a chord with many.

It’s not about mixing everything up. The beginning of one (indentured servitude) began with the abolition of the other (slavery), both dating back just 150 years. How do slavery, colonialism and indentured labor affect descendants? How do the stories about it live on? What do apologies mean? These are important issues that deserve all the attention, space and recognition at this time.

Connection above distribution

Let’s put connection above distribution. We’ve had enough of people being put across from each other, in oppressive cubicles where you can barely breathe. It’s time to say goodbye to that.

Now there is room. Space for which we fought hard. Room for the recognition of all stories. Space through which more and more voices finally get a stage.

And what’s great is that we decide the size of this scene. Telling one person’s story does not mean at the expense of another. On the contrary, let’s start a new plot by meeting with the idea that stories connect us. Let us rise above ourselves and work towards a meaningful shared future. I can’t imagine a better tribute to Bea Vianen, her work, her mission, her fight against social injustice.

Shantie Singh (1982) is a writer, presenter, presenter, program maker, theater maker, women’s rights activist and ‘glow civil office’ at the municipality of Rotterdam.