Dear Editor,
I am currently preparing a paper on “Combating decay during Indian indentured servitude in nineteenth century Caribbean” to be presented at the South Asian annual conference at the University of Wisconsin, Madison, later this month to coincide with the theme of the conference: DECAY.
Then I saw a remarkable piece in Guyana Times “Slain Martyrs of 1872 Devonshire Castle Uprising remembered September 29.” This is a rarity and the organisers must be commended for bringing this historical event into the present.
Guyana Times must be thanked for publishing it. What a win-win situation.
I attended conferences where some presenters presented on this uprising but I have not seen coverage on it locally, at least from the community itself. I also understand that so much was said but only so much can be covered by GT.
In this regard, I have one question. I see that the martyrs’ names appeared to be all males. Were Indian women involved in this uprising? Were Indian women involved in leadership roles during this uprising? I am curious since the roles of Indian women during indenture have been marginalised.
It is about time we bring them out from the margins and place them into the mainstream. It is also about time that our national history, our national events like this one be localised across the country.
Lomarsh Roopnarine
