If there was one takeaway from the just concluded 14th Pravasi Bharitiya Divas (PBD January 7-9) it was India’s determination to connect with People of Indian Origin (PIO’s). They certainly pulled out all the stops at this largest even PBD held in Bangalore, its world famous IT capital. Unlike the previous PBDs, this inaugural biennial conclave was preceded by a yearlong series of focused discussions chaired by foreign Minister Sushma Swaraj and her top Ministry officials, with specially invited members of the Indian Diaspora.
Some of the recommendations from those discussions were already evident, especially an emphasis on youth – exemplified by the Youth PBD. These Diaspora youth delegates (there were nine from Guyana) were given the opportunity to interact and network with their peers – including Indian students from across India studying in Bangalore. There were, of course, exposed to the curated and living civilisational response of this southern region of India, igniting an appreciation for the tremendous diversity of India, of which they are part.
For myself, a member of the panel addressing the plenary session, “Connecting Contemporary India to the Diaspora in Girmitiya Countries: Link to the Past for a Shared Future”, the highlight was the address by the Chief Guest of PBD 2017, Antonio Costa, the Prime Minister of Portugal. During his speech, he whipped out his “People of Indian Origin (PIO) card, held it aloft and announced, “I am proud to be a Person of Indian origin (PIO) – the first to lead a European country!”
His origin was in Goa, the part of India that had been a colony of Portugal subsequent to Vasco da Gama’s historic discovery of a sea route to the East from the Atlantic to the Indian Ocean via the Cape of Good Hope of Africa. What was remarkable to me was his enthusiastic embrace of his Indian Origin, even though, in his case, Portugal had been expelled from Goa by an armed Indian invasion in 1961. Full diplomatic relations had only been resumed in 1975.
It also reinforced a point I have been making in our country: we have to re-examine the narratives we have inherited from the colonial era. Those narratives came out of different contexts and answered what may be irrelevant in the present. Costa’s act reminds us that changes since then might have made some old labels like “enemy”, and “coloniser” anachronistic in the modern era.
His declaration of being a PIO, while being a Portuguese, emphasises that accepting one’s origin in no way conflicts with one’s present nationality. As India’s PM Narendra Modi said to resounding, prolonged applause: The colour of the passports may be different; but not the ties of origin (blood). Costa also pragmatically played up his Indian origin to make a pitch for India to consider Portugal as a beachhead to interact with the rest of Europe in whatever field it chooses.
The PIOs who had emigrated from India as indentured servants between 1834 (Mauritius) and March 12, 1917, when it was brought to a halt, did so after signing a contract or “agreement” that purported to describe their conditions and terms of employment in the new lands. The word “Girmit” is a Bhojpuri corruption of the world “agreement” and was first used by Fijian Indians to describe those who had decided to remain in their new countries: Girmitiya – People of the Agreement.
This March, Girmitiyas from across the globe will be commemorating the 100th anniversary of the abolition of Indentureship and PBD 2017 provided a platform to coordinate and support activities. The Social Cohesion Minister from Mauritius, for instance, committed his country’s help with digitisation of immigrants’ records, which can all be fed into an interactive database at the newly launched Girmitiya Research Centre in New Delhi.
Going beyond the ongoing exchange of “cultural ambassadors”, India will also host events to commemorate the landmark event by highlighting the efforts of Gandhi, Gokhale and Maliviya to end indentureship. Quite significantly, in terms of their unfortunate later history, the Muslim League and Congress reunited for one last time to achieve this goal.
