Every year, Mauritius observes a national holiday on February 1st. For, this day marks a defining moment in the collective memory of the Mauritian people's struggle for dignity and human rights. Almost two centuries ago, it was on this day in 1835 that the abominable practice of Slavery was formally abolished in the Island State, liberating a mass of humanity from the clutches of an oppressive social order.
The story of how Mauritius- once a virtually
uninhabited Island off the southeast coast of Africa, became home to
close to 1.5 million people today; professing various faiths- including
Hinduism, Christianity, Islam- and speaking different languages, including
Creole, French, English, Tamil, Urdu, Hindi and Bhojpuri and Chinese- is a
fascinating chapter in the making of the modern world. There is little doubt
that the modern identity of Mauritius as ‘a rainbow nation’ is a tribute
to the cultural confluences it inherited from its complex past.
Originally discovered by the Arabs in the 9th century; successively colonized by the different European powers from the 17th
century- the Deutch, the French and the British- in the last four
centuries; modern Mauritius is, in many ways, shaped by this Island
nation's encounter with the different phases of global capitalism and the
trajectories of the European imperial forays into Africa and Asia, including the
strategic control of the Indian Ocean region for safeguarding their vital, commercial
interests. The detachment of a part of the Mauritian territory- the Chagos Archipelago and offering the same on a virtual, perpetual lease to the United States by the last colonial power- Britain- before the granting of national independence to Mauritius in 1968, continue to remind all of us in the global South about the long shadows of imperial hubris that permanently scar the psyche of nations and peoples. (For a review of the continuing Mauritius-UK dispute over the Chagos Archipelago, click here).
Even as the colonial masters sought to
subjugate the nations they conquered through military means, they found it
politically convenient to stake the moral high ground of good governance, rule
of law and human rights in the shaping of national policies. Hence, the colonial, administrative practices in the
Indian Ocean region, including in relation to questions of slavery and ‘rule of
law’ in the conquered territories vis-a vis the subjugated peoples, can be seen
as a partial concession to the tectonic shifts in the global thinking around
questions of human dignity and basic rights. The abolition of slavery in the
British colonies and the introduction of the system of ‘contract labour’ with a
semblance of rights and privileges for the migrant working class can only be
seen against this backdrop.
With the British
colonialist rulers abolishing Slavery in Mauritius in 1835; the African slaves
(who were ill-treated during the days of slavery and now liberated from their
bondage through the new Law) mostly chose to abandon the
agricultural fields and move to small coastal villages. To protect their
commercial interests and to source cheap labour to the growing sugar cane industry, the British planters in Mauritius invented
the system of ‘Indentured Labour’ (“Coolees”/contract workers). ‘Indenture’ was simply a written contract signed by a person to work for
another person or company for a fixed tenure and sum of money. Compared to
“slave” labour, indenture was projected as “free” labour, even though the
workers were bonded by contract for five years under harsh conditions. The system
was so stalked in favour of the colonisers and the workers had to face
appalling conditions on a daily basis- recruitment, transportation, housing,
living, working, etc.- that the scholar Hugh Tinker would call it “a new system
of slavery”, in his seminal book on the subject. (A New System of Slavery,
Hugh Tinker, Oxford University Press, 1974).
As it happened, in
about 80 years from 1835, more than two million Indian labourers were
transported to different British colonies, including the Caribbean islands. Historians today
consider this episode as one of the biggest
international movement of workers in the modern times, laying also in its wake,
the foundation for the large global Indian diaspora that we see today.
While many of these workers returned to India after their contracts, a majority of
them chose to stay back by obtaining a new indenture. From slave-like working and living conditions, through their incredible
hard work and persistent efforts, the labourers became planters, taking over
the plantations and parcels of land from their erstwhile colonial masters.
Hence, the labourers who remained built up vibrant Indian communities and
sometimes even changing forever the demographies and socio-cultural and
political histories of the colonies. Consider the statistics: ‘In
Trinidad, Guyana and Suriname, Indians constitute 40%, 51% and 35%,
respectively, of the population’. Today,
nearly 65% of Mauritians are of Indian origin; giving them dominance in
national politics.
The fact that the descendants
of the indentured labourers went on to become leaders of their nations complete
the picture of an extraordinary shift in material fortunes in the odyssey of
generations of bonded labourers; calling our attention to the cycle of history
that the Qur’an constantly alludes to. Today, Mauritius is the Divinely-chosen abode of His Manifestation in our times.
Hadhrat Munir Ahmad Azim Saheb (atba), the Divinely-inspired exemplar of Islam
and renewer of all faiths, lives in the country. Come to think of it, Hadhrat Saheb (atba) himself is the descendant
of a generation of Indian immigrants in Mauritius who had seen life in all its
vagaries under very trying circumstances. The very fact that Allah (swt), in
His Infinite Wisdom, raised a Messenger in this era among this people holds its
own significance for those who reflect on the matter, Alhamdulillah.
As the Qur’an indicates through the story of the Children of Israel; when Allah (swt) decides to end a people’s servitude, He emancipates them from slavery and gives them sovereignty in the land and material fortunes. Even more importantly, Prophets and Messengers are raised among them; to complete the Divine favour and bestow dignity and eminence on an enslaved people. Like a Moses (as) in the times of a Pharaoh, a Divine Elect is raised to liberate them from the bondage of their circumstances. In his Friday Sermon of 02 February 2018 (15 Jamad’ul Awwal 1439 AH), Muhyi-ud-Din Al Khalifatullah Hadhrat Munir Ahmad Azim Saheb of Mauritius spoke succinctly on the previous generations' struggles for dignity and rights and the duty of everyone today to remember and pray for those who knew harsh times in the past and to remain grateful for the Divine favours in our times, including freedom from slavery and other degrading national and spiritual conditions.
Read the Extracts
below:
183 YEARS
SINCE THE ABOLITION OF SLAVERY
And yesterday, as you all know, was a public
holiday, marking 183 years since the abolition of slavery. Our grandparents (of
all nations) have faced countless atrocities, hardships, and great
difficulties, where their fundamental rights, their human rights, had been
trampled. It was in the 1800s that the countries of the world began one by one
to abolish slavery, but see how much Islam - the perfect religion - is great!
It is Islam first, since the 7th
century in Arabia, with the advent of the greatest prophet that the world has
ever known and shall never witness again in the future (that is, such a prophet
of his calibre), that the divine commandments came down to teach humanity how
to abolish slavery little by little. This step towards the abolition of slavery
was so enormous because at that time the slaves were treated like animals and
with the arrival of the noble prophet Hazrat Muhammad (pbuh), the slaves, who
were considered as less than nothing found their rights, their human rights,
and therefore Allah through the Quranic teaching and also through the example
of His prophet (pbuh) opened the door to the emancipation of slaves where they
had the opportunity to regain their dignity as human beings and their freedom. Alhamdulillah,
Summa Alhamdulillah.
We must thank Allah that He has brought us into
being as Muslims and with all our human rights. In truth, we are very lucky
when we think about the people of the past, and the utter destitution they
suffered when they were abducted and sold and forced to become slaves, and
where they were uprooted from their homelands and shipped to other countries to
work like animals in these countries. May Allah have mercy on all those who
have lived in these atrocious conditions, and may Allah reward them for all the
sacrifices and patience they have taken in such difficult situations. Ameen.”
Every year, Mauritius observes a national holiday on February 1st. For, this day marks a defining moment in the collective memory of the Mauritian people's struggle for dignity and human rights. Almost two centuries ago, it was on this day in 1835 that the abominable practice of Slavery was formally abolished in the Island State, liberating a mass of humanity from the clutches of an oppressive social order. 
Originally discovered by the Arabs in the 9th century; successively colonized by the different European powers from the 17th
century- the Deutch, the French and the British- in the last four
centuries; modern Mauritius is, in many ways, shaped by this Island
nation's encounter with the different phases of global capitalism and the
trajectories of the European imperial forays into Africa and Asia, including the
strategic control of the Indian Ocean region for safeguarding their vital, commercial
interests. The detachment of a part of the Mauritian territory- the Chagos Archipelago and offering the same on a virtual, perpetual lease to the United States by the last colonial power- Britain- before the granting of national independence to Mauritius in 1968, continue to remind all of us in the global South about the long shadows of imperial hubris that permanently scar the psyche of nations and peoples. (For a review of the continuing Mauritius-UK dispute over the Chagos Archipelago, click here).
