During last weekend’s visit to Nelson Island, Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar SC announced that the Government is moving toward renaming the historic island which was the landing site for thousands of Indian indentured labourers.
Senior Lecturer in the Department of History at the University of the West Indies, Dr. Jerome Teelucksingh, is strongly supporting the Government’s decision to rename Nelson Island, noting that the current name reflects only British colonial control and fails to represent the island’s diverse history.
Speaking with TTT News on Wednesday, Dr. Teelucksingh reminded that the island’s story goes far beyond indentureship.
“Nelson Island cannot simply be restricted to indentureship or Indians, Indo-Trinidadians, because it was inhabited, it was used for hundreds of years by the First Peoples, the indigenous tribes. And then not just Indians, but after indentureship, World War I, World War II, it had Jews from Germany there. It had Tubal Uriah Butler there, so it’s connected to labour history.”
Dr. Teelucksingh noted that the current name does not reflect the island’s history.
“That Nelson Island gives the impression that it was just the British who had this island and just the British people controlled or inhabited the island. So Nelson has to go. That name has to go, certainly.”
Dr. Teelucksingh also commended the Prime Minister for allowing the public to be a part of the renaming process, saying that it reflects democracy.
“The Prime Minister had the power, the legitimate power, to simply say, ‘I’m going to change the island’s name. I’m going to give this island a new name. I’m going to do it through Parliament. We have the majority. I’m going to pass legislation.’ But instead, she allowed the public to give their opinion. I think she’s going to create a committee, she’s going to have a website. So this is good, and this is what countries need to do. We need to have a referendum. We need to find out what the public would like it to be, if they want it changed, that sort of thing.”
He also called on young people to get involved in the process.
“I know the older folks, the older adults, people 40 years and above, might take it upon themselves to put forward names and take an interest, right? Letters to the editor, calling in the radio stations. But I would really like to see people 25 years and under take that interest in the younger generation because I don’t want to know that the younger generation looks down on us and says, ‘Why did you choose that name?'”
Prime Minister Persad-Bissessar made the announcement during a visit to the island with India’s External Affairs Minister Dr. S. Jaishankar, saying the process will involve a public consultation overseen by the Office of the Prime Minister and the National Trust.