Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar reflected on her family’s journey as Trinidad and Tobago marked 181 years since the arrival of the first East Indian indentured immigrants.
To commemorate Indian Arrival Day, the Prime Minister hosted celebrations at the Heritage Ground in Clarke Road, Penal.
Celebrating one hundred and eighty-one years of Indian Arrival Day on Saturday, Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar honoured the sacrifices and resilience of East Indian indentured immigrants as she reflected on her own family’s journey.
“I remember my great grandmother, her name was Sumarya Seepersad, she was only 16 when she left her family in Chennai, Madras, now called Chennai, with her tiny jahaji bundle, crossed the kalapani in the early 1880s, life in colonial Trinidad was very hard.”
Despite the many challenges encountered, she says their perseverance has helped to shape this nation and its leaders.
“Could Sumarya ever have imagined that the same roads and mud tracks she once walked upon in such poverty, that the hardship she endured, that those footsteps would be retraced by her own great granddaughter, not as an outcast, but as an MP and as a Prime Minister of this very nation.”
She urged citizens to honour the stories that precede their existence as she underscored the importance of mutual respect and unity.
“For the Indians one hundred and eighty-one years ago, out of Africa, more years than that, all who came, they crossed the dark waters to land here in T&T. All of our ancestors in T&T came on different ships, today we sail together in the same beautiful, unique boat called Trinidad and Tobago.”
The competition for culinary prowess was also part of the Prime Minister’s Indian Arrival Day celebrations through a curry duck competition. Several Members of Parliament, their constituents and other government ministers put their best foot forward to impress the judges.
Member of Parliament for Mayaro Nicholas Morris boasted that his team put a twist on their offerings.
“Mayaro just didn’t enter the curry duck competition; we entered the fish, we brought roast fish because Mayaro is known for the best roast fish in the country.”
The event began with a procession from the Heritage Dam to the Heritage Ground and ended with a family day celebrating the nation’s rich heritage, culture and community.