The Kolkata Memorial was inaugurated on this day in Kidderpore as a tribute to Indian indentured labourers who left the country for several British colonies from 1834 to 1920. Calcutta port was a major departure point for the labourers.
The unveiling had been attended by hundreds of people of Indian origin from countries that were the destination of the labourers, such as Trinidad, Suriname, Guadeloupe, Fiji and Mauritius.
After the abolition of slavery by the British government in 1833, free men and women did not want to work for the low wages in sugar farms in British colonies in the West Indies.
Indentured labour was introduced at this point. It was a system of bonded labour, in which able-bodied young people were recruited to work in sugar, cotton and tea plantations and railway projects in British colonies.
From 1834 to 1920, Britain reportedly transported about 2 million Indian indentured workers to 19 of its colonies.
The labourers were mostly recruited from Bihar and the United Provinces of British India, the latter largely corresponding to Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand of today.
The memorial, located alongside the river Hooghly, had been inaugurated by then Union minister for overseas Indian affairs Vayalar Ravi. West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee, Guyana’s then high commissioner to India and a former vice-president of Mauritius attended the event.