Slavery and Indentured Labour: Crime against humanity

“Sell me to this man; he needs a master” — Diogenes of Sinope

By Dr Shravan Nosib

At some point during mankind’s evolutionary journey toward becoming apex predators, it acquired that ruthless streak of hunting its own kind, the only species to do so. Such predatory behaviour preyed upon differences in colour, culture, power and economics, the latter being the overwhelming driving force for this barbaric and murderous exploitation.

Slavery appears to have been a widespread practice throughout history, as evidenced by accounts in Biblical literature; Greeks, Romans, Spanish, Dutch and Portuguese resorted to slaves to build and consolidate their empires at the height of their domination. However, the rapid expansion of the American, British and French empires soon seized the lion’s share of this lucrative trade as their military power and political influence paved the way for a malignant exploitation of natural resources around the world, masked as development and civilization of the colonies.

Africa, the cradle of humanity and birthplace of Mama Lucy whose genes all of us carry in our mitochondrial DNA, became the nexus of the slave trade during that dark period in human history and it is estimated that at least 10-15 million African slaves were traded globally to satisfy the greed of the colonisers. Slaves were forced into bondage by their owners, leaving them at their mercy for life. They could find no freedom except in death.

The first slaves in Mauritius were brought by the Dutch East India Company in 1638 to toil the land for agriculture and the wealthy French, fleeing the revolution and the guillotine back home, quickly took over and till 1810, they had imported about 100,000 slaves from Madagascar, Mozambique and other slave-trading African and Asian countries. The southwest Indian Ocean emerged as a regional epicenter for this booming trade, with Captain Dorval gaining notoriety as the most powerful slave trader in the area. In his deposition, he provides a graphic account of how slaves were held captive aboard the ships that transported them to Mauritius.

Enchained at the neck, wrist and ankle and to the group, their descent into Hell was matched by their appalling conditions on the agricultural farms. They were systematically and often brutally deculturized as they were forbidden to speak their indigenous languages and practise their spirituality. This vile modus operandi, under Royal decree, has been the most cruel and efficient weapon in the hands of colonizers all over the world. Torture, maiming, whipping, branding, sexual violence, and decapitation were commonplace.

Slave Revolts

The human spirit, however, can only take so much, and slave revolts were not an uncommon occurrence. Their status as slaves was revoked to maroon, which meant that they had no owner/master. Death on capture was inevitable as the historically documented 11 cases of Peter of Bali, Louis of Bengal, and Jan of Goa who were torn to pieces at the wheels of farming equipment. Jack of Madagascar, Ventura of Mozambique, and Abbas of Penang were hanged. The rest of the group were whipped, branded, and chained to endure their life sentences. Countless others suffered similarly. The instruments of torture were beyond imagination. Read More… Become a Subscriber

Mauritius Times ePaper Friday 1 November 2024