In colonies such as British Guiana, which were established to produce crops and minerals for the metro pole, the arms of the state – especially the civil service – represented the acme of aspirations for the inhabitants who had been dragged from across the continents to provide their labour.
The entire system of stratification and status was based on how closely one could imitate the ruling colonials who were white and occupied jobs that automatically conferred status on its holders. The entry of the Indians after the abolition of slavery ensured that as labourers in the fields, they occupied the bottom of the social ladder.
However, as an increasing number of them entered the school system and became qualified for jobs in the state sector, including the Civil Service and the Police Force, they encountered a racial wall. Even though there might be in place what appeared to be facially neutral criteria for recruitment, the individuals manning the gate, so to speak, were imbued with the stereotypical ideas as to what jobs ought to be occupied by Indians. These were to be the “drawers of water and the haulers of wood”. Recruitment was generally through an “old boy” network that favoured the Coloured and African strata who had managed to breach the barriers earlier.
The discriminatory hiring practices became very entrenched but with the PPP government winning the 1957 and 1961 elections there were some movement towards removing these barriers. In the Police Force, for instance, the newly created Minister of Home Affairs began a process of encouraging more Indian applicants to apply and then instituted a 50/50 ratio of hiring s between the two races.
However the discriminatory practices continued as they were now structurally determined. As a condition of conferring Independence to British Guiana under the PNC-UF coalition installed in 1964, the latter had to invite a Commission of Inquiry from the International Court of Justice (ICJ) to examine the Public Sector.
The ICJ Commission and anti-Indian racial discrimination in Guyana
1. In June 1965, this Commission of Inquiry was set up to examine and report on certain aspects of public life in British Guiana. Our terms of reference were declared to be as follows:
“To examine the balance between the races in the Security Forces, the Civil Service, Government agencies or undertakings (including land settlement schemes) and other areas of Governmental responsibility; to consider whether existing procedures relating to the selection, appointment, promotion, dismissal and conditions of service of personnel are such as to encourage or lead to racial discrimination in the areas concerned; to make such recommendations as are considered necessary to correct any such procedures with a view to the elimination of imbalance based on racial discrimination having regard to the need to maintain the efficiency of the services concerned and the public interest.”
Background
The British Guiana Constitution Report of 1954 (the Robertson Report) formed a more pessimistic impression of the racial antagonisms which it saw developing between the Africans and the Indians. It reported as follows:
“Guianese of African extraction were not afraid to tell us that many Indians in British Guiana looked forward to the day when British Guiana would be a part not of the British Commonwealth but of an East Indian Empire. The result has been a tendency for racial tension to increase, and we have reluctantly reached the conclusion that the amity ‘with which’, as the Waddington Report said, ‘people of all races live, side by side in the villages’ existed more in the past; today the relationships are strained; they present an outward appearance which masks feelings of suspicion and distrust.
Unhappily, the fears expressed by observers that British Guiana was moving towards a dangerous stage of racialism and communalism have been realized by the events of recent years.
The worst outbreak of violence between the Africans and the Indians took place in 1964. Labour disputes on the sugar plantations developed into widespread racial violence. Over 130 people were killed, thousands were rendered homeless, and there were widespread bombings, arson, looting and violence of various kinds. There is at present an uneasy peace; and British troops are back in the country. The extent of the racial bitterness, and the depths of violence to which it descended, shocked and surprised many people. There have been left as an aftermath feelings of fear and distrust, particularly among the Indians, who suffered most in the disturbances of 1964.
Recently, the P.P.P. has said that the imbalance and discrimination complained of are political and not racial. This seems to be a distinction of little importance at present, since Africans almost invariably give their political allegiance to the P.N.C. and Indians to the P.P.P. While that unfortunate identity of political and racial cleavage exists, it would be of little point to seek to discover whether Indian grievances are basically racial or political in origin. It is more important to discover whether or not they encourage or lead to racial discrimination.
Recommendations
The grievances of the Indian community that we have investigated have not been those of a racial minority; they reflect the unhappy experiences of the recent past and the doubts about the future of a large and growing racial group that already constitutes 50 percent of the population and is seeking a greater participation in the public life of the country. The specific recommendations that we make in the Report are limited by our conviction that, if they are carried out, the momentum of Indian advancement in the community generally will, in the not very distant future, lead to an Indian share in all areas of governmental activity which will eliminate any reason to complain of racial imbalance against them.
Discriminatory Physical Requirements for Application
Males
Height 5′ 8″
Weight 135 lbs
Chest 34″
Age 18-25 years
Unmarried
Females
Height 5′ 4″
Age 18-30 years
Unmarried
Recommendations
(a) The height and chest measurement requirements should be reduced to a level sufficient to permit of a substantial Indian intake. These requirements should also be made sufficiently flexible to ensure that otherwise suitable applicants – especially when they are so young as to be likely to develop physically – are not rejected on this ground alone. Recommendations of this nature have been made by the Trinidad and Tobago Commission of Inquiry into the Police Force (October 1964).
(b) The requirement that recruits be unmarried should be abolished.
(c) The recruitment procedure should be rationalized and made more speedy, particularly in regard to producing examination results.
(d) The interviewing and selection of applicants for recruitment should be entrusted to selection boards which should contain Indian as well as African and other officers.
(e) Steps should be taken to ensure that all Indian recruits and members of the Police Force are able to comply with their religious dietary laws.
(f) Conditions of service should be improved so as to make both living and working conditions more attractive. More married quarters should be provided.
(g) The rates of pay should be reviewed and increased to a level sufficient to attract both Indians and other non-Africans of sufficient calibre.
We are satisfied that the adoption of these recommendations should lead to a substantial increase in the number of qualified Indian applicants for appointment to the Police Force and to a substantial decrease in the number of Indians leaving the Force. Nevertheless, we recognize that the present position, which is the result of a combination of factors, is not satisfactory and is one that calls for special treatment.
For this reason, we recommend that in each year for a period of 5 years, whenever the number of qualified applicants at Constable or Cadet Officer Levels permits, 75 percent of the applicants accepted should be Indian, and 25 percent from other races. The full effectiveness of this recommendation will depend on the full implementation of the recommendations … on an increase in the size of the Force, and on increased facilities for training, housing and equipping it. Such an increase in the size of the Force appears to us to be necessary in any event.”
These commendations were never instituted by the PNC/UF government, and as a result the same skewed ratio of only 10 percent Indian-Guyanese prevails in the Disciplined Forces. As former President Jagdeo pointed out, it appears that even a quarter century later, qualified Indian Guyanese ought not to be promoted in the Civil Service (now called “Public Service”).
