Indian Arrival Day Greetings from Leader of the Opposition

One hundred and seventy-one years later we have become the inheritors of a nation which our forefathers helped to build and, it is our duty is to continue to do our part as preservers of what has been achieved as well as creators and guardians of the future.

In numerous ways our lives today, as people of Trinidad and Tobago, celebrate the greatness we have built on simple moral values and the generational rewards of hard and honest work. We remember and re-tell the stories of our path through history, of how people summoned the fortitude to finally accept their land of origin as that of their grandmother and to embrace their new mother country, and of how progress came not by summoning only the things that defined our ethnicity, but also the things that defined our humanity.”

We have two choices as Trinidad and Tobago: we can either just barely exist and survive as separate groups of people steeped in the things that make us different OR standing side by side together as a nation, we can create and achieve sharing our strengths, guided by the belief in one nation, one people, one destiny. Let us choose the latter.

We mark 171 years since the first East Indians arrived in Trinidad and Tobago to begin a new life and existence in a new part of the world which many of them never knew existed and in which they knew neither the language nor customs. Their journey began as an escape for some, dreams of prosperity for others and, as a result of coercion for yet others. Those who arrived toiled in the sun by day, and agonized by night as they determinedly worked with their children to make a better life. Though the emotional connection to India remained strong, Trinidad & Tobago was the new home to which our forebears pledged their hearts and passions.

One hundred and seventy-one years later we have become the inheritors of a nation which our forefathers helped to build and, our duty is to continue to do our part as preservers of what has been achieved as well as creators and guardians of the future.

AS we celebrate Indian Arrival Day, we would do well to remember that ours is a land of many people, those indigenous to our land and those who also arrived under starkly different conditions from the great civilizations of the world, Europeans, Africans, Chinese, Indians, the Middle East and elsewhere.

Though first observed by the descendants of East Indians only, the celebration of Indian Arrival Day has become one of the rich and commanding demonstrations of the unity we as a people have found in our diversity. The celebration of Indian Arrival Day offers persons of Indian origin an opportunity for reflection about the journey and the footsteps of their ancestors, but it also offers people of other origins an opportunity to reflect upon the journey and footsteps of their own ancestors. Such reflections make us better able to understand and appreciate the trials and tribulations of all our forefathers as they laboured to build the unique model nation we have become, a nation demonstrating unity in diversity.

In numerous ways our lives today, as people of Trinidad and Tobago, celebrate the greatness we have built on simple moral values and the generational rewards of hard and honest work. We remember and re-tell the stories of our path through history, of how people summoned the fortitude to finally accept their land of origin as that of their grandmother and to embrace their new mother country, and of how progress came not by summoning only the things that defined our ethnicity, but also the things that defined our humanity.

And one of the very important components of progress was the understanding that education was the best opportunity to make the future a better place. Over decades, education became one of the cornerstones upon which the unity of our people and nation is built. It is when the children attended schools, overcoming language and cultural barriers, meeting other children of different origins, that commitment to a common destiny truly emerged. Such are the things we must reflect on, because these are the things upon which our unity is built.

Our experience comes from our colourful history, and it is this that has given us the conviction to do better for the present and future. And that future will come only if we put an end to the things that divide us, and fully embrace the things that unite us. Let us therefore understand the wisdom of the experience we have all inherited and shared together. Let us understand the essence of arrival as a mission for which we share common objectives, common strengths and a common purpose.

We have two choices as Trinidad and Tobago: we can either just barely exist and survive as separate groups of people steeped in the things that make us different OR standing side by side together as a nation, we can create and achieve sharing our strengths, guided by the belief in one nation, one people, one destiny. Let us choose the latter.

On Indian Arrival Day 2016, I wish you all a very happy, peaceful and joyful Indian Arrival Day.

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