Yvonne Ba­boolal

There's an un­der­cur­rent that de­bate on is­sues like the In­di­an Di­as­po­ra should not be con­duct­ed, be­cause it is an­ti-na­tion­al, Dr Kusha Haracks­ingh says. Haracks­ingh, a pro­fes­sor, who chaired the first con­fer­ence on In­di­ans in the Caribbean in 1975, re­called, dur­ing his con­tri­bu­tion to a sem­i­nar on the In­di­an Di­as­po­ra in the Caribbean yes­ter­day: "In 1975, when we first start­ed, it was felt (in T&T) we were dis­loy­al. It was worse in Guyana."

Last speak­er at the event, Haracks­ingh said the sem­i­nar, how­ev­er, was "ar­cha­ic." "We dis­cussed the same ideas we did in 1975. There is a no­tion of nos­tal­gia that tinges our view. "But this hides the true di­men­sion of what takes place in the In­di­an com­mu­ni­ty.

"What pass­es as In­di­an her­itage in the di­as­po­ra has to be re­con­struct­ed. Ret-elling our own his­to­ry is where the ef­fort is now to be lo­cat­ed."

Haracks­ingh, who said he was the first per­son in the Caribbean to be sworn in on a book oth­er than the Bible, said the di­ver­si­ty and plu­ral­i­ty to which Caribbean In­di­ans had been ex­posed were to be cel­e­brat­ed. (YB)