A Peer-Reviewed International Journal of
Humanities & Social Science
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264 (Online) 2321=
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pact Factor: 6.=
28 =
(=
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ndex Copernicus
International)
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Volume=
-IV,
Issue-III, January
2016, Page No.
29-36
P=
=
u=
blished by Dept.
of Bengali, Karimganj College, Karimganj,
Assam, India<=
span
lang=3DEN-IN style=3D'font-family:"Cambria","serif";mso-fareast-font-family=
:"Times New Roman";
mso-bidi-font-family:Cambria;mso-bidi-language:BN-BD'>
=
Website: http://www.thecho.in<=
span
lang=3DEN-IN style=3D'font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif=
";
mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-fare=
ast;
mso-bidi-language:BN-BD'>
Recruitment of Tea Labour into
Assam and Evil day of Women Labourer
Reeta
Asst. Professor, Dept. of History, <=
span
class=3DSpellE>Narangi Anchalik Mahavidyalaya, Guwahati, India
Abstract
The
contractors or the arkatis did the recruitments=
of
labours in initial years of tea plantation in Assam. At the time there was =
no
restriction upon the contractors. Therefore the arkati=
s,
who were ex-convicts, burglars, thieves, dacoits etc.
adopted typical methods of recruitment. The notorious =
Arkatis
treated women recruit like animals and forcefully slept with them and this
brought shame and disrespect into the lives of these unfortunate young
girls. The journey to the garden w=
as
also not easy. The labours were treated like animals and they to go through
various Depots to reach their final destination. These people had no idea a=
s to
what garden they will go to. The story behind the cheap women labour to Ass=
am
and their fearful misfortunes can fill any human heart with pity. Most importantly, the misfortune of the
labourers has been highlighted here.
Key Words: Women labourer, =
Depot
marriage, Arkatis, Assam, Tea plantation,
Brahmaputra.
Introduction
Recruitment
of Tea Garden Women Labourer into Assam: The works of the tea garde=
ns
continues for the entire year. There are different types of works for men,
women as well as children. Those works are possible only when the tea labou=
rers
(known derogatively as ‘coolies’) stay in the gardens itself with their
families. Plucking of tea leaves is a major and a completely specialised jo=
b in
the tea production process and is done by the female work. Besides, the women labourers are involv=
ed in
plucking of leaves, dried the leaves, and chopped and stored them into gard=
ens
for packaging and men dose the planting of tea sapling, pruning, digging and
cleaning forests for new garden. ‘Some time the fixed work is also shared by
women workers’. Likewise, some time, due to the lack of women labourers,
preparing tea as well as plucking leaves had to be done by the male laboure=
rs. ‘Employment
of women in plantations historically was sought by the planters in order to
contain the male labour force and to ensure a steady reproduction of cheap
labour as recruitment costs were expensive’.
In Assam, sufficient labourers were =
not
available and especially after the revolt of 1857, the worker had to be
imported to Assam from outside because of the increase in the number of tea
gardens in Assam. Therefore, the tea planters started importing large numbe=
rs
of labourers from outside the state and in this way from the year 1859; the=
era
of importing labourers from different states of India to Assam began. It is
notable that in those places where the labourers were imported, were ‘pover=
ty
–stricken and famine affected areas’ etc. Such labourers were easily availa=
ble
in large numbers and could be hired in minimum wages. There were two import=
ant
system of recruitment of labour in the tea plantation of Assam viz. Contrac=
tor
System and Sardari System. The first suc=
cesses
were close to the Western labour of Assam at Rongpur,
where 400 labourers were recruited and then marched the 160 miles to Guwaha=
ti.
In the beginning the labourers were mostly from Chutan=
agpur,
Ghajipur and Banaras. Labourers were also brought from Santhal Paragana, Bengal,=
Bihar,
Orissa, ‘Ranchi, Palamau, =
Singbhum,
Hazaribagh and Manbhum
districts of eastern India, and districts of Orissa, United Provinces and
Central Provinces’.
The contractors or the arkatis
did the recruitments of labours in initial years. At the time there was no
restriction upon the contractors. Therefore the ark=
atis,
who were ex-convicts, burglars, thieves, dacoits etc.
adopted typical methods of recruitment. These included loans advanced to the
potential victims, tempting young men with liquor, kidnapping of young girls
and women and marrying them of in the depots marriage ’and ‘were notorious badmash’. <=
span
class=3DGramE>Those arkatis
were ‘mostly Calcutta based, Hindu and Muslim Indians, as well as a few
Britons’.
The
harsh story behind women tea labour campaign: The story behind the cheap =
labour
to Assam and their fearful misfortunes can fill any human heart with pity.<=
span
style=3D'mso-spacerun:yes'> Most importantly, the misfortune of the
labourers has been highlighted here. Some contractors were appointed by the=
tea
companies for bringing labourers. These contractors used to visit the villa=
ges
and towns of different states and mingled with the poor natives. These peop=
le
passed their days with utter difficulty because of their poverty. They had =
no
land of their own for cultivation or ‘failure of crop’. Many landless people
were suffering bitterly under the oppression of the landlords or Zamindars and no kind of labour being obtainable. Tak=
ing
the advantage of this situation, the contractors tried to persuade the meag=
re
to come to the tea gardens of Assam by giving those hopes of a better life =
and
monetary benefits.
The system of collecting labours and=
the
hidden inexpressible reasons behind it is brought into light in Central
Recruiting Agency Committee Report. Most importantly, the unpardonable, inh=
uman
and offensive crimes of the contractors or Arkatis
are vividly portrayed – these Arkatis lacked
humanity. They didn’t stop only by making the lives of the women of the pov=
erty
stricken families problematic; they even shamelessly with ignoble intentions
tried to trick the young girls of the helpless families and wanted them in
their own. To a large extent, they were successful in fulfilling their sinf=
ul
desires with these helpless young girls. The notorious Arkatis
treated them like animals and forcefully slept with them and this brought s=
hame
and disrespect into the lives of these unfortunate young girls. At last the=
se
young girls were sent to the city’s brothel and were pushed into the busine=
ss
of prostitution in order to increase their number. Again sometimes the Arkatis used to make the unfortunate young girls help=
less
and used to send them to the gardens to rot and die.
Depot
Sadi or Marriage: In the Chapter III of Act V=
I of
1901, subjected provision for the registration of single women (Section 34(=
3)
and (4), to the high fees charged for recruiters, licenses, to the rigidly =
of
the enquiries made as to a recruiters character before he is licensed, and =
to
the three days’ detention required by section 44 before an emigrant is put
under contract. With regard to the registration of women, there are doubtle=
ss
cases where registration has to be refused because the evidence required by
Section 34 cannot be produced, although there is no valid objection to the
registration of the woman. If a single woman presented herself for recruitm=
ent
at a coolie depot, the immediate suspicion was that she was either running =
from
her husband or parents of ill-treatment or had been booted out. As a result
married women were not allowed to volunteers unless their husband also did =
so,
nor could unmarried women without parental consent. To deceive the law the
contractors forcefully hired many young women and made them register the ma=
le
in the Depots as their husbands against their own will. These kinds of forced marriages were te=
rmed
as “Depot Sadi” or “Depot Marriage”. These men =
and
women were totally unknown to each other. Their religion, habits, language,
custom and culture etc. were also probably different. The married women who
were tricked and brought for transport were also forced to marry the young =
men
of the Depots. In some cases, if a single woman refused for Depot sadi and ‘whom the registering officer refused=
to
register in a notified district are sent to a free depot to be sent off to
Assam’.
In 1882-83 the Deputy Magistrate and
in-charge of emigration of Manbhum had received=
58
applications in complaining of the elopements of wives, brothers and sister=
s;
and out of which only three cases of applicants succeeded in tracing out the
lost women while fifty five cases were unsuccessful. Some of the cases of happened during th=
e time
of recruitment of women labourers are – (i)
A young women, living near Lohardugga,
suddenly disappeared; her husband suspected that she intended eloping to As=
sam,
so he went to Ranchi, 46 miles off, with
funds for several days search. No trace could be found to the girl in
any of the Ranchi depots but he got clue that a girl answering to her
description had been registered and forwarded to Assam under another name –
(ii)‘ In the 8th Nov. 1881, Ejudula married in =
the R.
C. Chapel of Burudi, Dobo<=
/span>,
a ryot of Sarwada, =
and
followed her husband to Sarwada, Karam
Sing a pagan boy of the same village, enticed the married women to the fore=
st;
and suspecting some mischief, the husband complained to Deosai,
the village Munda, who promised to make trial a=
nd to
punish Karam Singh, if found guilty. The young =
Pagan
was afraid (or intentionally?), they were enlisted by Anthony Sirder of Sukni, left the=
same
day for Ranchi, where they declared themselves husband and wife. Dobo Ambrose, the true husband went to days later to =
Ranchi
to claim her but it was already too late, they had been sent off already to
Assam. This happened in May 1882’. (iii)In
another case, a woman left her home and was supposed to have cookie depot. =
Her
husband Sulema of Hesahatu=
e,
came to Ranchi, but found that she had been already sent off. Similarly, (iv) Sufia, wife of a man of Bari, went on a visit to her
father’s village; from thence she went away secretly with a Sardar.
The father at once followed her, and overlooked her on the road to Ranchi; =
she
refused to return with him. Her husband was not informed till afterwards. (=
v) Salmi, wife of Anandmasdi=
of Deogain, was staying in the same village as the above=
and
went off with her. She also got off to Assam’. ‘Men, women and children were
enticed, even kidnapped, and traded like cattle, absconders were hunted down
like runaway slaves’. It appears from the Assam
Labour Enquiry Report, 1906
regarding the labour recruiting method that the ‘Arkat=
tis’
as the professional recruiters were regarded by the people as ‘ the scum
“The contractor employs a number of unlicensed recruiters
(and usually also an even larger number of unlicensed men) who go round the
villages and endeavour to get people to consent to emigrate. As soon as a
recruiter has induced a coolie to emigrate, the intending emigrant is taken=
to
a registering officer, who, after questioning him to ascertain whether he is
willing to go and understands what he is doing, registers his name. He is t=
hen
taken to the contractor's depot where he must remain at least three days be=
fore
he can be placed under contract. This period was prescribed to allow the
emigrant "to see his friends and to have a chance of changing his mind=
...”
But actual facts were completely
conflicting. Some people did come believing that they would get a better li=
fe
but in this way the contractors failed to convince most of the people. The contractors then started visiting t=
he
weekly markets and tried to persuade the poor people by distributing clothe=
s,
sweets and alcohol among them and showing them dream of a golden future in =
the
tea gardens. In this way, by showing them greed, the contractors used to
persuade these obstinate people and took them to the Central Labour Depot a=
nd
made them register their name. Later when it became impossible to persuade =
the
people in this manner, the contractors used their strength to bring them to=
the
Depots by indulging in fight and even by giving them death threats.
If the Labour once entered the Depot=
s,
they were never again freed. Strict security was maintained in the Depots.
After sending three days in the depot, if the contractor succeeded in getti=
ng a
good price for him, the labour (‘coolie’ called by Bri=
tishers)
was taken before the Government officer to execute a contract and was then =
tent
to Assam. These labourer men and women were then all together loaded in the
ships like animals and were imported to Assam. These people had no idea ‘as=
to
what garden they will go to, and it was very seldom that they obtain any pa=
rt
of the large price paid for them; usually the contractor and his recruiters
take it all and, as the profits of the business are large, there was great
temptation to unscrupulous persons not to be too particular how they get ho=
ld
of coolies. A coolie is worth from Rs. 80 to Rs. 150 in hard cash and the
recruiter was there to make money, honestly if he can, no doubt, but anyhow=
to
make it’. Hence, these people were=
sold
as animals and coerced and inadequately rewarded as slave labour.
=
Conveying
of Tea Labourer into Assam: The journey to the garden was also not easy. The labours w=
ere
treated like animals and they to go through various Depots to reach their f=
inal
destination. It took nearly four and half months to reach from Calcutta to =
Sadiya=
While hiring labours, they empha=
sised
on hiring the whole family. In this way, more labourers would be born in =
the
future and the labours would also not long to back to their country. Generally, they brought with them few i=
tems,
a blanket, a lotah (brass pot), a hubble-bubble=
, and
a small parcel done up in a handkerchief, containing lime and betel-nut and
very rarely a comb. “The mode of conveying coolies up country is by steamer=
. A
party of two or three hundred will, at certain intervals, leave Calcutta,
despatched by the Government contractor to their various destinations. Arra=
ngements
were made always fitted up for carrying at least two hundred in every vesse=
l. ‘The
after part of the upper deck is reserved for their space and here they are
huddle together in a shameful fashion when there happens, as is of too freq=
uent
occurrence, to be an excessive number on board’.
In Assam, the tea labourers were bro=
ught
to the tea gardens situated in the Brahmaputra valley through the river
Brahmaputra and to the garden situated in the Barak valley through the river
Barak. After imparting, the labourers were at first presented at the Depots
situated at the different places and later they were transported to the
gardens. These Depots were called “labourer Import Depot’’. These depots we=
re
meant for loading and unloading passengers from ships and boats. Depots wer=
e of
three types and each had different functions, they were given different nam=
es.
The three types of Depots are – Debarken Depots,
Landing Depots and Checking Depots-
1.&n=
bsp;
Debarken Depots – In t=
hese
Depots there were provisions for keeping the imported bonded labours. In Assam, name of the Debarken
Depots in the Brahmaputra valley were situated in Tezp=
ur,
Silghat, Margherita=
, Kakilamukh, Disangmukh an=
d Dibrugarh. The labours collected for the Barak valley=
were
assembled in Goalando. They were then transport=
ed
through the river Barak by ships and boats to various gardens of the
valley. The D=
ebarken
Depots of Barak valley are situated in Silchar, Katigora, Syilhet, Phesuganj, Maulabi Bazar, Hariganj a=
nd
Karimganj.
2.
Landing
Depots- The labours were landed in these Depots but there were no provisions
for their residing in
these Depots. Landing Depots were situated in Biswanat=
h
Ghat, Bihalimukh, <=
span
class=3DSpellE>Dhanshreemukh, Kamalabari=
and Dikhowmukh. In Barak valley Landing Depots was only i=
n Rangamati.
3.&n=
bsp;
Checking
Depots- In these Depots, the Government incharges
used to examine the labours’ medical and contract related papers. In Barak
valley, the Checking Depot was situated in only Karimganj.
There were no proper provisions for =
fooding and lodging.
There were also no special and separate provisions for the women
labourers and ‘no human consideration was there even with regard the privac=
y of
women’,
“The family of three or four will take up t=
heir
quarters by laying the blankets, stretched out one over the other — a prote=
st
against trespassers. Each family, or party, then occupies a space of about =
five
feet square. On this location they will squat about until it is time to ret=
ire
for the night ; then the blankets are distributed, and five minutes after t=
his
ceremony it would puzzle a person to be able to recognise that bundle as a =
man
or a woman, or the smaller balls of blanket as children. There they lie hud=
dled
up close to one another, though the night be ever so hot, extending all the=
way
down each side of the deck and two rows up the centre, allowing barely
sufficient room for a passerby to avoid treadin=
g on
some part of them. As the labours had to come in such unhygienic environmen=
t,
they were infected with cholera and many labours began to rot and die in the
middle of the river journey itself. During the daytime they chat together in
groups, play a game of chance, smoke, or more often sit stolidly, doing
nothing, but when the vessel stops=
, a
few are given leave to go ashore to cook their food. A large pot boils all the rice at once,=
in
order to save many fires being lighted at different points and their attend=
ant
risk to the vessel”.
It was in 1841 that the Assam Company
brought the first batch of labour from Chotnagpur area
but all the members died en-route. Again, from 15th December 1859 to Novemb=
er
1861, the Assam Company brought 2,272 labours were hired and 250 among them
died on the way itself. The dead bodies were thrown into the water in front=
of
everyone. Among the remained labours of 2,=
569
recruits sent down the Brahmaputra in two batches, as many as 135 died or g=
ot
drowned and the rest 103 ran away.=
Of
84,915 recruits for Assam between 1 May 1863 and 1 May 1866, 30,000 died by=
30
June 1866. This High mortality did cost the planters and to cheque this labour mortality dur=
ing
the transportation period Governme=
nt Act
was passed ‘the coolie conveying must completed to their destination’ under=
the
charge of a doctor, whose duty it is to accompany them throughout the whole=
of
their journey until the last man is landed’. The labour Commission of 1862
noted that ‘all parties considered their duties and responsibility discharg=
ed
when the living are landed, and the cost of the =
death
adjusted’.
Findings:
1.
Women
are more easily cheated than men, and are more readily caught by the wiles =
of
the arkatis.
2.
Labour
is recruited mostly on a family basis but proportion of women to men amongst
recruited by free contractors was very high.
3.
Women
recruitment was preferred by the planters because women workers are paid “<=
span
class=3DSpellE>chukri hazira” (girl wage=
s) which
are less than the men; for example, the monthly rate of Rs. 5 per men and 4=
per
women and this ratio was almost same in every garden in Assam though it
considered that women labourers are better at plucking, pruning, Khulni (cutting dead wood), Thal=
li
(weeding), etc.
4.
From
1863 to 1901 a series of enactment were passed, of protecting the labourers
against fraudulent recruitment, providing for them a proper and sanitary sy=
stem
of transport, and securing their good treatment and adequate remuneration
during the term of their labour contracts but usefulness of the provision of
the law had been largely neutralized by the fact that in Bengal there was o=
nly
one Superintendent of Emigration for the province outside the Chotanagpur and Santhal <=
span
class=3DSpellE>Paraganas. S=
o, in
practical the recruitment system of tea labourers to Assam was far different
from those acts and laws.
5.
The
abuses and inhuman behaviour perpetrated on the recruited labour by arkatis is still fresh in the memories of tea =
garden
communities which is reflected through folk song=
and
folk lore.
6.
Under
the Amendment Act of 1870, the Sardari system of
recruitment was recognised, though not allowed to replace forthwith the
Conclusion: While coming =
to the
gardens, the women labours had to bear the push and pull days after days
throughout the journey amongst the male labours. In this way by entering As=
sam,
they got a new life of slavery, losing their independence the hands of the
garden owners. ‘On arrival, they were placed in charge of a garden Manager =
who
was totally ignorant of their nature, languages, customs and usages Along w=
ith
the male labours also had to work from the early morning. But still the wom=
en
were paid lesser wages than the men. Moreover the Sahe=
bs
of the gardens also enjoyed sexual pleasure by bringing the wives and daugh=
ter
of the garden labourers whenever they desired. And if the parents or the
fathers of the girls objected them they had to face severe punishments. The Chief Commissioner of Assam, Sir
These shocking incidents seem to be
unrealistic in the present time but it is absolute truth. Moreover, even af=
ter
doing such inhuman acts and violating rules, they were easily spared. They =
were
even punished for their offensive deeds. The garden owners used to protect =
them
their own personal benefits. Though, various laws were made in order to des=
troy
the miseries involved in labours collection, the contractors continued to h=
ire
labours illegally against the laws. ‘Living far away from their homes and
hearths and contact-bound, theses labourers were undoubtedly the most easily
exploitable and exploited section of the people’ Mr. Edgar (a Bengal Civil
Service Inspector) dwells on the ill-treatment of labourers and the insuffi=
ciency
of food. He cannot understand that it is a most runner’s policy for a plant=
er
to ill-treat his men, on whom his very bread and butter depend”.
The
report of Nabin Chandra Ba=
rdaloi
also mentions about the women tea labourers as– The manager were allowed to
treat the women labourers with disrespect, even they could keep hundreds of
labour’s daughters as their wives. Therefore the women labourers, who were
brought to the gardens with golden dreams from different parts of the count=
ry,
never got any special treatment for being a woman from the beginning of the
journey till the end.
<=
/span> =
Bibliography:
1.&n=
bsp;
Anthrobus, H A, (1957), A History of the
Assam Company (1830-1953) Edinburgh, p-348 .
2.&n=
bsp;
Assam
Labour Enquiry Report, 1906, p-23.
3.&n=
bsp;
Barkerr, George M. (1=
884), A
TEA PLANTER'S IN ASSAM, Calcutta,<=
span
style=3D'mso-spacerun:yes'> p- 174
4.&n=
bsp;
Barpujari, H. K. (1993)=
, The Comprehensive History of Assam, Vol. V, P.B. of p-=
49.
5.&n=
bsp;
Behal, Rana,
Coolies, Recruiters and Planters: Migration of Indian Labour to the Southea=
st
Asian and Assam Plantations during Colonial Rule.
http://crossroads-asia.de/fileadmin/user_upload/publications/Xroads_WP09_Be=
hal.pdf
6.&n=
bsp;
Biswas, Girban,
Facts behind tea labour immigration in Cachar (=
1863),
in Journal North East India History Association, XVI Session, 1995, p-202.<=
span
style=3D'mso-tab-count:1'>
7.&n=
bsp;
Choudhury, S.N. Human R=
ights
and poverty in India ‘ . Theoretical Issues and
Empirical evidences, Vol. IV p-79
8.&n=
bsp;
Elizabeth,
Kaniampady FMA, (2003), Status of Women Working=
in
the Tea Plantations, New Delhi, p- 30.
10.&=
nbsp; Gait, Sir Edwa=
rd
(1994), A History of Assam, Calcutta, p-341.
11.&=
nbsp; Graffiths, John, TEA, T=
he drink
that Changed the World, (2007), Great Britain, p-156
12.&=
nbsp; Graffiths, John, TEA, T=
he drink
that Changed the World, (2007), Great Britain, p-156-166.
13.&=
nbsp; Grunning, J.F, Recruit=
ment of
Labour for Tea Garden in Assam,
https://archive.org/stream/recruitmentoflab00grunrich#page/n3/mode/2up
14.&=
nbsp; Guha, A. (1988)
15.&=
nbsp; http://shodhga=
nga.inflibnet.ac.in/bitstream/10603/23604/6/06_chapter%202.pdf,p-34-38.
16.&=
nbsp; Jha, J.C.(1996) A=
spect of
Indenture Inland Emigration to North – East India 1959-1918, New Delhi, p- 21
17.&=
nbsp; L.S.S.S.O'
18.&=
nbsp; Letter from J F
Hewitt, Esq. Commissioner of the C=
hotanagpur Division, to=
the
Under Secretary to the Government =
of
Bengal, General Deptt. (Emigration), No. 216J, =
dtd. Chotanagpur, the 11t=
h June
18833, p.16-19
19.&=
nbsp; Moxham, Roy, (2003),=
A brief
History of Tea, the extra ordinary=
story
of the World favourite Drink,
20.&=
nbsp; Punekar, S.D. & <=
span
class=3DSpellE>Varickayil, R. (1989),
Labour Movement in India; 1850-1890, Mines and Plantation, Popular <=
span
class=3DSpellE>Prakashan Bombay, p- 163-66
21.&=
nbsp; Rasaily, Rinju,
WOMEN’S LABOUR IN THE TEA SECTOR: CHANGING TRAJECTORIES AND EMERGING CHALLE=
NGES
http://cds.edu/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/NRPPD31.pdf p-9
22.&=
nbsp; Sing, N., Narian, Kr. =
Amarendra, Kumar, <=
/span>Purnendu (20=
06),
Socio –Economic and political problem of tea Garden workers: A study of Ass=
am,
Delhi, p-41-50
23.&=
nbsp; Sing, S..N. S..N., Narian,
Kr. Amarendra, Kumar, Purnendu
(2006), Socio –Economic and political problem of tea Garden workers: A stud=
y of
Assam, Delhi.
<= o:p>
Reeta Dutta <=
span
class=3DSpellE>Hazorika