The history of Muharram Processions in Trinidad
The #Muharram processions in Trinidad and Tobago was originally brought over by South Asian indentures labourers who were taken there to work on the sugar plantations during British rule. The social tensions generated in post-emancipation Trinidad when Indian immigrants were imported to prop up a floundering plantation bases society over which preside a White […]
The #Muharram processions in Trinidad and Tobago was originally brought over by South Asian indentures labourers who were taken there to work on the sugar plantations during British rule.
The social tensions generated in post-emancipation Trinidad when Indian immigrants were imported to prop up a floundering plantation bases society over which preside a White ruling class steeped in traditions of autorhoritarian control. Intense opposition to Indian immigration mounted by an articulate Black and Coloured middle class, combined with the desire of a White ruling class to maintain a coercive system of plantation labour, produced a social environment increasinly hostile to the Indians, who were culturally differentiated from the rest of the society and who were becoming refractory under their oppressive conditions of work.
In the midst of these growing tensions, the annual Muharram mourning provided emotional release for Indians. Though of Shia Muslim origins, the festival, which revolved around the symbolic tombs of the Prophet Mohammed’s slain grandsons, attracted Hindus and working class black people as well. A scintillating display of artistic grandeur combined with the pulsating rhythms of the skinned drums, the procession was destroyed under a hail of police bullets at it’s main venue, San Fernando, in 1884
In 1884, the British authorities banned Hosay processions in towns of Port of Spain and San Fernando. A group South Asian labourers decided to defy the suppression with an act of civil disobedience by continuing the Muharram procession as they normally do. They felt the law was unjust. Few people believed that the police would actually shoot at them, because after all, they were only taking part of in a peaceful customary religious activity as they have been doing each year. When the procession passed through San Fernando, police shot straight at the crowds of men, women, and children. 18 to 20 were killed and hundreds were injured.
It become known in history as ‘The Hosay Massacre of 1884.” The British had a different name for it, to them it was known as “The Hosay Riots”.
To this day, the Muharram processions are still held each year Trinidad & Tobago. It has since evolved to include the wider community and has become a shared event with different cultures and religions. Locally it is known as “Hosay” which is the Creole term for ‘Hussain”.
Source: “The Hosay or Muharram massacre of 1884 in Trinidad and Tobago
https://
Tags
Share This Story, Choose Your Platform!
