Indian Nationalists And Anti-Indenture Resolutions by Ashutosh Kumar

Indian Nationalists and Anti-Indenture Resolutions, 1910–1916 presents three important resolutions against the indentured labour system in the Legislative Council of India between 1910 and 1916. Due to the continuous opposition and resolutions against indentured labour, the system was finally abolished in 1917. These resolutions are important to understand nationalist views on labour migration overseas and their thoughts on castes and gender. They indicate that Indian nationalists’ opposition of the indenture system was not centred on issues of violence between the plantation regime and Indian labourers; rather, they focused on the political rights of free passenger Indians in South Africa. These resolutions also show how Indian nationalists were biased against their ‘coolie’ brethren as opposed to the free passenger Indians overseas.