MOVEMENT for Social Justice (MSJ) leader David Abdulah said Indian Arrival Day is an important marker for Trinidad and Tobago.

In his message on the occasion, Abdulah said, "On May 30, 1845 the first indentured Indians arrived in Trinidad. Indian Arrival Day is therefore an important marker in the evolution of our society."

He said the MSJ "applauds those Indians who arrived and who laboured and lived in extremely exploitative and degrading circumstances for their resilience as a people."

"We similarly applaud the contributions of the descendants of all those who were indentured for their contributions to every aspect of our society: in the economy; in the realm of the creative imagination; in sport; in academia and the professions; in religion; in community organisation; in the labour movement and in politics."

He also said the public holiday is "not only an occasion for us to recognise and celebrate these contributions to the development of TT...it is a moment for the entire society to reflect on the process of evolution of our society."

Abdulah said the occasion must be seen as evidence that the "constant struggle between those forces representing the status quo and the movement of the people in their struggle out of slavery, through indenture and up to freedom" continues today.

"The controllers of economic and political power maintain the status quo, regardless of which party has been in office."

Abdulah said an evolution to the "second republic," which the MSJ has repeatedly spoken about, "will only take place when the vast majority of citizens break free of the partisan politics of ethnicity and join in the common cause of challenging the status quo – the controllers – in order to end injustice, the lack of fairness and discrimination."

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