Uba riots of 1937

Last updated
Uba riots of 1937
Date13 August 1937 (1937-08-13) [1]
Location
Union Flacq Estate, Mauritius

20°12′46″S57°41′33″E / 20.21278°S 57.69250°E / -20.21278; 57.69250 Coordinates: 20°12′46″S57°41′33″E / 20.21278°S 57.69250°E / -20.21278; 57.69250
Caused bypoor labour conditions
unexpected reduction in the price of Uba sugarcane
Methodsstrikes, rioting, clashes with the police, looting, protests, rallies, arson
Resulted inAt least four dead
Six injured
Expanded political and economic rights for labourers
The Union Flacq Estate sugar refinery where the 1937 riot started. Union Flacq Estate.jpg
The Union Flacq Estate sugar refinery where the 1937 riot started.

The Uba riots of 1937 or simply the Mauritian riots of 1937 refers to an outbreak of riots and civil disturbances that broke out amongst small scale sugar cane growers on the island of Mauritius in August 1937. The riots led to the death of 4 people with an additional 6 people being injured. [2]

Mauritius Island nation in the Indian Ocean

Mauritius, officially the Republic of Mauritius, is an island nation in the Indian Ocean. The main Island of Mauritius is located about 2,000 kilometres (1,200 mi) off the southeast coast of the African continent. The Republic of Mauritius also includes the islands of Rodrigues, Agalega and St. Brandon. The capital and largest city Port Louis is located on the main island of Mauritius.

Contents

Uba refers to a variety of Saccharum sinense sugarcane commonly cultivated by small hold owning cane growers and labourers at the time who initiated the riots due to an unexpected reduction in the price sugar mills were prepared to pay for the cane. [1]

<i>Saccharum sinense</i> species of plant

Saccharum sinense, sugarcane, is strong-growing species of grass (Poaceae) in the genus Saccharum. It is originally cultivated in Guangzhou, China where it is still commonly grown. It is a more primitive form of sugarcane with a hybrid origin from wild species of cane. A number of clones exists that are often included in the S. officinarum species as the Pansahi group. The most notable member of which is the Uba variety of cane. They are a perennial plant that grows in erect clumps that can reach up to 5 meters in high and have a red cane with a diameter of 15 mm to 30 mm.

Sugarcane group of cultivated plants

Sugarcane, or sugar cane, are several species of tall perennial true grasses of the genus Saccharum, tribe Andropogoneae, native to the warm temperate to tropical regions of South, Southeast Asia, and New Guinea, and used for sugar production. It has stout, jointed, fibrous stalks that are rich in the sugar sucrose, which accumulates in the stalk internodes. The plant is two to six metres tall. All sugar cane species can interbreed and the major commercial cultivars are complex hybrids. Sugarcane belongs to the grass family Poaceae, an economically important seed plant family that includes maize, wheat, rice, and sorghum, and many forage crops.

Background

Labour conditions

Large sugar estates sold off less productive land to better-off Indian Mauritians from the 1870s onward forming a class of small land owners who came to be known as Sirdars. The Sidars used family labour to make their sugar plots profitable. The Sidars also acted as middlemen between sharecropping rural workers and the Franco-Mauritian elite that owned the large Sugar Cane estates. This created a distance between labourers and the land owning elite who ran the Sugar Mills resulting in a lack of any mechanism for the cane labourers to raise grievances with their employers. The owners of the large sugar plantations held a very strong political position within the local government of Mauritius. Both due to their economic power and because the British colonial government was concerned about aggravating pro-French sentiment amongst Franco-Mauritians during the 1800s. Fearing that they would agitate either for independence or to become a French colony again. This further prevent labour reform on the island and aggravated the difficult working conditions of the sugar can labourers. [3]

To help address this issue and improve overall working conditions for rural labourers the Mauritian Labour Party (MLP) was founded on the 23 February 1936 by Dr Maurice Curé and Emmanuel ‘Jacques’ Anquetil. [3]

Emmanuel Anquetil (1885-1946) was a Mauritian trade unionist, and the second leader of the Mauritius Labour Party.

Uba price

Many small scale farmers planted the hardier but less productive Uba variety of sugarcane. Although Uba produced more cane by weight it also had a lower sucrose content than traditional varieties of sugarcane meaning that the mills would produce less refined sugar from it. Since the growers of sugarcane were paid by weight the sugar refineries experienced lower profits whilst the growers were paid more per harvest. In July 1937, at the beginning of that year's sugarcane harvest, the sugar refineries announced that they would only accept Uba cane for fifteen percent less than regular sugarcane. This combined with the depressed state of the sugar market internationally put great economic strain on growers. [1]

Sucrose chemical compound

Sucrose is common sugar. It is a disaccharide, a molecule composed of two monosaccharides: glucose and fructose. Sucrose is produced naturally in plants, from which table sugar is refined. It has the molecular formula C12H22O11.

Following the announcement of the fifteen percent reduction in the Uba cane price labourers on the Rich Fund estate asked the Sirdars or managers to intervene to raise the price. After getting no satisfaction the labourers went on strike and caused a number of minor disturbances. Due to similar strikes in Trinidad at the time the British government in Mauritius initially sought a conciliatory approach whilst the Labour Party held rallies calling for political and economic reform. By mid-August the strikes had spread to other sugar estates across the island. The government sought to negotiate with the sugar refineries to increase the price of Uba cane but a few estates refused. One of the estates that refused to increase the price, [1] the Union-Flacq estate owned by R.Gujadhur, [2] became the target of arson attacks and property damage. This along with a suggestion by the police to deal with their own security lead to the stockpiling of weapons on the estate. [1]

The British West Indian labour unrest of 1934–39 encompassed a series of disturbances, strikes and riots in the United Kingdom's Caribbean colonies. These began as the Great Depression wore on and ceased on the eve of World War II. The unrest served to highlight inequalities of wealth, led the British government to attempt a solution to the problem, and in some cases spurred the development of indigenous party politics that would lead to self-government and independence in the postwar period.

Trinidad The larger of the two major islands which make up the nation of Trinidad and Tobago

Trinidad is the larger and more populous of the two major islands of Trinidad and Tobago. The island lies 11 km (6.8 mi) off the northeastern coast of Venezuela and sits on the continental shelf of South America. Though geographically part of the South American continent, from a socio-economic standpoint it is often referred to as the southernmost island in the Caribbean. With an area of 4,768 km2 (1,841 sq mi), it is also the fifth largest in the West Indies.

Riots

On the 13 August 1937 around two hundred small planters and labourers marched on the refinery at Union-Flacq. Armed staff at the refinery met the demonstrators who then attempted to storm the facility. Fearing for their personal safety the staff fired on the demonstrators. The encounter resulted in the deaths of six protesters and wounding four more. The protesters dispersed whilst setting fire to surrounding sugar cane fields. [1] [4] Word spread and protests lasted for an additional two weeks across the island. [1]

Impact

Following the riots and a commission of inquiry in 1938 the local British government repealed the ban on labour unions, created a framework for collective bargaining, and setup the Mauritian Department of Labour whilst also creating institutions to help arbitrate grievances between employers and labourers. [1] The event also had a big impact on the Mauritian Labour Party. Although Emmanuel Anquetil was exiled to Rodrigues the party profile was greatly enhanced helping to create the conditions for it to take over as the first governing party of an independent Mauritius around thirty years later. The legalising of labour unions in addition to the other reforms also greatly enhanced labour conditions. [3] The incident also led to the democratisation of agricultural extension and research services to small scale sugarcane farmers. Thereby increasing their access to technology and improving their long term economic standing. [1]

Related Research Articles

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Muscovado type of unrefined brown sugar

Muscovado, also khandsari and khand, is a type of partially refined to unrefined sugar with a strong molasses content and flavour. It is technically considered either a non-centrifugal cane sugar or a centrifuged, partially refined sugar according to the process used by the manufacturer. Muscovado contains higher levels of various minerals than processed white sugar, and is considered by some to be healthier. Its main uses are in food and confectionery, and the manufacture of rum and other forms of alcohol. The largest producer and consumer of muscovado is India.

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References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Storey, William Kelleher (1995). "Small-Scale Sugar Cane Farmers and Biotechnology in Mauritius: The "Uba" Riots of 1937". Agricultural History. 69 (2): 163–176. JSTOR   3744263.
  2. 1 2 "A Chronology of Key Events in Mauritius - Vintage Mauritius". Vintage Mauritius. 2014-07-18. Retrieved 2018-08-18.
  3. 1 2 3 Croucher, Richard; Mcilroy, John (2013-07-01). "Mauritius 1937: The Origins of a Milestone in Colonial Trade Union Legislation". Labor History. 54 (3): 223–239. doi:10.1080/0023656X.2013.804268 . Retrieved 2018-08-18.
  4. ↑ "The Strike That Changed Our History". Mauritius Times. 2015-12-13. Retrieved 2018-08-19.
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