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BEECHU





In 1896 Beechu came

Long before Ayube Eden

Or Jagan entered the game

This fearless fighter

A kurmi by caste

From across the calla pani

From Calcutta

Bound for Enmore

As a domestic servant

To make his mark



He was 36 and smart

Thanks to a white missionary

Beechu got educated

A man of courage

Braver than Koffy or Acara

The likes you’ve never seen

In those harsh times

When the good dies



He knew the indentured system

He stood up and was counted

But with a silent rage

And had Ram on his side

He knew the words

He wrote letters

Was the only man

To fight the darkness

Who gave a memorandum

To the Royal W. I. Commission

He condemned

The indentured system

Attacked the long cruel hours

By estate drivers

Ungodly wage reductions

A wage of 25 cents a day

He revealed the horrors

Oh the bully estate sardars

Using task work to coerce workers

Using henchmen







To threaten and silence

Those who complained



He stressed the willful neglect

Of the immigration department

Failing to protect

The wretched Indians



And then this fearless

Kurmi did the unbelievable

Armed with only the holy Gita

He denounced in no uncertain terms

The immoral sexual relations

Between the mighty estate personnel

And helpless Indian women

He exposed the white overseers

Who kept Indian women

On the side

On several estates

As if running brothels

He exposed the case of

Lello and the Punjabi

He showed how such

Immoral behaviour

Produced discontent

Poor production

And sheer resentment



As in the case

Of the Non Pareil riots

Stemmed from the affair

Of a married woman

And an evil estate manager

He accused the demonic

Manager Frederick Bascom

Of Plantation Cove & John

Of causing the death

Of poor sick Bhagri

Discharged from hospital

While he was still sick



Then to silence Bechu

They charged him with libel







Tried him twice

Threatened to deport him

Back to Mother India

Then they surreptously

Quietly left him alone

Not wanting to spark

Another labour riot



Everytime someone

Came to champion the cause

Of the wretched Indians

They were silenced

Or paid a heavy price

For their bravery

And  courage

Like heroic Beechu

But what made them winners

They had a strong dharma

And the guiding hand of Ram

Who sent heroes like Eden

The indomitable Jagan

And the mighty Beechu.

To champion their cause.