13 September 1943: Belle Vue Harel strike

0:00On this damn working class history, the 13th of September. On the 13th of September 1943, workers on the Bell-View of Horel of Sugar Estate in Mauritius went on strike demanding a pay increase. After sugar strikes in 1937, the British colonial government set up a conciliation mechanism for industrial disputes. Their conciliation, two representatives of the workers agreed to a proposal from the sugar planters to end the dispute, but they did this without consulting the workers they purported to represent. The strikers who were unhappy with the proposed agreement therefore kept up the strike. On the 27th of September, over 30 police were sent to the camp where they confronted around 250 workers, women and children who were armed with sticks and stones. When police attempted to arrest a worker from an air queued of beating a police officer

1:02earlier that day, the crowd threw missiles at the police, who then opened fire into the crowd killing four and wounding 16. Those killed were named Kisnazami, Munizami, Munzami, Munian, Mar-Day Panupen and Sumdrum Pavett-Dan, also known as Angelay Kupen. Kupen, a 30-year-old woman who was pregnant at the time but whose fetus was also killed, subsequently became a powerful symbol of the Marition working class movement and remained so to this day, and there are now various monuments and buildings on the island commemorating her. The sources, maps and all of our anniversaries each day, check out the honest day section of our stories at atstories.workinclosshistory.com and if you value our work, support us at patreon.com, slash work and class history. Links in the show notes. The music by D'Acar de Arreo. See you tomorrow.