PORT OF SPAIN (IPS)—A war of words between Indian and Black activists has erupted as the country observed Indian Arrival Day—154 years after the first ship bearing East Indian indentured laborers arrived in Trinidad.

The first salvo came from the general secretary of the country’s largest Hindu organization—the Sanatan Dharma Maha Sabha—Sat Maharaj.

Mr. Maharaj contended in a speech May 29, that contrary to the claims of African academics, indentureship was harsher than slavery and that some Blacks used slavery as "a bogus excuse for laziness and an excuse for failure."

Planning Minister Trevor Sudama joined the slavery-versus- indentureship debate the next day, saying Indians enjoyed no headstart over Africans after indentureship and that the claim that Indians received land for their hardship was "a myth."

It was a point reinforced by Mr. Maharaj, who said his organization planned to file a class action suit to reclaim the value of land expropriated from Indians by the state in the 1940s because there was no official recognition of Hindu marriages.

He said Blacks often used the claim that Indians received lands from the state as an excuse for not achieving "like Indians have."

But, chairman of the Black-dominated Emancipation Support Committee Khafra Kambon responded sharply to Mr. Maharaj’s analysis saying "as an African, I am tired of people setting out to insult Africans as a group."

"It is highly irresponsible for people who have some kind of following to be making divisive statements," Mr. Kambon said. "We have to learn to appreciate each other’s experiences and laud each other’s victories."

Mr. Kambon has been an advocate of compensation to Africans for the hardships endured during the period of slavery.

Former Member of Parliament Arthur Sanderson said Indians were willingly embraced by Blacks after indentureship and it was Africans who introduced fairness and equity to post-indentureship Trinidad.

The debate is nothing new, but has come to the fore following a recent guest lecture delivered by renowned Kenyan Professor Ali Mazrui who said Indian success in Trinidad and Tobago had to do with the fact that indentureship was less cruel than slavery.

Hindu commentator Rajnie Ramlakhan wrote in the local press May 30 that Indians did not have an easy time at the end of indenture- ship.

"Destitution," she said, "was a big problem during and post indentureship. Many time-expired Indian immigrants who expected to return to India made the journey to Port of Spain to await the arrival of the ship to take them back."

"When it did not arrive, they simply stayed on the streets of the city, having nowhere else to go," she said. "They were joined by the old and infirm, the ill and insane who had run away from various institutions."

Mr. Maharaj contends that prior to the recognition of Hindu marriages, the state had claimed more than $300 million in land that should have gone to the spouses of Hindus who had died. Mr. Maharaj promised that the moment Attorney General Ramesh Maharaj leaves office, a suit against the state laying claim to the funds will be filed.

Ramesh Maharaj represents the Hindu-dominated constituency of Couva South. He is a leading member of the ruling United National Congress which has its political base in the country’s Indian community.

The 1990 census put the Indian community at 40.3 percent of the population and the African population at 39.6 percent.

The Basdeo Panday administration enjoys the support of the Indian community, while the opposition Peoples National Movement derives the base of its support from the Black population.

Arrival Day was designated a national holiday by the Peoples National Movement administration of 1991-1995, but was quickly renamed "Indian" Arrival Day by the Panday administration when it came to power in 1995.

The United National Congress-dominated coalition government has often been accused of favoring Indian interests and fingers have been pointed at appointments to state boards, the hiring of key advisors to the government and the awarding of public works contracts.

In return, the United National Congress has accused the Peoples National Movement of favoring Blacks during its long tenure between 1956 and 1986 and, again, between 1992 and 1995.