India has called upon the international community to end slavery in all its contemporary manifestations as the General Assembly commemorated the anniversary of the abolition of the Trans-Atlantic slave trade.
The global community must "redouble efforts and allocate more resources for promotion and preservation of the dignity and worth of all human beings, especially vulnerable women and girls, and to the fight for complete abolition of slavery in all its contemporary manifestations and forms", Indian delegate Rattan Lal Kataria told the General Assembly on Wednesday.
UN on Wednesday commemorated the abolition of the Trans-Atlantic slave trade in 1807 when the British Parliament passed a law banning it.
"The evil of slavery was deeply rooted in economic greed, racism and different forms of discrimination during the period of colonialism and imperialism," Kataria said, adding: "Millions lost their lives during the unprecedented Middle passage. African civilization was torn apart and it left an indelible mark in society for many generations."
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) member of the Lok Sabha went on to quote Jawaharlal Nehru's denunciation of Trans-Atlantic slavery at the 1955 Bandung Asian-African Conference: "There is nothing more terrible, there is nothing more horrible than the infinite tragedy of Africa in the past few hundred years."
Kataria, who represents Haryana's Ambala constituency, is among parliamentarians from the ruling party and the opposition who are currently in India's UN delegation.
"India remembers its own tragedy of colonialism and the export of indentured labour, which was initiated to replace freed slaves on sugar plantations in British colonies in 1830s," he said.
"We welcome the International Labour Route Project by UNESCO, as a complement to the Slave Route Project."
The project announced last year by the UNESCO is to be centred around Aapravasi Ghat in Mauritius, which was the receiving point for indentured labourers brought from India and is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
"This project will play a significant role in securing international recognition of the role played by Indentured Labour which has shaped modern societies," UNESCO said.
