'Slave trade most inhumane chapter in human history'

Transatlantic slave trade showed what ungoverned, lawless globalisation can lead to: India at UN

India has described the centuries-long transatlantic slave trade as one of the most tragic and inhumane chapters in recorded human history, saying it showed what an "ungoverned and lawless" globalisation can lead to.

It has also said that transatlantic slave has destroyed millions of lives over generations and changed the socio-economic fabric of societies in Africa, South America and the Carribean.

"The transatlantic slave trade lasting over 400-years, has undeniably been one of the most tragic and inhumane chapters in recorded human history," First Secretary in the Permanent Mission of India to the UN Paulomi Tripathi said Wednesday in the UN General Assembly on 'Commemoration of the Abolition of Slavery and the Transatlantic Slave Trade.'

She said transatlantic slave trade was the "manifestation of greed and immoral pursuit for profit, coupled with unbridled abuse of power exercised by mighty over the weak, that forced millions from their homes to toil in faraway lands."

The transatlantic slave trade has destroyed millions of lives over generations.

It destroyed millions of lives over generations and changed the socio-economic fabric of societies in Africa, South America and the Caribbean and was an instance of what "an ungoverned and lawless globalisation can lead to."

Stating that while the uprooted African communities have contributed greatly to the local economies and influenced the arts and culture of societies where they now live, Tripathi said that many of these communities continue to face scars of deep-rooted racial discrimination and oppression.

She stressed that it is important to understand what the transatlantic slave trade and slavery meant so that nations can draw lessons from their collective history.

She said India will continue to support various activities and programmes undertaken by the UN Department of Public Information for generating awareness about this dark phase in history and to commemorate the International Day of Remembrance of the Victims of Slavery and the Transatlantic Slave Trade in March every year.

India and the Department of Public Information had co-organised an exhibition two years ago on the history of enslaved East Africans who were taken to India and chronicled the stories of many of those who rose to positions of military and political authority in India.

"We firmly believe that we must continue to raise awareness about the transatlantic slave trade through education and outreach activities. We hope that wide participation in these events leads to changed attitudes with salutary consequences for our global society, to avoid the recurrence of the past injustices," she said.