For over a century, the word “coolie” was the verbal ghost that haunted the Indian diaspora in the Caribbean, a slur born in the sugar cane trenches to remind indentured labourers they were property, not people. Now, Kamla Persad-Bissessar, the first woman to become Prime Minister of Trinidad and Tobago, has taken that very word and turned it on its head, bringing it from a place of shame to one of pride. 

Speaking at a programme held to welcome External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar, Kamla Persad-Bissessar said, “In Trinidad, Indians are still referred to as ‘coolies’ in some places. I feel no shame in that. I am proud that today a little ‘coolie’ girl is the Prime Minister of Trinidad.”

Meet Kamla Persad-Bissessar – PM  of Trinidad and Tobago

Kamla Susheila Persad was born on April 22, 1952, in Siparia, a rural part of southern Trinidad and Tobago. She grew up in a simple household surrounded by farming communities where many Indo-Trinidadian families worked hard to make a living. 

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Her ancestors were among the thousands of Indians brought to the Caribbean as indentured labourers after slavery was abolished. Persad-Bissessar’s family roots go back to Bhelupur village in Buxar district of Bihar. Her paternal great-grandparents, Pundit Ram Lakhan Mishra and Ganga Mishra, left the village in the 1880s under the British colonial indentured labour system.

The British often called these labourers “coolies,” a term linked to the word “kuli,” meaning labourer. Over time, the word became a racial slur used to look down on Indians and keep them socially and economically marginalised.

Those migrants, known as jahajis or ship-brothers, crossed the dreaded kala pani, the dark waters, leaving behind families and familiar lives in India to work on sugar plantations in harsh conditions.

However, even with struggle and discrimination, they held tightly to their traditions. Hindu and Muslim customs, Indian food, music, language and festivals survived generations later in Trinidad and Tobago. Today, celebrations like Diwali and musical styles remain a part of the country’s multicultural identity. 

More than a century later, in 2012, Persad-Bissessar made an emotional visit to Bhelupur village to reconnect with her ancestral roots and meet members of the community linked to her family history.

The connection once again made it to the headlines during Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s 2025 visit to Trinidad and Tobago, when he affectionately called her “Bihar ki beti” (daughter of Bihar.)

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Early Life and Education

Persad-Bissessar studied at Iere High School before attending the University of the West Indies. Later, she continued her studies in England, earned a law degree from Hugh Wooding Law School and eventually added an Executive MBA as well. 

Before entering politics, she worked as a teacher and later became a lawyer. Her political rise began in the 1990s through the United National Congress (UNC), where she slowly built her reputation. 

Breaking barriers in politics

Over the years, Persad-Bissessar shattered one barrier after another.

She became Trinidad and Tobago’s first female Attorney General and later the country’s first female Leader of the Opposition. Then, in 2010, she made history again by becoming the first woman Prime Minister of Trinidad and Tobago.

After serving until 2015, she returned to power again in May 2025 after leading the UNC to another electoral victory.

Throughout her political career, Persad-Bissessar has repeatedly pushed messages of unity, inclusion and equal opportunity in a country that has often experienced ethnic and political divides between Afro-Trinidadians, Indo-Trinidadians and other communities.