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@seignet posted:

100 years, and still the land of his birth still reeling from proper governance. Perhaps, 500 more years and still in the same place.

Balram Singh Rai would have been 102 yrs on the 21 st of February.

Guyana need politicians with vision to uplift the minuscule population of under 800,000 in a country with vast natural resources.

Django
@Django posted:

Balram Singh Rai would have been 102 yrs on the 21 st of February.

Guyana need politicians with vision to uplift the minuscule population of under 800,000 in a country with vast natural resources.

Christians will say, "Guyana has a curse on it." There muss be a curse, it is so obvious dey rich and still poor. And they can't avoid the tings to keeps dem poor.

S

Balram Singh Rai passes away

Balram Singh Rai
Balram Singh Rai

Self-exiled Guyanese politician Balram Singh Rai, who was one the last major surviving figures of the pre-independence period and later famously clashed with the Jagans, passed away in the United Kingdom last week at the age of 100.

His official biographer, Baytoram Ramharack in a letter in today’s edition lamented his passing and related some of the history of the enigmatic figure.

“Rai rose to political prominence in 1957 after winning a seat to the colonial legislature as a PPP candidate by defeating Sydney King (Eusi Kwayana) in a close election for the Central Demerara constituency. He served as Minister of Education (1959-61) and later, as Minister of Home Affairs (1961-62). As a PPP minister, he respected cultural diversity, advocated for the liberalization of local government and promoted ‘balance’ in the police force through targeted Indian recruitment.

He played a major role at the historical 1960 Constitu-tional Conference in London where the issue of self-government was discussed (other delegates included Cheddi Jagan, L.F.S. Burnham, W.O.R. Kendall, Brindley Benn, Jai Narine Singh, Robin Davis and Rahman B. Gajraj). During his tenure, dual-control of Christian-ran schools was abolished. On February 16, 1962 (“Black Friday”), when British Guiana was in the throes of anti-budget demonstrations in George-town, led by Forbes Burnham and Peter D’ Aguiar, Minister Rai oversaw the crisis while every other PPP minister, including the Jagans, went into hiding. Mr. Rai countermanded  an order by the police commissioner to shoot protestors if warranted. Had this happened, British Guiana would have descended further into a state of ethnic strife.

“Mr. Rai’s term as Guyana’s first Home Affairs Minister was short-lived after Dr. Jagan asked Governor Ralph Grey to revoke his ministerial portfolio in June 1962. This was subsequent to Mr. Rai, who was Deputy (Vice) Chairman of the PPP, being expelled by Dr. and Mrs Jagan, because of his refusal to retract his public statement that the Jagans manipulated the PPP elections for Party Chairman”.

Rai’s nephew, former Chancellor of the Judiciary (ag)  Carl Singh believes that he died a “disappointed” man.

“He left Guyana an extremely disappointed man and I rather suspect he took that disappointment to his grave,” Justice Singh told Stabroek News as he confirmed Rai’s passing.

But Justice Singh said that he believes that his uncle will be remembered here for the outstanding Guyanese he was and the roles he played here.

“He had a full life. He was an outstanding citizen of Guyana and had tremendous political appeal. His contributions to the well-being of the Guyanese people and the development of our society, even though we were a colony then, was quite significant, Justice Singh said.

Former President and PPP General Secretary Donald Ramotar also paid tribute to Rai and express-ed condolences to his family. However, Ramotar noted that while Rai helped build local political parties here and was once aligned with the PPP, he [Ramotar] felt that Rai’s actions would later run counter to the PPP’s bid to govern the country pre and post independence.

“I was a child when he was a prominent person in the PPP. He played a pretty prominent role in the political life of Guyana . He will be remembered for fighting against independence in collaboration with the PNC, the British colonial power and the CIA,” he said.

In a remembrance,  former political leader here Paul Tennassee said “I saw and met Balram Singh Rai in 1961 when he was Minister of Home Affairs at the Whim Magistrate’s Court. He impressed me because he visited on a Saturday and sat on the Magistrate’s bench and listened to the complaints of citizens regarding the police. Each issue that was raised he immediately called the respective police officers and dealt with the matter. It was my first year at Corentyne High School. Later, in 1964 I joined the Justice Party under the influence of my father Patrick Tennassee and Jai Narine Singh. In the 1964 elections, I was appointed at Strand Hotel in New Amsterdam, Secretary of the Justice Party Youth Movement. I organized and chaired meetings from Crabwood Creek to Mara on the Corentyne. During that time, I sustained extensive conversations with Rai concerning his experiences as both as Home Affairs Minister and Minister of Education.

“Rai made the case at the 1964 elections that the Duncan Sandys document that Cheddi Jagan had signed on to; facilitated the British imposing a proportional representation system. Under the system, Indo Guyanese could not muster 51% of the votes even if each Indo Guyanese voted for the PPP. Additionally, he pointed out that geopolitically the British and Americans were interested in an alternative to Jagan because of his embrace of Marxism-Leninism and his ties to Cuba and Moscow. He often casually remark-ed that he lived in a White House while Jagan lived in Red House in Kingston. Additionally, Jagan had made it clear that he would not coalesce with D’Aguiar’s United Force because that party was anti-communist. As such, Rai argued that the Indo Guyanese would not be represented in government for a very, very long time.  He concluded that if a significant number of Indo Guyanese voted for him and he got a minimum of four seats; he would negotiate  with the inevitable coalition that would take place to obtain the Ministry of Home Affairs and Agriculture. It was a strong mathematical argument. At the personal level, my disquiet with Rai was that on more than one occasions, he publicly stated that he was a `Rajput Born to Rule.’ That did not sit well with me.

“In the process of the 1964 elections campaign, Rai told us that win or lose, he would continue to lead the party and asked my father to resign his job as Overseer at Ulverston/Alness/Salton Local Government Office and move to Georgetown to manage that JP Head Office in Charlotte Street where we would live. I continued as Secretary of the Justice Party Youth Movement and sat as its representative on the Guyana Assembly of Youth that was chaired by George De Peana. Rai indicated that he would leave JP and Guyana to go to the UK. There was a significant falling out between him and Jai Narine Singh. Rai possessed and controlled the finance, vehicles and other properties of JP. Consequently, a JP Party Conference was held and Rai was expelled. Jai Narine Singh later lost interest in leading JP. The membership moved on and founded the Guyana Farmers and Workers Union”.

Django

B.S. Rai, iconic political figure dating back to pre-independence years has passed away

Balram Singh Rai
Balram Singh Rai

Dear Editor,

Balram Singh Rai would have been 101 next month. Unfortunately, he departed the physical world a few days ago in Oxford, England. Word of his passing was brought to my attention from a friend. Rai served the PPP government as the Minister of Community Development and Education and as Guyana’s first Minister of Home Affairs in the pre-independence period. As the official biographer of Mr. Rai, kindly allow me the opportunity to rekindle and share with readers what I had previously written as a tribute to him in SN (Feb 6, 2021) a year ago on the remarkable accomplishment of becoming a centenarian:   

“Balram Singh Rai will be 100 years old on February 8. Rai was an iconic political figure, dating back to the pre-independence years.  Together with Ashton Chase and Eusi Kwayana, he is one of few political leaders still alive from the 1947 era when he supported the brash young radical Cheddi Jagan in a successful bid for a seat in the colonial legislature. Rai was an attorney and a devout member of the Arya Samaj Hindu faith. Clem Seecharan recalled how Rai was viewed in his Berbice village of Palmyra, 12 miles away from Jagan’s birthplace in Plantation Port Mourant: he was an iconâ€Ķbrilliant, fearless and confidentâ€Ķa true Kshatriyaâ€ĶAfter Jagan, Rai was certainly the most popular Indian leader in the colony.

“Rai rose to political prominence in 1957 after winning a seat to the colonial legislature as a PPP candidate by defeating Sydney King (Eusi Kwayana) in a close election for the Central Demerara constituency. He served as Minister of Education (1959-61) and later, as Minister of Home Affairs (1961-62). As a PPP minister, he respected cultural diversity, advocated for the liberalization of local government and promoted ‘balance’ in the police force through targeted Indian recruitment. He played a major role at the historical 1960 Constitutional Conference in London where the issue of self-government was discussed (other delegates included Cheddi Jagan, L.F.S. Burnham, W.O.R. Kendall, Brindley Benn, Jai Narine Singh, Robin Davis and Rahman B. Gajraj). During his tenure, dual-control of Christian-ran schools was abolished. On February 16, 1962 (“Black Friday”), when British Guiana was in the throes of anti-budget demonstrations in Georgetown, led by Forbes Burnham and Peter D’ Aguiar, Minister Rai oversaw the crisis while every other PPP minister, including the Jagans, went into hiding. Mr. Rai countermanded  an order by the police commissioner to shoot protestors if warranted. Had this happened, British Guiana would have descended further into a state of ethnic strife.

“Mr. Rai’s term as Guyana’s first Home Affairs Minister was short-lived after Dr. Jagan asked Governor Ralph Grey to revoke his ministerial portfolio in June 1962. This was subsequent to Mr. Rai, who was Deputy (Vice) Chairman of the PPP, being expelled by Dr. and Mrs Jagan, because of his refusal to retract his public statement that the Jagans manipulated the PPP elections for Party Chairman. Rai challenged a popular African Guyanese and former Minister of Natural Resources, Brindley Benn (father of current minister of Home Affairs, Robeson Benn) for the post of Chairman at the PPP’s Congress in 1962. Rai’s complaints about the electoral irregularities to then Attorney General Fenton Ramsahoye evoked the cryptic response: “Comrade, why worry. The party works in devious ways.” Together with another PPP stalwart, Jai Narine Singh, Rai later formed the Justice Party, but could not secure enough votes to win a seat in the 1964 elections. During the 1964 elections, he warned his supporters that the imposed Proportional Representation system would result in the PPP being excluded from government. Rai remained incorruptible, migrating to the UK in 1970. He rejected Burnham’s entreaties and lucrative offers, even as some of the PPP’s brightest Marxist theoretician, including Ranji Chandisingh, accepted Burnham’s carrots.

“The Pensions (President, Parliamentary and Special Offices) Act, Chapter 27:03, enacted in January 1970, provided for pension to legislators who were sitting members of the National Assembly on or after May 26, 1966. The Act also provided for pensions to legislators who had served in 1953 or after, thus providing for former legislative service to be counted for purposes of computing pensions to qualified legislators.  Balram Singh Rai served as a legislator from 1957 to 1964. He remains today the only Guyanese minister who was denied a parliamentary pension. Despite previous correspondences and conversations on this matter with  Forbes Burnham, Desmond Hoyte, Sir Shridath Ramphal, Sase Narain, Cheddi Jagan, Roger Luncheon, among others, this issue remains unresolved. It is not that Mr. Rai, now under hospice care in England, seeks to benefit from his pension, but as Ralph Ramkarran noted (SN, June 7, 2015) the government’s magnanimity in recognition of the social injustice perpetrated against one of its own ministers ‘would go a long way in correcting egregious historical omissions’ like that of Mr. Rai’s.”

Kit Nascimento had subsequently indicated in a letter to the press that Rai was not the only parliamentarian denied a pension. The fact remains, however, that despite several correspondences from Rai directly to Cheddi Jagan, this matter was never addressed.

In any case, Mr. Rai had indicated to me, as well as Rampersad Tiwari (who edited Cheddi Jagan’s book), that should anything of substance materialize from this injustice, the entire pension should be gifted to the Dharm Shala, the charity established in 1921 by Pandit Ramsaroop Maharaj.

I salute Mr. Rai by echoing the words of Swami Dayanand Saraswati, founder of the Arya Samaj – ‘Krinvanto Vishwam Aryam’ (Make the World Noble).

Sincerely,

Baytoram Ramharack

Django
@Mitwah posted:

I remember him coming to my village urging young East Indians to join the Army and the Police force. He looked like a Bollywood star.

Typical Rajput, unafraid of military service. The warrior caste. It had to be  the Polce Force, Volunteer Force was the only army in that period. One class mate, Umrao from the village went off and joined the GDF in it creation. A few others followed. In their exercises, the army would walk in the interior and exit at Ithaca and walked through the coast to their camp in GT.

S

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