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Former Member

Jagdeo warns: Ugly head of racism must not be entertained — urges collective will to ‘chop it off’

 

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FORMER President Dr Bharrat Jagdeo has called on all Guyanese to unite and fight racism with “every ounce of blood” in their bodies.

 

He says that that demon, once propagated by the former colonial rulers, is again rearing its ugly head.

 

Addressing scores of youths at the Progressive Youth Organisation’s (PYO’s) “Night of Reflection”, held at Red House in Kingston, Georgetown last Friday evening, the former Head of State passionately urged his audience not to allow the demon of racism to raise its ugly head again. “We have to chop it off!” he said to resounding applause from the huge gathering.

 

Jagdeo said that although he is of Indian ancestry and is proud of his origin, he is first and foremost a Guyanese, and is proud to serve the People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C), which remains a servant of the people.

 

The gathering at the ‘Night of Reflection’, held on the lawns of Red House on Friday

The gathering at the ‘Night of Reflection’, held on the lawns of Red House on Friday

 

The county’s longest serving President said that most of the freedoms the citizenry enjoys today were not served them on a silver platter, but came about as a result of struggle; and he said that at the forefront of that struggle was Dr Cheddi Jagan, the founding leader of the PPP!

 

He urged his audience — and Guyanese in general — not to take the freedoms they enjoy today for granted, but to acquaint themselves with their history, as that would enable them to know the oppressors of freedom who today camouflage themselves as freedom fighters.

 

Advising that the PYO is about struggle, Dr Jagdeo said the development of Guyana remains a great struggle, and Guyanese must be eternally vigilant against those who want to distort the history of this country.

 

He warned that, if taken for granted, the freedoms his audience enjoys today can be snatch away by the so-called “freedom fighters”.

 

Delving into history, the former President reminded the gathering of youth that at one time Guyanese were treated as second class citizens in their own country by the colonial rulers.

 

FIGHT FOR CHANGE
He said that when Dr Jagan returned from the USA, after completing studies there, he and his wife Janet, also a former President, saw the oppression of the locals and vowed to change it.


This led to formation of the PPP, and the struggle for change began.

 

In those days, he said, persons had to have property and education to be allowed to vote, and the Jagans and the PPP fought against those constraints and got them changed.

 

Jagdeo also said that persons had to change their religion in order to get a job in the public service and to attend a public school; this, too, the PPP led by Dr Jagan opposed, and caused a reversal in policy.

 

Prime Minister Samuel Hinds gets a rousing applause when he took to the podium to speak on Friday evening. Among those leading the applause are former President Dr Bharrat Jagdeo, PPP General Secretary Mr Clement Rohee; and PYO Chairman Mr Irfaan Ali

Prime Minister Samuel Hinds gets a rousing applause when he took to the podium to speak on Friday evening. Among those leading the applause are former President Dr Bharrat Jagdeo, PPP General Secretary Mr Clement Rohee; and PYO Chairman Mr Irfaan Ali

 

In Guyana, Jagdeo said, there was a mild form of apartheid in the bauxite industry, where the white administrators lived separately from the masses in the mining town of Linden. This was also changed by the PPP.

 

Jagdeo said many people were landless and lived in hopeless situations; and through the dedicated and spirited struggle of Dr Jagan, the PPP was able to right those wrongs, and that party still continues to do so in a meaningful way.

 

He reminded that the PYO, which was once outlawed by the powers of the day for standing up for what it stood for, is about change, and change is an eternal process.

 

EXTENDED FAMILY

In the scheme of things, the former President said the PYO is one family, and the People’s National Congress Reform (PNCR) must be viewed as an extended family.

 

He said supporters of the PNCR, which is now the largest partner in the coalition named A Partnership for National Unity (APNU), which has recently been merged with the Alliance For Change (AFC), are “our relatives”, but “we share a different view”.

 

Former President Dr Bharrat Jagdeo about to address the gathering

Former President Dr Bharrat Jagdeo about to address the gathering

 

For the PPP, he said, the motivation to struggle is rooted in change, and anyone who embraces this view, including those in the PNCR, can find a place in the PPP camp. This, he said, is what the PPP is about: “About real things!”

 

He emphasised that “the struggles of the PPP are synonymous with the struggles of Dr Jagan”, which represent “struggle for change”.

 

But, he said, it was never an easy road for the PPP. He noted that when the British colonial masters were not there to perpetuate their divide-and-rule strategy, they used Opposition elements to foment racism and divisiveness, resulting in unlawful removal of the PPP from office.

 

UNDEMOCRATIC RULE
Dr Jagdeo said that from the time the PPP had been deposed from office up to 1992, the country endured three decades of undemocratic rule, a downward spiral in development, and the prosecution and killing of those who opposed the PNC regime.

 

Because of the wanton rigging of elections, he said, in 1973, two young PYO members tried to follow the ballot box, in keeping with the right to a free and fair election, but paid for that action with their lives.

 

Accordingly, the former President reminded that youths of today have to learn about the past, as it is important to preserve the freedoms they presently enjoy. These, he said, are products of the selfless struggles of Dr Jagan and the PPP.

 

The struggle, he said, is not only for a better Guyana, with social and infrastructural development; but also — and most importantly – it is a struggle for unity among people of all ethnic groups and from every strata of society.

 

This is what Dr Jagan stood for, Jagdeo said, noting that the Jagan philosophy remains the guiding light of the PPP as that party strives to build a better Guyana for all Guyanese.

 

The ‘Night of Reflection’ hosted by the PYO was in remembrance of the life and work of Dr Jagan, who is regarded as the Father of the Nation.

 

ABOUT DR JAGAN
Dr Jagan was born on March 22, 1918, and passed away in the USA after a brief illness on March 6, 1997.

 

He was first elected Chief Minister of British Guiana in 1953, and later became Premier from 1961 to 1964, before he later served as President of Guyana from 1992 to 1997.

 

Dr Jagan had been the son of indentured sugar workers. His parents, Bachoni (mother) and Jagan (father), had arrived in the then British Guiana from the district of Basti in Uttar Pradesh, India as young infants with their respective mothers.

 

Both his grandmothers came as Indentured immigrants in 1901, and were “bound” by five-year contracts to different sugar plantations in the county of Berbice.

 

Life was very hard, and both his parents had to start working in the cane fields at a young age to supplement the family income, a brief biography of the former President, carried on the Cheddi Jagan Research Centre website, says.

 

It said his mother had never gone to school, but his father had been a bit more fortunate, having attended school for three years.


“Because his father worked very hard, he earned the reputation of being the best cane cutter, and was promoted to ‘driver’; but still his pay was very small, and because he was non-white there was no further avenue of promotion. He thus saw the need for formal education, and made sure that his son, Cheddi Jagan, attended school,” the site noted.

 

By Tajeram Mohabir

‘THANK YOU SAM!’: Guyana’s longest serving Prime Minister, Samuel Hinds, receives a plaque from the Progressive Youth Organisation (PYO) in recognition of his sterling and yeoman service to our beloved country, at a ‘Night of Reflection’ held at Red House last Friday evening on the life and works of the late Dr Cheddi Jagan. Sharing in the moment is former President Dr Bharrat Jagdeo and PPP General Secretary Mr Clement Rohee (Adrian Narine photo)

Replies sorted oldest to newest

PPP Burnham party is related to the PPP party.  I would not call John Carter and his United Democratic Party which merged with PPP Burnham party to become the PNC party friends of the PPP party.  John Carter and his United Democratic Party supporters were hardcore enemies of the PPP party.

FM
Originally Posted by Demerara_Guy:
. . . In Guyana, Jagdeo said, there was a mild form of apartheid in the bauxite industry, where the white administrators lived separately from the masses in the mining town of Linden. This was also changed by the PPP

that Sam Hinds sat there and allowed this howler by Dr5 Jagdeo to slide speaks to the lack of character in the man

 

i guess, when u speaking to PPP plantation serfs, history becomes whatever the f**k you want it to be at that time

FM
Last edited by Former Member
Originally Posted by Wally:

PPP Burnham party is related to the PPP party.  I would not call John Carter and his United Democratic Party which merged with PPP Burnham party to become the PNC party friends of the PPP party.  John Carter and his United Democratic Party supporters were hardcore enemies of the PPP party.

John Carter was a western style democrat not a communist so indeed he would see the PPP as ideological adversaries. I have spent many hours talking to the man so I can say with some clarity I grasp his position.

FM
Originally Posted by redux:
Originally Posted by Demerara_Guy:
. . . In Guyana, Jagdeo said, there was a mild form of apartheid in the bauxite industry, where the white administrators lived separately from the masses in the mining town of Linden. This was also changed by the PPP

that Sam Hinds sat there and allowed this howler by Dr5Jagdeo to slide speaks to the lack of character in the man

 

i guess, when u speaking to PPP plantation serfs, history becomes whatever the f**k you want it to be at that time

The other day, the man said CBJ din live in a logie. And this same man, lives in a mansion by the ocean. Separate from the average citizens wid round the clock protection. Suh, why would he have wished for the White expatriates to live among the average sugar workers on the sugar belt and miners of MacKenzie.

 

Is Jagdeo memory wiped clean of INdians who lived among Lindeners-the were murdered, raped and beaten. The area was ethnic cleansed.    

S
Originally Posted by Wally:

Storm did John Carter hate East Indians?

Absolutely not. His buddies were Sugrim Singh, Edun etc. He actually looked more like an Indian man to me so it would be hard for him to hate himself.

FM
Originally Posted by seignet:
Originally Posted by redux:
Originally Posted by Demerara_Guy:
. . . In Guyana, Jagdeo said, there was a mild form of apartheid in the bauxite industry, where the white administrators lived separately from the masses in the mining town of Linden. This was also changed by the PPP

that Sam Hinds sat there and allowed this howler by Dr5Jagdeo to slide speaks to the lack of character in the man

 

i guess, when u speaking to PPP plantation serfs, history becomes whatever the f**k you want it to be at that time

The other day, the man said CBJ din live in a logie. And this same man, lives in a mansion by the ocean. Separate from the average citizens wid round the clock protection. Suh, why would he have wished for the White expatriates to live among the average sugar workers on the sugar belt and miners of MacKenzie.

 

Is Jagdeo memory wiped clean of INdians who lived among Lindeners-the were murdered, raped and beaten. The area was ethnic cleansed.    

dude, in your indecent haste to pick at old wounds, u miss my point entirely

 

what i was was underlining is that the PPP had nothing to do with getting rid of the "mild form of apartheid in the bauxite industry"

 

de Rat ubviously didn't get the memo from industry exxxxpert D_G, or he tore it up before reading

FM
Last edited by Former Member
Originally Posted by Stormborn:
Originally Posted by Wally:

PPP Burnham party is related to the PPP party.  I would not call John Carter and his United Democratic Party which merged with PPP Burnham party to become the PNC party friends of the PPP party.  John Carter and his United Democratic Party supporters were hardcore enemies of the PPP party.

John Carter was a western style democrat not a communist so indeed he would see the PPP as ideological adversaries. I have spent many hours talking to the man so I can say with some clarity I grasp his position.

The gentleman was definitely pro-African. An absurdity for Indoes to come from behind and want to rule. I understand his position, being a colonialist. 

 

I read, a Guyanese UN representative comment, on Carter questioning Forbes motivation towards a PPP-I suppose, his role as a subservient leader.   

S
Originally Posted by redux:
Originally Posted by seignet:
Originally Posted by redux:
Originally Posted by Demerara_Guy:
. . . In Guyana, Jagdeo said, there was a mild form of apartheid in the bauxite industry, where the white administrators lived separately from the masses in the mining town of Linden. This was also changed by the PPP

that Sam Hinds sat there and allowed this howler by Dr5Jagdeo to slide speaks to the lack of character in the man

 

i guess, when u speaking to PPP plantation serfs, history becomes whatever the f**k you want it to be at that time

The other day, the man said CBJ din live in a logie. And this same man, lives in a mansion by the ocean. Separate from the average citizens wid round the clock protection. Suh, why would he have wished for the White expatriates to live among the average sugar workers on the sugar belt and miners of MacKenzie.

 

Is Jagdeo memory wiped clean of INdians who lived among Lindeners-the were murdered, raped and beaten. The area was ethnic cleansed.    

dude, in your indecent haste to pick at old wounds, u miss my point entirely

 

what i was was underlining is that the PPP had nothing to do with getting rid of the "mild form of apartheid in the bauxite industry"

 

de Rat ubviously didn't get the memo from industry exxxxpert D_G, or he tore it up before reading

I think u misread my comment. Jagdeo is trying to tarnish White people by saying they cultivated divisions. I have no problem with the people wanting to live separate. I live in a white man country for 48 years now, and have always choose a property around a cul-de-sac. Limited homes wid decent neighbour hood. In this country, I have the freedom to choose where I live. Suh, y doan Jagdeo sell his mansion and live at Plastic City.   

S

Massive turnout as APNU/AFC campaign rally kicks off in Linden

March 15, 2015 | By | Filed Under News 

Members of the APNU/AFC coalition converged at the Linden/ Georgetown Bus Park last evening for one of the grandest rallies in recent times.

Members of the APNU/AFC coalition at the rally last evening.

Members of the APNU/AFC coalition at the rally last evening.

Commencing a little after sundown with a grand cultural show, the eagerly anticipated event saw many an impassioned speech from various presenters, including Regional Chairman Sharma Solomon, Leader of the Coalition and President in waiting David Granger and Prime Ministerial candidate Moses Nagamootoo. The rally saw many from far and wide journeying to the mining town in a grand motorcade, which culminated on Republic Avenue. Throughout the Town there was a spirit of palpable optimism.

FM
Originally Posted by seignet:
Originally Posted by Stormborn:
Originally Posted by Wally:

PPP Burnham party is related to the PPP party.  I would not call John Carter and his United Democratic Party which merged with PPP Burnham party to become the PNC party friends of the PPP party.  John Carter and his United Democratic Party supporters were hardcore enemies of the PPP party.

John Carter was a western style democrat not a communist so indeed he would see the PPP as ideological adversaries. I have spent many hours talking to the man so I can say with some clarity I grasp his position.

The gentleman was definitely pro-African. An absurdity for Indoes to come from behind and want to rule. I understand his position, being a colonialist. 

 

I read, a Guyanese UN representative comment, on Carter questioning Forbes motivation towards a PPP-I suppose, his role as a subservient leader.   

It was communism vs capitalism not any of the shi.t that so much prevent reason on anything today.

FM
Originally Posted by Stormborn:
Originally Posted by seignet:
Originally Posted by Stormborn:
Originally Posted by Wally:

PPP Burnham party is related to the PPP party.  I would not call John Carter and his United Democratic Party which merged with PPP Burnham party to become the PNC party friends of the PPP party.  John Carter and his United Democratic Party supporters were hardcore enemies of the PPP party.

John Carter was a western style democrat not a communist so indeed he would see the PPP as ideological adversaries. I have spent many hours talking to the man so I can say with some clarity I grasp his position.

The gentleman was definitely pro-African. An absurdity for Indoes to come from behind and want to rule. I understand his position, being a colonialist. 

 

I read, a Guyanese UN representative comment, on Carter questioning Forbes motivation towards a PPP-I suppose, his role as a subservient leader.   

It was communism vs capitalism not any of the shi.t that so much prevent reason on anything today.

Apaan Jhaat, is Indian wording for ethic division on hair and skin colour. But, that mindset was always in Guyanese way of life. From the day, others join the African population. It is reality. Carter headed the League of Coloured people . Not Black people. Marcus Garvey was Black African looking representatives. When he visited B.G, that was pointed out by the newspapers(researched)  

S

This John Carter and his supporters in the PNC were always opposed even violently to a merger of the PPP and PNC particularly when Fidel was trying to bring both parties together

FM
Originally Posted by seignet:
Apaan Jhaat, is Indian wording for ethic division on hair and skin colour. 

Apaan Jhaat indeed was used in Guyana in the 1950's.

 

At the time of its use, there were the

 

- PPP - Jaganite, and,

 

- PPP - Burnhamite.

 

It is clearly known that the PPP - Jaganite never used that expression.

FM

QUOTE: "In the scheme of things, the former President said the PYO is one family, and the People’s National Congress Reform (PNCR) must be viewed as an extended family.

 He said supporters of the PNCR, which is now the largest partner in the coalition named A Partnership for National Unity (APNU), which has recently been merged with the Alliance For Change (AFC), are “our relatives”, but “we share a different view”.

 

It looks like the Second Coming of Christ is near. Like the apostle Saul on the road to Damascus, Dr Dr BJ has seen the light.

Problem is, the old prophet Moses together with his tribe has already reunited with "our relatives" in the PNC.

Dr Dr BJ and the PPP missed their chance; their only hope now as before is to bribe and steal some PNC family members.

FM

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