Ours is a history of struggle for freedom – AG
Students, parents and teachers gathered at the Leguan Secondary School, Region Three on Friday, to commemorate Arrival day, in remembrance of the East Indian immigrants who came in 1838 to work on the sugar plantations of then British Guiana.
The audience was entertained through dance, song, poem, and drama, and a mini fashion show showcasing East Indian traditional wear.
Attorney General and Minister of Legal Affairs, Anil Nandlall delivering the feature address at Arrival day celebrations at the Leguan Secondary School.
Attorney General and Minister of Legal Affairs Anil Nandlall during the feature address explained to the gathering that Arrival Day is intended to celebrate the coming of all the peoples of Guyana. As the country celebrates this day, he said its people must reflect on what they are celebrating, and not only use the occasion to rejoice, but reflect on “where we came from, where we are, and where we are going”.
Independence and dictatorship
AG Nandlall said that the East Indians came and laboured in extremely difficult circumstances until they were liberated. “Be it Indians, Amerindians, Chinese or Africans, our people were engaged in a struggle for freedom,” he said.
But even though ‘our people became free from slavery and indentureship’, he said that the struggle did not stop because the country was still ruled by another system of control, that is, colonialism. Among the leaders who emerged during that period was Dr. Cheddi Jagan.
The gathering at the Arrival Day celebration at the Leguan Secondary School
The first form that the struggle took was to win the right to vote because at the time only people who owned property could have voted. This meant that children of the freed African slaves and indentured servants could not have voted because they did not own property. Dr. Jagan and the PPP led the struggle and won for the people the right to vote in 1953.
Then came the struggle for independence and self rule, and again the PPP led the struggle. Finally independence was won in 1966.
“Then, another form of struggle began; the struggle against the PNC dictatorship. During this period the people of Guyana were denied basic rights like the right to vote and the right to eat. During this period many of our people were brutalised, jailed and even killed. Two young indo Guyanese were killed in 1973 at No. 64 Village simply because they demanded that their votes be counted at the polling station. A brilliant afro Guyanese historian, Dr. Walter Rodney, was blown to pieces by a bomb simply because he stood up against the might of the Burnham dictatorship,” the AG stated.
A student performing a dramatic poem
The PPP stood with the people and by the people during these times of struggle and suffering, he stressed. “Today all of you read the news, and you see people are trying to rewrite history, they are trying to denigrate the contribution of immortal human beings like the late Cheddi and Janet Jagan. I know that the people of this country would not allow our history to be rewritten because those people have contributed to where we are today, and we must be a grateful people for our fore parents taught us that whether Christians, Hindu or Muslim,” the AG stressed.
Freedom and progress
In 1992 the country, he said, was able to remove from dictatorship, and it began enjoying freedom because for the first time the people’s votes were actually counted and they were able to elect a government of their choice.
Noticeable is the transformational progress and development that have taken place from 1992 to the present.
“I will be the first to tell you that there’s a lot more to be done. I will be the first to admit that perhaps greater work could have been done, but we cannot disregard what has actually been done. We have to be vigilant that that which we have achieved, the progress we have made, the gains that we have attained, we do not lose them,” he stated.
Students of the Leguan Secondary School showcasing Indian traditional wear.
A new struggle
AG Nandlall reiterated that history has shown that whenever the PPP is not in Government destruction takes place in the country. “In 2011 we didn’t win the election as we should have; we didn’t get the number of votes that we should have gotten, and look at what is taking place in our country,” he observed.
The very people, the very players and actors who were part of the dictatorship during the People’s National Congress Reform (PNC) period, are still the major players in Parliament, he stated.
“And what are they doing? I have no difficulty if a person is using his/her parliamentary power to advance the cause of his or her constituent, I have no difficulty if you use parliamentary power to advance the cause of your supporters…..but is that what is taking place in the parliament?” he asked.
In answering his question, he explained that the opposition cutting the budget and denying the ordinary poor people of this country proper medical care at a world class hospital cannot be in the interest of Guyanese. The AG said that the hospital is not being built for PPP supporters, but for all Guyanese, all the descendants of the peoples who came and whose achievements are being celebrated today.
The Cheddi Jagan International Airport (CJIA) expansion project will also affect all Guyanese. “When airfare decreases everyone benefits, when tourists come to our country everyone benefits, when greater investments come to our country everyone benefits,” he explained.
Electricity is also a major problem in this country, he said because Guyanese depend upon fuel which the country doesn’t produce and fuel is expensive and price is going up on a regular basis.
“We have no control over that, but what we have said is that we will control the cost of your light bill by subsiding Guyana Power and Light so when they are short of money the government will give them money so that they will keep your light bill cheap,” he explained, hence if the power company is not given the money, electricity tariffs will increase. “What kind of politician who cares for his people and his country will deny such a subsidy to GPL?” he said. The AG was referring to the $5billion that the combined opposition voted to cut from GPL.
He further stated that most countries are experiencing economic problems, some of them are borrowing money to pay salaries to their people, and, “here it is our country is doing well, and we are being denied from giving the benefits of this development and progress to our people by the opposition,” he said.
“We have a duty to our fore parents to continue this struggle because they have struggled and achieved, and it is their successes that are being enjoyed today,” he concluded.
May, marks the month of arrival, not only for East Indians who came as indentured labourers, but also the other ethnic groups. Guyana prides itself as a multi ethnic multi-cultural society where the right to expression and freedom to propagate one’s faith is respected and enshrined in the country’s laws.
This year is also one of historic and cultural significance for Guyana with the 250th anniversary of the 1763 Berbice Slave Rebellion, the 190th anniversary of the 1823 Slave Rebellion, the 175th anniversary of the abolition of slavery and emancipation of enslaved Africans, and simultaneously the arrival of East Indian immigrants and the 160th anniversary of the arrival of Chinese indentured labourers.
Also present at the celebration was Region Three Chairman Julius Faerber.