AS we celebrate the 43rd Anniversary of our Independence, it is about time that someone challenges the hate campaign that is being daily waged in some quarters about Cheddi Jagan’s politics and his record of service for the freedom and development of Guyana.

A spontaneous hug of joy between two national leaders – Cheddi Jagan and Forbes Burnham, as Guyana became an Independent nation after long years of struggle. The now famous embrace between these two leaders, who have shaped so much of Guyana’s political consciousness, says nothing about Forbes Burnham, the victor, but everything about Cheddi Jagan, the vanquished.

The people of Guyana spoke decisively about Cheddi Jagan when he died. They recorded their judgment of him in their thousands, in a quiet and dignified surge to pay tribute, in an outpouring never seen in the known history of Guyana.

They sealed that judgment permanently with their grief and it will be forever etched in the consciousness of all who witnessed it and all who come after.

In the city, towns and rural communities, the Guyanese people gave final recognition to and gratitude for the life of a man who committed himself at a young age to their liberation and sustained that commitment throughout his life, without expectation or hope of reward.

 

‘The professional Jagan/PPP haters, motivated by nothing more than common ill-will and spite, barely capable of stringing two credible thoughts (or sentences) together, constantly whip up sensationalism, hurling epithets, in a frenetic drive to sustain a post retirement dollar…Cheddi Jagan is constantly portrayed as a ‘monster communist,’ in scenes plucked right out of the discredited Joe McCarthy era of anti-communist hysteria in the US, and regularly regurgitated to us from hack writers pretending to be ‘analysts,’ ‘essayists’ and ‘theorists,’ who wouldn’t recognize a theory if you hit them over the head with one.’

They thanked him for it, even though some may not have supported him in his lifetime. Had it been possible he would have witnessed for himself the true, forgiving, noble character of the Guyanese people which he always knew existed and in which he had placed lifelong confidence.

The formation of the Political Affairs Committee in 1947 by four intrepid revolutionaries, Cheddi Jagan, Janet Jagan, Ashton Chase and Jocelyn Hubbard, set the stage for the formation of the Peoples’ Progressive Party in 1950 and for the demand for universal adult suffrage, independence and social justice.

The daunting road to that goal did not seem to faze those in the leadership of the PPP. They were inspired and motivated by the American Revolution and the constitution it gave birth to, the principles underlying the Atlantic Charter, India and the Soviet Union. Their youth and revolutionary fervor gave them energy and confidence. They brought hope to the Guyanese people.

The astonishing success in bringing together such broad forces under the umbrella of the PPP, the winning of universal adult suffrage and the astounding electoral victory of 1953 set the stage for Guyana’s independence.

The setback of the suspension of the constitution and the split in the PPP, although devastating, were temporary. As he did all of his life, Cheddi Jagan shrugged off these defeats and setbacks, focusing instead on the larger picture and the final goal.

Having won the 1957 and 1961 elections, the latter under an advanced, self-governing constitution, independence was now within reach, a realizable goal. But as we know, the massive intervention in Guyana by foreign elements with the collusion of their local henchmen between 1962 and 1964, paralysed the PPP government and eventually ensured its removal.

The professional Jagan/PPP haters, motivated by nothing more than common ill-will and spite, barely capable of stringing two credible thoughts (or sentences) together, constantly whip up sensationalism, hurling epithets, in a frenetic drive to sustain a post retirement dollar.

They seek endlessly to distort Cheddi Jagan’s record and history, constantly boasting of their own tarnished democratic credentials, forgetting their dedicated commitment to a “communist” regime (as described by those they now uphold) which refused to hold elections and which collapsed from its own dead weight, inviting the worst foreign intervention in this region since our countries gained independence.

Cheddi Jagan is constantly portrayed as a ‘monster communist,’ in scenes plucked right out of the discredited Joe McCarthy era of anti-communist hysteria in the US, and regularly regurgitated to us from hack writers pretending to be ‘analysts,’ ‘essayists’ and ‘theorists,’ who wouldn’t recognize a theory if you hit them over the head with one.

But we are never reminded that he is the man who, in desperation at the prospect of independence being postponed, agreed trustingly to place reliance on the self-proclaimed British sense of justice and fairplay to mediate the differences between himself and the opposition, even though he recognized that he might be the loser.

He placed his own political future on the line knowing that independence for Guyana surpassed every other consideration and could not be delayed, whatever the internal political consequences.

This noble act of selfless patriotism has been lost on those whose motives in criticizing Cheddi Jagan are not based on honest and objective analysis but reek to high heavens, the aroma drifting upwards enshrouded in the big coat of a government television programme from which they were rightfully thrown off and now intent on mean and vulgar revenge to him, his people and his works.

However, it was not forgotten by the thousands of all races, creeds and classes who, in the final moment of judgment in March, 1997, rendered a verdict for the ages.

On May 26, 1966, Burnham, then Premier, was stunned by an unfamiliar act of forgiveness and generosity – the appearance of Cheddi Jagan, no longer in power, at the National Park to celebrate with him Guyana’s new status as an independent country and the realization of his dream and pledge in 1949 at Enmore to devote himself to the liberation of Guyana.

The now famous embrace between these two leaders, who have shaped so much of Guyana’s political consciousness, says nothing about Forbes Burnham, the victor, but everything about Cheddi Jagan, the vanquished.

This man who, then aged 47, dedicated most of the remainder of his life to delivering the Guyanese people from the clutches of authoritarian rule, which was aided and abetted by the Western powers, is the most eloquent answer to all those of his detractors who accuse him of supporting dictatorship and of dictatorial conduct.

Cheddi Jagan’s legacy is now in the hands of history which in due course will analyse his works, including his ideological orientation, world view and sympathy with the socialist world during the Cold War.

It will take into account Arthur Schlesinger’s (President Kennedy’s Special Assistant who helped to devise the US’s policy to destabilize Guyana) apology to him in 1993 for conspiring against him and his belated judgment that a “great injustice was done to Cheddi Jagan.”

It will consider whether, having regard to the attitude of Western powers to Guyana and their complicity with the events of 1962/4 and 1968/1985, Cheddi Jagan had any alternative but to seek alliances with the socialist world.

That history is already being written. Professor Rabe’s book, “US Intervention in British Guiana” (Ian Randle Publishers Limited 2005) chronicles the ignoring of the positive reports about Cheddi Jagan, his demonisation and the “destruction of Guyana”.

‘The formation of the Political Affairs Committee in 1947 by four intrepid revolutionaries, Cheddi Jagan, Janet Jagan, Ashton Chase and Jocelyn Hubbard, set the stage for the formation of the Peoples’ Progressive Party in 1950 and for the demand for universal adult suffrage, independence and social justice. The daunting road to that goal did not seem to faze those in the leadership of the PPP. They were inspired and motivated by the American Revolution and the constitution it gave birth to, the principles underlying the Atlantic Charter, India and the Soviet Union. Their youth and revolutionary fervor gave them energy and confidence. They brought hope to the Guyanese people.’

Guyana Sons and Daughters One Nation One Destiny
By Ron Cheong & Nehru Mangal in Toronto, Canada
We are a nation of many races with a single destiny.
Insight into how we came together and the baggage we each carry can only foster better understanding between all Guyanese.

However, like many other colonial peoples, our histories were subjugated for generations.

Much of its deep and meaningful texture has been lost to us.

Nevertheless, there is much that we can take pride in.

Origins
People sometimes remarked in a matter-of-fact manner that, “British Guiana is the land of six races all living together in harmony – Amerindian, White Europeans, Negro, Portuguese, Chinese and East Indian.”

It just seemed to have evolved this way over the years. Whatever their differences and disagreements, most Guyanese could make space for one another in ordinary day-to-day life. And the matter-of-fact manner in which it was spoken of masked an understated satisfaction.

The name Guiana, and later Guyana, is derived from an Amerindian word meaning “land of many waters.” It describes a landscape where rapids that begin in inland regions flow into tributaries, collect, travel overland and rush over waterfalls like the towering Kaieteur, one of the highest falls in the world. The flow continues, and powerful rivers like the Essequibo, Demerara, Berbice and Corentyne take shape, flowing down to meet the Atlantic Ocean, which spans Guyana’s entire north coast.

In the Atlantic their currents from these rivers join with those of the Amazon and Orinoco rivers from Brazil and Venezuela, discharging silt along the coast-lands and at the mouth’s of Guyana’s rivers, and creating sandbars which obstruct large cargo ships but support fishing. Ninety percent of Guyana’s population live on the flat coastal region, which is lower than sea level at high tide in many places.

The Amerindians, a native people, came to the area at least one thousand years ago. Here they settled and lived a simple unchanged life, hunting, fishing and gathering. Centuries later, starting with the Dutch in the early sixteen hundreds, Dutch, British and French colonists arrived from Europe and set up trading posts, forts and towns.

They planted tobacco and established sugar plantations. And from about the mid sixteen hundreds they started bringing Black slaves from Africa to work on the sugar plantations. Over the next two centuries, there was a long series of rivalries and conflicts between the Dutch, French and British during which control over and occupation of the lands often changed hands between these European powers. The British finally wrested sole ownership of the colonies through the London Convention of 1814.

In 1831, the colonies of Essequibo, Demerara and Berbice merged to form the colony of British

Guiana. Soon after, slavery was abolished in 1834. Plantation owners now needing to replace the former

slaves with cheap labour for their labour intensive sugar plantations turned to indentured labourers.

These were lowly paid workers who came to work in conditions resembling slavery, but for an agreed term of usually five years.

Their indentureship contract paid their passage and provided for food and lodging. In some cases there was also a right of repatriation at the end of the term. A small number of Portuguese from Madeira, and later from the Azores and cape Verdes were tried. Chinese were also brought from the south coast of China. However, neither of these groups liked or could handle the work, and they didn’t stick to plantation life.

The sugar estates tried and were more successful with East Indians, who came in large numbers, most of them from northern India. The migration of East Indian Indentured Labourers continued until the early 1900’s swinging the population balance, with East Indians becoming the majority racial group ahead of Blacks.

Following the end of slavery, there was a fair bit of inter-Caribbean migration by former slaves and their offspring, particularly from the smaller islands to the larger islands. In 1898 there was a hurricane in Barbados and St. Vincent, and British Guiana volunteered to take in a few hundred of the islanders. By the early 1900’s more than 40,000 West Indians, mainly from Barbados had come to British Guiana

Living together
In the 1930’s, which were known as the watershed years, the tough times of the Great Depression sparked a remigration among the British West Indian colonies. This population movement gave rise to the beginnings of growing social awareness. Nevertheless, throughout this period and to the end of the Second World War in 1945, the small number of colonial administrators remained the ruling class.

Next in line were the offspring of Black and White European unions who were part of the social middle class of professionals and skilled people. A segment of the Black population completed this group. They had been moving up and had made more gains when some joined the military during the war, returning with new skills.

In general, Blacks gravitated towards urban centres like Georgetown and the Mackenzie-Wismar-Christianburg area where the Demerara Bauxite Company mines were located. They were well represented in the middle class, but the majority remained labourers.

The fair skinned Portuguese, who were not considered White, formed a group of their own in which many were merchants.

More East Indians remained on the plantations or rural villages and planted rice. The few Chinese were spread out, and many of them assimilated into the general population.

Amerindians, like other native peoples were largely marginalised or remained in the inland regions of the country. In the Rupununi area, some intermingled with White settlers.

Living together side by side, these groups evolved a common Guyanese culture akin to a West Indian culture, but with its own distinct traits.

The culture has its own dialect, accent, sayings, proverbs, folklore, favourite dishes, shared common experiences and geography, folk songs, other musical preferences, traditions, festivals, superstitions, values and personality.

Many non-Christians joined in Christmas celebrations, and many Christians join in Deepavali, Phagwah and Eid-Ul-Fitr celebrations.

Mashramani is a national holiday and everyone has seen the steel bands or masquerade.

Guyanese tell stories of moon-gazers, jumbie and the baccoo. Everyone knows that a Guyanese will not come on time. Then he won’t go home until all the rum done.

If a cricket match is on, Guyanese “bird men” will find a limb on a tall tree overlooking the ground. If there is a fete, every Guyanese has a right to get in free. At the same times Guyanese are renowned for their hospitality.

The poorest person in a village will kill a fowl or duck and cook a meal if guests drop in. These things and many more, including the common hardships endured, which none wish for but all take pride in surviving, are some of the things that contribute to a Guyanese identity.

Geography and Culture
The geography of the land also added its unique twists to Guyanese life.

The great rivers that interrupt east-west travel, also give rise to steamers and launches and a river life with its own flavours.

River families could be seen paddling up and down river in balahoos. And the daily lives of many communities were punctuated and ordered by the arrival and departure of the steamer.

Because of flooding on the coast, houses stand in the air on stilts. To keep the ocean out and control flooding, a sea wall runs along much of Atlantic coast.

The coast is also dotted with sluices and kokers and a polder system constructed by the Dutch for drainage. And jetties of concrete and stone stick out into the ocean to divert the currents. These all add to the landscape and the experience of being Guyanese.

Contrasts
Although the colony was on the South American continent, it shared very little in the way of culture or language with its mainland neighbours.

On the west the Venezuelans speak Spanish, to the east the other two Guianas speak Dutch and French, and to the south the Brazilians speak Portuguese. Guyana is also different from its other West Indian relatives, in the make up of the population. Trinidad was the only other British West Indian colony to receive large numbers of East Indian immigrants.

While all Guyanese have a lot in common, the different groups that made up the society also had individual experiences that coloured their outlook and values differently. Blacks had arrived after the Amerindians and the Europeans. But, of the two substantial groups in terms of numbers, the Black population’s ancestry in Guyana extended back longer by two hundred years. Having come over as slaves their family units had been torn apart, parents and children could be separated and sold anytime.

This acceptance had persisted with poorer families. A large number of Black households were headed by women.

It was not uncommon for men to go off looking for work. East Indians, who had come over as indentured labourers held on to their religions. Their religion and native languages like Hindi and Urdu were preserved.

The British were not large in numbers but their language, religion and the reverence of things British permeated the subconscious of a large segment of the population.

Even deranged people walking the street exhibited this condition, and provide the best anecdotes that illustrate the values which people picked up. Walker The British, a Mulatto man, walked around Georgetown in the hot sun with two bricks clasped tightly in his fists while repeating, “the British, the British you fool, highest colour, the British.”

Law And Order was another character. He pushed a cart around in which he had stored a number of large canvass dummies, a whip, a makeshift gallows and a bell used in his countdown to the hangings. He set up his cart at various street corners and lectured on the merits of the law and the judicial system

Guyana boomers
In the postwar years, sanitary technicians were often seen spraying the larvae of malaria carrying mosquitoes from a cistern of pressurized insecticides strapped to their back. And school children faced the regular drill of being lined up for vaccinations against diseases like measles and small pox.

These measures helped to reduce infant mortality rates. In addition the worldwide baby boom had started just about the same time. The lower mortality rate for children and the increased number of births fuelled a surge in the population growth.

People were having four, five and six children, or more. Midwives were very busy and so were hospitals. Medical practice at the time was that a new mother could be kept in a hospital bed for a week after giving birth.

Children were also a sort of built-in social security. They provided more hands to help, and made it more likely later that one or more of the children would be around to help the parents in their old age.

Families often included grandparents, parents and children, all living together in the same household.

To be satisfied, a couple had to have at least one boy child. Common wisdom was that a girl would join her in-laws’ household when she married. However, girls probably played a greater role in holding their birth families together. From childhood girls were generally more cloistered. They stayed closer to their homes and were more involved in domestic activities. This was typical, not true in every instance.

Corporal punishment was in. The belief was, “spare the rod and spoil the child.” If your parents were acquainted with your teacher, preferential treatment meant stricter and sterner rules for you. The primary schools were mostly denominational. The Methodists, Anglicans, Presbyterians, Catholics and the other denominations ran them. Prayers were said three times a day, morning, midday and afternoon. The curriculum focused on what was seen as the functional essentials. Children learned about Pounds, Shilling and Pence.

Socialising, interpersonal communication and most arts were not usually a part of the formal curriculum. Learning was generally imparted by rote and practice, and this worked well for many.

When the children moved on to High School, most of the history learnt at the time was British History, about Cromwell, Thomas Becket, Lord Nelson and the Kings and Queens of England. In geography classes students also learnt about foreign places, and about sand dunes and oxbow lakes. In biology, the Monarch butterfly was studied.

In the decade after the war there was a social and political awakening. Those born during the earlier part of this generation drew more of the older values of their parents and the majority of the population. Children born towards the end of the generation were more exposed to the ideas of those leading change. Each drew from the pooled experience in a different mix.

Politics of the time
In 1953, Guyanese voted in their first ever general election. Universal adult suffrage had been granted, allowing women and none land owning people to vote. The newly adopted constitution allowed for a ministerial form of government but the British appointed governor had most of the real powers, including responsibility for external relations.

The People’s Progressive Party led by Dr. Cheddi Jagan won the elections and formed the Government.

However, the administration was suspended in October of the same year. The British believed that the administration was setting up a communist state. There was a period of interim government from 1953 to 1957.

In 1964, the British with American encouragement, changed the electoral system from “First Past The Post” to Proportional Representation, which the PNC had also been actively campaigning for PR.

Under the First Past The Post system, members were elected by their constituency, and the party with the majority of elected representatives formed the Government. Under Proportional Representation, votes were totalled for the entire country, and seats allocated to each party based on each party’s share of the total vote.

The parties then filled the seats allotted to them with members chosen from their group. The PPP was allotted the largest number of seats of the individual parties, but the opposition was invited to form the government. The PNC with support from the United Force, which was headed by businessman Peter D’Aguair, formed a coalition and assumed power.

Forbes Burnham strengthened his party’s position in the 1968 elections, when the PNC alone formed the next government. Guyana was granted independence from the British on May 26, 1966 and the Cooperative Republic of Guyana was formed in 1970. Forbes Burnham headed the government until his death in 1985. In 1992 the PPP under the Leadership of Dr. Cheddi Jagan were returned to power.

Many of these influences have burrowed themselves deep into the Guyanese psyche and become part of the Guyanese character. They influence the way we instinctively see the world and is part of the heritage we hand down.

At the same time the world has changed. Technology and communication has broadened everyone’s horizons and Guyana is claiming its place on the world stage as a new generation prepares to take the reins.

It’s time to cast-off those limits that have shackled us in the past while embracing the rich history and the land that contribute to what is best in us today.