Today marks 56 years since one of the most unfortunate and tragic events in our political history took place. It was on October 9, 1953 the British government suspended the Constitution of Guyana and removed a freely elected People’s Progressive Party (PPP) government after it was in office for only 133 days and installed a puppet interim government of its choice. It was one of the darkest days in the history of our country.

Maybe this single incident, more than any other, determined the course of this country’s politics because it marked the beginning of the division of a united anti-colonial/pro-independence movement along political and ethnic lines which our society is still struggling to resolve.

What was a great irony in this scenario is the fact that the 1953 election was the first ever to be held under Adult Suffrage and saw the PPP led by Dr. Cheddi Jagan won a landslide victory. Of course the achievement of having Adult Suffrage came as a result of a long battle waged against the colonial power, first by the forerunner of the PPP-the Political Affairs Committee (PAC) which was formed in 1947 shortly after Dr. Jagan returned to Guyana after completing studies in the U.S, along with his wife Janet Jagan. Eventually in 1950, the PPP was born out of the womb of the PAC and it immediately set out as one of its major goals the attainment of independence, and from thereon galvanised the masses and built up a powerful and united anti-colonial movement which most naturally was not to the liking of the colonial master. The independence struggle here was of course deeply influenced and inspired by India’s struggle as well as the struggles that were being waged in many African countries in their quest for liberation from British colonialism.

In the 1950s the British became panicky and frantic as the anti-colonial movement within its Empire intensified and gained momentum and as such it increasingly resorted to strong arm and interventionist tactics and the PPP government was one of the victims of this scenario. Of special note is the fact that at that time nearly all the anti-colonial political movements within the British colonial empire were tarred with the “communist brush” and in the case of the PPP it was used as the launching pad for the suspension of the constitution and the forcible removal of a freely elected government. It should be noted to that in 1953 as well, the Mossadegh government in Iran was overthrown by the western powers and the dictator, Shah of Iran was installed. What was ironic in Mossadegh’s case is that by no stretch of imagination he could be regarded as a communist. On the contrary was staunchly ant-communist, but he was also tarred with the “communist brush.” The real reason behind his overthrow was because he nationalised the local oil industry was being controlled by powerful western companies. So communism was used as the “bogey-man” and the excuse for intervention when governments did not pursue policies of the liking of the British and its allies.

British troops who were brought here were told that their role is to quell a rebellion and to stop the violence which was erupting here. However, as Dr. Jagan recalls in his book “Forbidden Freedom” when the troops landed here they were puzzled because the found a peaceful country with no indications of violence.

But early on being ignorant of the practices of Hinduism they took the red jhandi flags which Hindus have in their yards for being communist flags and several persons were harassed. However, this subsided when it was explained to the troops the significance of those flags.

The Governor at the time, Sir Alfred Savage in his address to the nation on the issue said: “My first duty is to maintain law and order and I call upon the Police and Volunteer Force to carry out faithfully the tasks assigned to them. I know attempts have been made in recent months to undermine your loyalty to the Crown and by intimidation and other methods to seduce you from the high traditions of the Forces to which you belong. I know the strain which this has put on you but I rely on each one of you to do your duty without fear or favour and to obey your superior officers implicitly as you have done at all times in the past and in particular during the recent strike in the sugar industry.”

So the stage was clearly set for the suspension of the constitution and the removal of the government and this was followed by a number of PPP leaders being jailed including Dr. Jagan and his wife Mrs. Janet Jagan for breaking a restriction which was placed on them aimed at preventing them from meeting with the people.

However, during this period there another unfortunate development as the PPP being split by a group of opportunists led by L.F. S Burnham hungry for political power.

Burnham demanded leader or nothing and when he did not get his way broke away with his supporters in 1955 and for a period of time there were two PPPs-one led by Dr. Jagan and the other by Burnham, the latter eventually becoming the People’s National Congress (PNC) now PNCR.

Eventually the British and Americans were courting Burnham in a move designed to defeat the PPP which they did not want to lead the country to independence. However, in the 1957 and 1961 elections the PPP won overwhelmingly. But these elections were held under the First Past the Post system and in 1964 the British imposed the Proportional Representation (PR) system and even though the PPP won the largest number of votes but was below 50% of the votes cast and a coalition between the PNC and United Force, (UF) arranged through a Anglo-American, formed the government and we all know what happened after that.

It was because of the grave injustice that befell this nation on this date Dr. Jagan chose October 9 in 1992 for his historic inauguration as the first freely elected executive President of Guyana.