At IAC Lusignan commemorative event
During the commemorative activities to mark the anniversaries of the Lusignan and Bartica massacres, held at the Lusignan tarmac last Wednesday evening, Minister Irfaan Ali commenced his presentation by quoting our motto: “One People, One Nation, with One Destiny”, and said that we sometimes take the essence of our motto very lightly.

Minister Irfaan Ali addresses the commemorative event at Lusignan.

But according to the Minister, that oneness referred to in Guyana’s motto also reflects a oneness in the sharing of victory, in the sharing of pain, and in the sharing of successes.

The Minister spoke of the hardened hearts of some sections of society, as they attempted to discourage the people’s participation in the sharing of the oneness of the pain that was inflicted on the Lusignan and Bartica communities. He said that these persons may be misguided and that events like these should be replicated throughout our country, so that a consciousness can be restored to enable us to again awaken as a people and understand that we have a collective responsibility toward each other – to protect each other.

According to Minister Ali, that is why we are regarded as an independent nation, and a nation is not one person, nor one community, but is comprised of every single citizen of the country, and the murderous events committed two years ago was a pain inflicted on a nation – our nation.

He made mention of the personal grief of Guyana’s Head-of-State, who has collective responsibility for this nation, and said that while the intensity of no one’s grief can equate to the anguish of those who lost loved ones under such tragic circumstances, the entire nation was engulfed in feelings of disbelief and pain. Minister Ali alluded to the aggressive and murderous acts directed against Government and its functionaries, including Minister Sash Sawh and his family, as a continuum of aggression against the administration that swamped the land with terror.

Saying that the pain of the people cannot be erased, because that pain was engendered by actions that are now part of our country’s history, as bad and as ruthless as they were, the Minister encouraged that these experiences must serve as a catalyst for us to resolve that we must charter a future of hope and promise that such events would never recur.

He said that the actions of our past must strengthen our resolve to determine and charter the course of our destiny, and that we need to take action now to protect ourselves from the nature of the beast.

The Minister said that all Guyana are standing hand-in-hand in a strengthening circle of solidarity with those who lost loved ones to such tragic circumstances, including members of Guyana’s security forces, who have themselves been under siege by the terrorists in the land, because we are all part of a broader family.

According to Minister Ali, this is what reinforces the strength and the spirit of the Guyanese people. He said that all those who were lost to the weapons of terrorists have become an integral part of the history of this country, so they will never be forgotten.

The process of healing is important, according to the Minister, but he said that healing cannot take place without understanding the nature of the event, and while some persons are re-writing Guyana’s history by distorting events and reconfiguring facts, all of Guyana understands the genesis of the merciless actions of the terrorists.

“But most important,” said the Minister, “the people of Guyana did not yield to the silent objective of the intellectual architects of the carnage in the land.

“And that itself is a victory for us to celebrate in oneness as a people, because in other countries, events like these lead to widespread chaos and violence.

“But here in Guyana the responsibility of us as a people led us to the mature understanding that in the fragility of life, in the ruthless gunfire that despoiled innocent lives, still there was enough space in our hearts to reflect, to forgive, and to move on toward a future of hope, prosperity, peace and happiness as a collective Guyanese nation.

“As a nation situations and challenges would continue to confront us, but the way we respond to the situations and challenges is what would define us as a country, as a people, and as a nation.”