THE   prestigious and widely circulated TIME Magazine named Janet Jagan as one of history’s most ‘rebellious’ women. This great honour and recognition came as the world community celebrated the 100th anniversary of International Women’s Day which was observed on March 8.

Mrs. Janet Jagan ranks among great women of history including the celebrated Joan of Arc, a 15th century French peasant girl who fought against the British….other popular names mentioned in the TIME citation included Burmese opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi who spent 15 years under house arrest until recently when she was set free by the military junta and Jiang Quing, wife of former Chinese leader Mao Zedong.

Before proceeding further, I need to put two issues into perspective least it be misunderstood or deliberately misrepresented by detractors to create the wrong impression. The term ‘most rebellious’ does not in no way has a negative connotation but is meant to recognize the role played by these women in challenging the status quo which was in the main oppressive and anti-people.

The other salient point to note is that the recognition by TIME is not limited to this decade or century. It went back to time immemorial which makes the citation all the more historically significant. The PPP and the entire country for that matter have been given a lift by such recognition and not just Mrs. Jagan. It is unfortunate that she did not live long enough to experience how the world felt about her and her role in the liberation of Guyana from poverty and undemocratic rule.

Mrs. Jagan ranks among great women of history including the celebrated Joan of Arc, a 15th century French peasant girl who fought against the British and played a key role in the lifting of the siege of Orleans.

She was eventually burnt at the stake by the British for heresy and witchcraft. Other popular names mentioned in the TIME citation included Burmese opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi who spent 15 years under house arrest until recently when she was set free by the military junta and Jiang Quing, wife of former Chinese leader Mao Zedong.

These are ‘rebels’ with a cause most of whom championed the cause of the poor and the downtrodden at tremendous odds as in the case of Phoolam Devi who became famous for taking up the cause of India’s ‘untouchables’ and earned in the process the nickname of “Bandit Queen”.

In the case of Mrs. Jagan the citation read as follows:

“For Chicago born Janet Jagan, the vibrant labour struggles in the mid-20th century of her own country were not enough. After falling in love with Cheddi Jagan, a Guyanese dentistry student at Northwestern, Jagan followed her future husband, with Lenin’s writings in hand, to his homeland in 1943.

Setting up a shop as a dental assistant, she set on a path that would lead to her becoming Guyana’s first woman president. In 1946, she and her husband formed the People’s Progressive Party which sought to promote Marxist ideals as well as decolonization from the United Kingdom.

Strikes in what was then referred to as ‘British Guiana’ by domestic workers in the late 1940s had been inspired by the Jagan’s and the movement attracted the ire of British Prime Minister Winston Churchill who put the Jagans in jail.

But Jagan proved to be a political survivor, remaining in the game despite various attempts to politically purge her from leadership posts. An impolitic public relations campaign singing the praises of the Cuban revolution attracted the attention of John Kennedy in the 1960s who in turn targeted the country’s labour movement.

Relegated to the sidelines, after a leftist government flopped in the 1960s Jagan took to the pages of the Mirror newspaper and became its editor. By the time she was elected the country’s president in 1997, the country achieved the complete independence from Britain that she had sought and nationalized much of its economy.”

This citation by the TIME Magazine provides a panoramic view of the epic struggles waged by Mrs. Jagan and her husband Cheddi Jagan for the liberation of Guyana from the yoke of colonialism and neo-colonialism and for a free and democratic Guyana.

This is why the PPP of which they are founding members remain wedded to the ideas and ideals that they passionately embraced and defended throughout their political life which together surpassed a hundred years, quite a remarkable contribution by any political couple.

The fact that Janet Jagan was identified as one of the outstanding women of history by an international magazine with a readership that run into millions is, in my view, a fitting tribute to someone who had dedicated her entire life along with that of her husband Dr. Cheddi Jagan for the cause of humanity.

For a small developing country with a population of less than a million people, Mrs. Jagan’s contribution had to be extraordinary and outstanding to have gained the notice of the directorate of the Time magazine.

Mrs. Jagan and the fifteen others named in the Magazine had one thing in common: they were all women of substance who were prepared to defend and struggle for what they believed in. Those of us who know Dr. and Mrs. Jagan can attest to their strength of character and to their warmth and humility which characterized their lives.

Mirror, of which she was a contributor and editor, is especially proud of her as indeed the PPP and its entire membership.