– at pre-Arrival Day celebration
PRESIDENT Bharrat Jagdeo has saluted the invaluable contributions made by ancestors of the different ethnic groups in Guyana and the enormous impact they have had on the country’s culture.
The Head of State was at the time speaking at a cultural event on Sunday evening organized by the Guyana Hindu Dharmic Sabha at the Guyana National Stadium at Providence, in the lead up to Arrival Day on May 5.
The occasion which commemorates the contributions of East Indians who came as immigrants to the shores of Guyana took the form of songs and dances by artistes from Guyana and neighbouring Trinidad and Tobago.
“As we celebrate this wonderful culture of our ancestors gifted to us, we need to remain broadminded to recognize that we are just part of this big culture and this big society that we call Guyana,” President Jagdeo said.
According to a report from the Government Information Agency (GINA), he lauded the patrons for turning out in their numbers to acknowledge the contributions of people of Indian descent to Guyana and reflected on the struggles of all the ancestors for the freedoms enjoyed today.
“That struggle to create a nation, the Guyanese nation, did not start just with Indians who came here; it started a long time ago with the indigenous people,” President Jagdeo said.
The Amerindians hold the reputation as the first inhabitants of the land before the arrival of European colonizers and, according to President Jagdeo, they continue to change the stigma attached to them as museum pieces and mendicants.
“Until recently, their culture was not recognized as equal and so too, they were not recognized as equal to other people. Today I’m pleased that is changing,” the Guyanese head of state posited.
He also acknowledged the journey and contributions of people of African descent and alluded to the era of slavery and the struggle for liberty and equal rights.
“There was a time when there was an aggressive assault on any culture that was not western or European. Our culture was seen as backward, a pagan culture, something to be gotten rid of, and there were aggressive State policies introduced by the colonizers to do just that… Fortunately, because of the struggles of our ancestors…we have managed to regain this beautiful culture to enrich the Guyanese cultural landscape,” President Jagdeo said.
The formation of the People’s Progressive Party (PPP) in the 1950s was seen as the first attempt at organized struggle against colonisalism which, in the long run, was victorious.
President Jagdeo called on the gathering never to take for granted the freedoms enjoyed today, pleading particularly to the young generation.