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The intrepid Harripersaud Nokta is the latest chronicler of Guyana’s history of stuggle, written from the bowels of experience. There is no-one more responsible for hinterland development as Harripersaud Nokta, and he may be the most beloved non-Amerindian in the indigenous population living in the hinterland regions. His forays into dangerous, uncharted interior territories and – literally and figuratively, waters have found voice to tell a story of adventure through his pen. In these times, when dishonest, wicked people are trying to whitewash their crimes against the Guyanese nation by re-writing this country’s history, more books like Nokta’s “A Journey, a challenge” need to be written. This book held me in thrall until the last pages. Readers, the following excerpts should allow you to judge for yourself.
For those with an open mind who want to learn the truth about Guyana’s history, Nokta’s accounts are just that – the plain, simple, unvarnished truth told by a simple man in simple language. In his book Nokta traced his ancestry from the time of indentureship to the era of restoration of democracy and the struggle to restore the people and country itself to a place where everyone can enjoy the heaven on earth that Dr. Jagan envisioned and fought for in Guyana.
Origins
Of the way his ancestor came to Guyana and his colonial-given name ‘Nokta’, the author wrote: “ Sanataun (Sanatan) – No. 145 Ex Ship Cambodiah 1858. Bound for Plantation
Clonbrook, East Coast Demerara in the Colony of British Guiana.
2. Soneechury (Sancharie) – No. 334 Ex Ship Himalayah 1869 bound for Mainstay,
Essequibo Coast in the Colony of British Guiana.
3. Ramcoomar (Rajcoomar) – No. 34 Ex Ship B.R 1869 arrived at Plantation
Mainstay on the Essequibo Coast
4. Ammani (Amni) – No. 447 Ex Ship Hereford 1885. Bound for Golden Fleece on the Essequibo Coast.
Even the name of my father, which should have been recorded as Sookram, was written as Nokta at the time when his birth was being registered. Explanation given was that my grandfather (aajah), who could not understand much English,was repeatedly asked by the Immigration Officer to provide a surname.
It went like this:-
Rajcoomar informed the Immigration Officer, “Beta Naam Sookram.” (“My son’s
name is Sookram.”)
The Immigration Officer asked, “What more?”
Rajcoomar repeatedly said, “Sookram”, while the Immigration Officer was
repeatedly asking for a surname – “And what more?” “And what more?”“And
what more?” Exasperatedly,in an angry tone, Rajcoomar said “Nokta”. In English
the word means dot. The officer then spelt Nokta and recorded my father’s
name as Nokta.”
Nokta described life yesteryears in rural communities: “Public holidays, such as Christmas, New Year’s day, Phagwah, Eid, Easter,
Deepavali and others were celebrated by all, as were village school sports,
cultural activities, weddings, religious functions, masquerades, congo dances,
and other celebratory events. This collective community celebration fostered unity and made life happy for both young and old in the community…. Both my father and uncle, along with their wives and children, lived together as
one family in one very overcrowded house, working the rice fields, cooking and
eating from one family pot out of a single-family income.
To manage a family of that size without any regular cash flow was a gigantic task.
Economists of the day will no doubt be puzzled to measure how that could be
possible. In the system then prevailing, most cultivable lands, rice mills, grocery
stores and other business enterprises were all owned by landlords. Credit was
given for everything a family needed, with payments made at the end of the rice crop, when the padi yields were taken to the rice mills. This was known as the “mark-a-book” system and was the way of existence for many families in those days. At the end of the crop, when the books were tallied, the farmer most times ended up with a balance on the account, then the shop-keeper most often would say “OK, you can continue: Next crop, you may do better”, which was a cycle of subsistence around the rice crop, and survival on the bi-annual yields. However, life then was simple, with everyone living basic lives, where kitchen gardens were grown, poultry reared, and cows kept for milking by almost every family, as well as other livestock. There was also a great deal of sharing of over-bountiful
produce among neighbours and friends. Fish and fruits were plentiful and free
for the catching and the picking, so despite a scarcity of real cash, children grew
up healthy in communities where everyone looked out for each other.
Unity, love, religious beliefs, contentment, cultural life, working together as
one big family, and eating rice as a staple, rearing cattle, catching fishes in the
trenches, cultivating ground provision and vegetable gardens; ‘eat what you
produce and produce what you eat’ was the common pattern of life and living
for most families.
We owed our existence as a united family to the land, trees, coconut cultivation,
trenches, river, cattle, pasture and all the dynamics of community life that have,
sadly, almost disappeared from the landscape of Guyana during these modern,
fast-paced times, where material acquisitions matter more than people, even
among families.
The male adults in our collective family were a sizeable labour force, while the
two mothers and adult girls managed the household and domestic chores.”
The peasant class lived a serf-like existence, never questioning this mode of living, until Dr. Jagan awakened their consciousness to greater inherent potentials.
“This unique feudal pattern of socio-economic existence was distinctly identifiable
as an inhibitor to the development of the peasantry and constrained them to live
in a penurious cycle.
However, by 1953, a political awakening among Essequibians started with forays
by Dr. Cheddi Jagan and the People’s Progressive Party (PPP); and as the PPP’s
campaign gained momentum, with the leader Dr. Cheddi Jagan, Mrs. Janet Jagan
and other PPP leaders visiting the Essequibo Coast and holding meetings, the
popularity of the PPP grew stronger.
The influence of Janet Jagan, lovingly referred to as the ‘blue-eyed bhoujie’
(elder brother’s wife) was tremendous as she appeared and spoke on several
platforms, especially among poor working-class women.
The message for a change of life and for a better lifestyle, with greater
opportunities for personal and community development was widely spread.
The rallying call for a brighter tomorrow was the battle song of the PPP, with a
message of hope of ending poverty and exploitation, ending landlordism, ending
colonialism and all the factors that kept the peasant classmired in a cycle of
poverty and under the dominance of the elitists and colonials.
The new political paradigm of struggling for a social system that ensured a fair
day’s pay for work done, an eight hours work day, better health care, among
others; and these and more equitable social justice was what the people looked
for under the PPP and Dr. Cheddi Jagan’s leadership, whose vision to struggle for
brighter days was gaining momentum.
However, the opposition parties were spreading anti-communist propaganda,
saying that ‘Jagan does not believe in God; Communism is evil; freedom will be
taken away and business would be nationalized; Jagan and Janet are Russian
stooges.’ Despite this campaign of hate and rumour mongering the PPP and
its youth arm, the Progressive Youth Organisation (PYO), were gaining more
popularity all over the coast.”
Struggling for democracy
The struggle continued even after independence, and Nokta writes: “The PPP struggled for better social and economic livelihood, independence, an
end to landlordism, and to improve health, education, and the general wellbeing
of working class people; and this was the Party’s battle cry for change. Dr. Cheddi
Jagan, his wife Janet Jagan and other leaders of the PPP constantly visited and
held meetings with the masses to bring political education and an awareness
that there was a way out of poverty.
As Dr. Jagan recorded in his book “The West on Trial”, “he took the people to the
parliament and brought the parliament to the people”.
The PPP’s influence on the masses was expanding countrywide, and the PYO
attracted the young people from every walk of life. PPP, WPO and PYO groups
were being formed everywhere in the Suddie constituency, stretching from
Supenaam to Lima and beyond. In Huis-t-Dieren a PYO group was established,
which many of my schoolmates and other young villagers joined, and, together
with members from other groups, we engaged in distributing handbills, selling
the ‘Thunder’, painting slogans, organizing bottom house and public meetings,
did fund raising, held discussions, and solicited membership for the PYO and PPP.
Every visiting team of party leaders from Georgetown, especially leaders like
Dr. Jagan, Mrs. Janet Jagan, C.V.Nunes, Brindley Benn and others served the
Essequibo population, especially the poor. Such visits instilled political awareness
and motivated the masses; hence the influence and strength of the PPP as a
political party grew and spread.
Comrade C.V. Nunes was one of the PPP leaders who paid special interest and
exercised much patience in party building on the Essequibo Coast. He would
visit, make contacts, and keep in regular touch with activists; giving guidance and
encouragement to youths and activists and scores of other young party and PYO
members.
Indeed, he inculcated in me personally that spirit and determination to struggle
and organize with the PPP, and it was with such encouragement that I developed
a desire to give as much of my time and efforts to make the party a great fighting
force. True to the struggle of the working people, and in keeping with the
objectives of the PPP, I voluntarily took on whatever assignment I was capable
of doing, as given to me by Cde. C.V. Nunes. Often he would take me along with
him in his Volkswagen car to visit and hold meetings with party groups in various
communities. In doing so, every visit helped me to learn more about the working
class struggle.
From there on there was no turning back.”
When the going gets tough, only the tough and determined can keep going
The perils were manifold, as Nokta recalls “…As I
disembarked the ferry and walked by the Stabroek Market area a Portuguese
man began shouting at me, using expletives and accusing me of being a Jagan
and Castro stooge. My red shirt and Castro-like beard was to him like a red cloth
to a bull. He grabbed my shirt and attempted to wrestle with me; in the process
my watch and PYO membership card got damaged. He looked intoxicated so I
gave him a push and continued walking to Freedom House on Robb Street….
“Some of the affluent landlords, influential business people, some church leaders
and opposition parties opposed the granting of independence, an eventuality
that Dr. Jagan and the PPP had been lobbying for at every probable international
forum. They also encouraged racial fears between the two major races. Despite
all of that, the PPP emerged victorious at the 1961 General Elections and Dr.
Jagan, newly-elected Leader of the Government, was designated Premier.
The agitation for independence by the PPP became more pronounced and
widespread but, sadly, a general strike was organized by the opposition, working
in collaboration with foreign forces, ostensibly to protest the first Kaldor budget,
which was presented in 1962 by the PPP government. However, the real intention
was to topple the Jagan government and was a plot hatched by the PNC, the
British and the Americans as a strategy to force the Jagan administration out of
office.
This was used to foment racial strife and unrest, the consequences of which led to
street protests and demonstrations, followed by looting and burning of business
places in the commercial areas of Georgetown. The tragic and disastrous events
leading to the devastating conflagration in Georgetown left an indelible mark on
our history, in that Friday, February 16, 1962, since then has been known as Black
Friday in Guyana. This situation resulted in great fear and losses for many, much
to the satisfaction of opposition forces, both locally and externally.”
The opposition was ruthless, and lives meant nothing to them. “Shortly afterwards Cde. Cecil Latchman, the Party Organiser who had earlier
been sent to work in Essequibo, was transferred to work on the East Bank of
Demerara, where he suspiciously died in a motorcycle crash.”
“One of the most heinous acts of the opposition and the colonial overlords was the
bombing of the PPP’s Progressive Book Shop on July 17, 1964 which was housed
under the PPP Headquarters, and the Gimpex Building, which was the Party’s
commercial arm, located at Brickdam. These and related acts of violence were
deliberate attempts to delay granting Independence to British Guiana under Dr.
Cheddi Jagan and the PPP government; and also to drive fear into supporters and
discourage support for both entities, the PPP Government and the Party.
Moreso, the plotters intended to completely destroy the PPP, because the bomb
at Freedom House was meant to completely eradicate the PPP leadership,
who were only saved because of the heroism of one young employee of the
Progressive Book Shop.
That bomb killed young Michael Forde, a PYO member who was employed
in the bookstore, and Comrade Eddie Griffith, who was employed at Gimpex;
both of whom were killed by the bombs exploding at their respective places of
employment. However, it was young Michael Forde who grabbed the suspicious
parcel containing the bomb at Freedom House and in attempting to dispose of it
was blasted to death, thus saving the lives of Mrs. Jagan and other Party leaders
who were at the Party’s headquarters when the bomb exploded. Another blatant
act of political destabilization was the exposed X 13 plan which pointed to an
organized plot to attack and bomb Government institutions and selected PPP
properties and even individuals.
The manager of the bookstore, Cde. Una Mulzac, an Afro-American woman, and
some Party leaders on the upper floor of the building were injured. After the
bombing, the name of the bookstore was changed from the Progressive Book
Shop to the Michael Forde Book Shop.
Euna Mulzac, the Afro-American manager
of the bookstore, was also a target of the anti-progressive, anti-Marxist and anti-independence
forces in and out of colonial British Guiana.”
“Basil James, an Amerindian Member of Parliament, was described by the
police stationed at Kamarang as a political Amerindian. He was detained at
Kamarang and sent back to Georgetown on the return plane. Such was the type
of restriction placed on PPP Leaders and activists, especially when it involved
visiting Amerindian Communities. Basil James disappeared in the Morebo River,
a branch of the Waini River on 12th May, 1990 whilst travelling down from
Moruka to Hosororo. He was never again seen since, as was suspected in the
case of Party organizer Cecil Latchman, he was probably murdered while on duty.”
And dangers also came from nature – almost drowning in the Atlantic Ocean after their boat had capsized, to fighting jaguar and rattlesnake, Nokta recounts: “Suddenly, as I instinctively looked down I saw the head of a Labaria snake pushing
out between my legs from under the tree bark, unaware of what was restricting
its movement, which was my body weight.
That was indeed a dangerous moment, because if I had involuntary jumped up,
which would have been a natural reaction, the snake would have struck and I
would have died that very day being in such a remote area.
Even if I had attempted to get up slowly it would have freed itself up and bit me,
so I sat quietly and whispered to Basil James, pointing to the snake.
Upon seeing the snake between my legs he became almost paralysed with fear.
He looked on fearfully as I put down the plate of food and slowly slid my left hand
nearest to it. With a swift action I grabbed the snake by the neck with my hands,
holding it tightly with all my strength so that it could not slide away.
I then eased my weight off the log and stood up while the reptile, caught in a
tight squeeze, wrapped its body around my outstretched left arm. Basil James
then handed me the cutlass with which I pounded the labaria’s head on a solid
part of the tree, still holding its neck tightly, it slowly uncoiled itself off my left
hand as it died.
It was another escape from death for me, because if I had been bitten at that
distance away from the nearest hospital the poison would have spread in my
body too quickly for me to survive.”
Dawn of a new era
Good always overcomes evil, and a new dawn broke over the Guyanese landscape on 5th October 1992: “Victory for the PPP at the 1992 Regional and General Elections brought about that
change as Guyana entered into a new phase. Dr. Cheddi Jagan, the indomitable
fighter and leader of Guyanese masses, while addressing the nation and looking
back to the twenty-eight years of punishment and suffering, hailed the PPP’s
historic victory on October 5th 1992 as the “Dawn of a New Era”.
It was indeed, for Dr. Cheddi Jagan, General-Secretary and Leader of the People’s
Progressive Party, as well as all freedom loving Guyanese, a day richly rewarded.
As he stood tall and confident whilst being sworn in at State House on the 9th
October 1992 as the first democratically elected President in a free and fair
election, joyful emotions engulfed me as I sat among hundreds looking on at the
proceedings.
For twenty eight-years, being in the opposition and having to face tremendous
difficulties, Cde. Cheddi Jagan – that wise, dedicated, consistent, brave, and
patriotic fighter for freedom of the Guyanese people kept the PPP and all its
members together as a disciplined party and a fighting force, and thus brought
the nation and its suffering masses out of the dark days into a new era of hope
and confidence. Change had come, and that change heralded the challenge to
rebuild Guyana into a more progressive society.”
“Together this team, along with the many party organizers and foot soldiers all
over Guyana, blazed the trail to victory.”
And the Guyana story continues, with the PPP trying to forge unity and bringing to the nation peace, progress and prosperity; while the other political parties unrelentingly cause, divide, hatred, chaos, murder and mayhem.
But the course charted by the Father of the Nation will eventually fructify as he had envisioned, as successive generations of foot soldiers are born from from the cradle of his dreams.
