‘Fireball’ sets Berbice ablaze with call to action
–urges womenfolk to come out against oppression

ON the occasion of the 41st anniversary of the Ballot Box Martyrs, the ruling People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) held a wreath-laying ceremony and public meeting to honour their fallen comrades who paid the ultimate price in defence of democracy.

‘They call me the ‘Fireball’ and it will continue because, we are going to have more ‘Fireballs’ in Berbice… I have seen this passion in many of my sisters during our years of struggle for democracy’

Bholanauth Parmanand, 45, and Jagan Ramessar, 17, were shot dead by members of the Guyana Defence Force on the evening of the general elections on July 16, 1973 outside of the polling station at Number 63 Village on the Corentyne, while demanding that the PPP votes be counted at the place of poll, or a Party agent be allowed to accompany the ballot boxes to wherever the military personnel were instructed to take them.

‘…we must stand ready to confront the lawmen who are politically driven; if they want to lock me up again, I am here. And all women should take this stance to fight oppression… Big girls don’t cry! Let justice triumph, irrespective of the outcome! Our martyrs are testimony to this fact!’

On Wednesday, a formal wreath-laying ceremony was held at the graves of the martyrs at the Number 66 cemetery, where homage was paid by members of the Central Executive Committee of the PPP/C, the Progressive

Youth Organisation (PYO), political activists and relatives.

WE MUST HONOUR THEM
At the public meeting, which was held at the monument site, Number 63 Village, PPP/C General Secretary and Minister of Home Affairs, Clement Rohee called on those in attendance to acknowledge the sacrifice of the martyrs who died in defence of the rights of PPP supporters.
“These are our heroes, and we must honour them because they paid the ultimate price by giving their lives so that we can enjoy the benefits of democracy … If they had not done so, our history would have been different,” he said.

Rohee declared that the names of the martyrs would forever be etched in the annals of Guyana’s history, and that the nation should never ignore their sacrifice.
“These men died while trying to prevent the PNC from mixing up the votes and changing them in the ballot box … but a lot of people today do not know about this, and when this incident is spoken of, it does not mean anything to some people; they just do not connect to the history of this country,” he said, adding: “Any person or nation that does not connect to their history is sadly lacking…”

BIG GIRLS DON’T CRY
PPP/C stalwart, Mrs. Philomena Sahoye-Shury took to the podium while chanting, “Fire! Fire!” as she greeted her womenfolk and delivered fiery remarks that invoked periodic applause.
“These two men (the martyrs) knew the crookery and the insult of Man’s intelligence… which is why they sought to protect the ballot boxes,” she asserted.
Shury re-defined herself as the ‘Fireball’ when she called upon her womenfolk to stand up for democracy.
“They call me the ‘Fireball’ and it will continue because, we are going to have more ‘Fireballs’ in Berbice… I have seen this passion in many of my sisters

during our years of struggle for democracy,” she said, adding:

“Like Bholanauth Parmanand and Jagan Ramessar, we must stand ready to confront the lawmen who are politically driven; if they want to lock me up again, I am here, and all women should take this stance to fight oppression…
“Big girls don’t cry! Let justice triumph, irrespective of the outcome… our martyrs are testimony to this fact!” she declared.

COME CLEAN
PPP/C Member of Parliament(MP), Dr. Vishwa Mahadeo, who was part of the gathering when the horrific event took place, urged the fair-sized gathering to hold on to the events of the past and learn the lessons of the dark days in the history of Guyana.
He said: “All that we were asking for is … that our ballots be counted right here at the polling station, so that the PPP votes will not be ‘baptized’ and become PNC votes.”
Dr. Mahadeo added: “Such a simple and fair request resulted in the fatal shooting of our two young comrades by the Burnham regime …. if the nation ignores this event, it would be a grave injustice to the martyrs.”
Another PPP/C Member of Parliament, Faizal Jafarally then made a vociferous call on the political opposition to “set the record straight.”
“It is time that the PNC, under the disguise of APNU …. come clean and tell the nation about who is responsible for the death of these two young men,” he encouraged.
Also in attendance at the event was the Executive Secretary of the PPP Zulfikar Mustapha, who mingled and held several discussions among the gathering as he sought to encourage supporters to focus on the developmental plans of the PPP/C administration and not to be distracted by the ‘naysayers and doomsayers’.

(By Michael Khan)