FORMER President Dr Bharrat Jagdeo has called on all Guyanese to unite and fight racism with “every ounce of blood” in their bodies.

He says that that demon, once propagated by the former colonial rulers, is again rearing its ugly head.

Addressing scores of youths at the Progressive Youth Organisation’s (PYO’s) “Night of Reflection”, held at Red House in Kingston, Georgetown last Friday evening, the former Head of State passionately urged his audience not to allow the demon of racism to raise its ugly head again. “We have to chop it off!” he said to resounding applause from the huge gathering.

Jagdeo said that although he is of Indian ancestry and is proud of his origin, he is first and foremost a Guyanese, and is proud to serve the People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C), which remains a servant of the people.

The county’s longest serving President said that most of the freedoms the citizenry enjoys today were not served them on a silver platter, but came about as a result of struggle; and he said that at the forefront of that struggle was Dr Cheddi Jagan, the founding leader of the PPP!

He urged his audience — and Guyanese in general — not to take the freedoms they enjoy today for granted, but to acquaint themselves with their history, as that would enable them to know the oppressors of freedom who today camouflage themselves as freedom fighters.

Advising that the PYO is about struggle, Dr Jagdeo said the development of Guyana remains a great struggle, and Guyanese must be eternally vigilant against those who want to distort the history of this country.

He warned that, if taken for granted, the freedoms his audience enjoys today can be snatch away by the so-called “freedom fighters”.

Delving into history, the former President reminded the gathering of youth that at one time Guyanese were treated as second class citizens in their own country by the colonial rulers.

FIGHT FOR CHANGE
He said that when Dr Jagan returned from the USA, after completing studies there, he and his wife Janet, also a former President, saw the oppression of the locals and vowed to change it.
This led to formation of the PPP, and the struggle for change began.

In those days, he said, persons had to have property and education to be allowed to vote, and the Jagans and the PPP fought against those constraints and got them changed.

Jagdeo also said that persons had to change their religion in order to get a job in the public service and to attend a public school; this, too, the PPP led by Dr Jagan opposed, and caused a reversal in policy.

In Guyana, Jagdeo said, there was a mild form of apartheid in the bauxite industry, where the white administrators lived separately from the masses in the mining town of Linden. This was also changed by the PPP.

Jagdeo said many people were landless and lived in hopeless situations; and through the dedicated and spirited struggle of Dr Jagan, the PPP was able to right those wrongs, and that party still continues to do so in a meaningful way.

He reminded that the PYO, which was once outlawed by the powers of the day for standing up for what it stood for, is about change, and change is an eternal process.

EXTENDED FAMILY

In the scheme of things, the former President said the PYO is one family, and the People’s National Congress Reform (PNCR) must be viewed as an extended family.

He said supporters of the PNCR, which is now the largest partner in the coalition named A Partnership for National Unity (APNU), which has recently been merged with the Alliance For Change (AFC), are “our relatives”, but “we share a different view”.

For the PPP, he said, the motivation to struggle is rooted in change, and anyone who embraces this view, including those in the PNCR, can find a place in the PPP camp. This, he said, is what the PPP is about: “About real things!”

He emphasised that “the struggles of the PPP are synonymous with the struggles of Dr Jagan”, which represent “struggle for change”.

But, he said, it was never an easy road for the PPP. He noted that when the British colonial masters were not there to perpetuate their divide-and-rule strategy, they used Opposition elements to foment racism and divisiveness, resulting in unlawful removal of the PPP from office.

UNDEMOCRATIC RULE
Dr Jagdeo said that from the time the PPP had been deposed from office up to 1992, the country endured three decades of undemocratic rule, a downward spiral in development, and the prosecution and killing of those who opposed the PNC regime.

Because of the wanton rigging of elections, he said, in 1973, two young PYO members tried to follow the ballot box, in keeping with the right to a free and fair election, but paid for that action with their lives.

Accordingly, the former President reminded that youths of today have to learn about the past, as it is important to preserve the freedoms they presently enjoy. These, he said, are products of the selfless struggles of Dr Jagan and the PPP.

The struggle, he said, is not only for a better Guyana, with social and infrastructural development; but also — and most importantly – it is a struggle for unity among people of all ethnic groups and from every strata of society.

This is what Dr Jagan stood for, Jagdeo said, noting that the Jagan philosophy remains the guiding light of the PPP as that party strives to build a better Guyana for all Guyanese.

The ‘Night of Reflection’ hosted by the PYO was in remembrance of the life and work of Dr Jagan, who is regarded as the Father of the Nation.

ABOUT DR JAGAN
Dr Jagan was born on March 22, 1918, and passed away in the USA after a brief illness on March 6, 1997.

He was first elected Chief Minister of British Guiana in 1953, and later became Premier from 1961 to 1964, before he later served as President of Guyana from 1992 to 1997.

Dr Jagan had been the son of indentured sugar workers. His parents, Bachoni (mother) and Jagan (father), had arrived in the then British Guiana from the district of Basti in Uttar Pradesh, India as young infants with their respective mothers.

Both his grandmothers came as Indentured immigrants in 1901, and were “bound” by five-year contracts to different sugar plantations in the county of Berbice.

Life was very hard, and both his parents had to start working in the cane fields at a young age to supplement the family income, a brief biography of the former President, carried on the Cheddi Jagan Research Centre website, says.

It said his mother had never gone to school, but his father had been a bit more fortunate, having attended school for three years.
“Because his father worked very hard, he earned the reputation of being the best cane cutter, and was promoted to ‘driver’; but still his pay was very small, and because he was non-white there was no further avenue of promotion. He thus saw the need for formal education, and made sure that his son, Cheddi Jagan, attended school,” the site noted.

By Tajeram Mohabir

‘THANK YOU SAM!’: Guyana’s longest serving Prime Minister, Samuel Hinds, receives a plaque from the Progressive Youth Organisation (PYO) in recognition of his sterling and yeoman service to our beloved country, at a ‘Night of Reflection’ held at Red House last Friday evening on the life and works of the late Dr Cheddi Jagan. Sharing in the moment is former President Dr Bharrat Jagdeo and PPP General Secretary Mr Clement Rohee (Adrian Narine photo)