MASHRAMANI, as Republic Day is now commonly called, is just three weeks away and its programmes have already started in the run-up to its climax on 23rd February.
The holidays of Guyana could naturally fall into four categories – the purely religious holidays as Good Friday or Eid-ul-Adha; the political as Independence Day on May 26th or CARICOM Day on 1st July; the purely celebratory as Emancipation Day on 1st August or Labour Day on 1st May; and those which are partly religious and partly celebratory like Christmas, but where the religious has been overtaken by the celebratory and Mashramani where the celebratory has become more important than the political.

Since the celebratory aspect has all but submerged the Republic Day aspect of the holiday, we think it is appropriate that we should remind our readers of its genesis. When the government of President LFS Burnham had decided to declare Guyana a Republic, they chose 23rd February as the date for this event, and the reason they did so is because it was the anniversary of an important historical event which occurred in Guyana some 250 years ago.

That event was the Berbice Slave Rebellion which broke out on 23rd February, 1763. From about 1760, that colony was gravely affected by food shortages, the spread of epidemic diseases and economic decline, and this led to the African slaves, who manned the plantations, to be greatly overworked and to be even more brutally treated than before. By 1763, conditions had become unbearable and this led the slaves at Magdalenenburg plantation to rise up in revolt under Cuffy, a cooper. A cooper made the barrels which were used to store rum and sugar and was an important post in the plantation hierarchy.
In a very short time, almost all the plantations joined the rebellion. It should be remembered that the Berbice colony was along the rivers and not on the coast, as later came to be the case in the 19th century. The rebellion threw up several able leaders who worked with Cuffy, and in the first months of the revolt, Cuffy and his rebels had the upper hand and were confidently working towards the establishment of an independent state.
The Dutch Governor Van Hoogenheim realised that the Europeans were on the verge of being expelled from the colony, and frantically sought help and reinforcements from the neighbouring colonies of Essequibo/Demerara and Suriname and from St Eustatius and Holland. Help and reinforcements arrived in the nick of time and consisted of several hundred well-armed soldiers and six ships. The slave army found itself out numbered and out gunned and the revolt was put down. But the colony never recovered viability until it was ceded to Britain in 1815.

Historians, including President David Granger, have analysed the Berbice Slave Rebellion and have pointed out its importance on the world stage. For example, the Berbice Rebellion predated the more famous Haitian Revolt by half a century. In Guyana itself, it was the forerunner of the Independence Movement and was an inspiration to those who were in the forefront of the Independence struggle. President LFS Burnham’s Government’s choice of 23rd February as the date for Guyana declaring itself a Republic, therefore, has impeccable historical provenance.

In the first few years of the celebration of Republic Day, its political aspect was more prominent than its celebratory aspect. At that time, the celebration of Independence Day was aggressively promoted at Linden and this was transferred to Republic Day. The Lindeners baptised the celebration “Mashramani” and it was easily fused with the political aspect and soon became its more important component. Indeed, the 23rd February is now generally known as ‘Mashramani’. “Mashramani” is an Amerindian term indicating a time of merriment following hard and productive work.

The Mashramani celebrations usually begin about a month before, moving up to a climax on the 23rd February. During the run-up,competitions for the various events are held in the various regions and most important are the children’s competitions in the schools. A glance at the calendar of events of Mashramani reflects how much of a cultural festival it has become.

Of the 30 programmes over the 30 days covered by the Calendar of Events, the only distinctly political one is the Flag-Raising ceremony at D’Urban Park on 22nd February. The Calendar is arranged so that some of the same programmes are shared between regions. Examples of such are ‘Mashramani All Stars concert which would be held in Region 1 on the 12th February, will be shared with Lethem on 26th January or the Chutney Extravaganza Song competition, and the Duck Curry competition which would take place at Bath Settlement on 10th, will be held at Anna Regina on 17th February. Other notable programmes are the Costume and Float Parade on 23rd February which is the centrepiece of the celebrations; the National Art Exhibition on February 14; Literary and Visual Arts Street Fair in the Main Street Avenue on February 21; the Children’s Competition at the National Cultural Centre, February 14-15 and the Children’s Costume and Float Parade at the National Park, February 16.

Mashramani is still evolving and moving towards a neat synthesis between the political and celebratory as Christmas, and has become a synthesis between the religious and celebratory. Participation in this year’s celebrations promises to be one of the best.