Dear Editor,

INDIA commemorated the 74th anniversary of her independence on Saturday. India’s Independence, August 15, 1947, has had a historical significance for Guyana, not only because of ethnic and cultural links, but because India’s independence paved the way for Guyana’s some 19 years later.

Guyana is some 10 thousand miles away from India, but Guyana and her Indo-Guyanese diaspora take pride in celebrating the 75th Independence Day of that country, among the earliest to obtain independence from colonial rule after WWII. The occasion is marked among Guyanese with greetings on social media. Prayers and tributes are planned in mandirs for Sunday.

Had it not been for COVID-19, flag hoisting activities and other public celebrations would have been held in New York. The India Independence Day Parade is usually held on the Sunday after August 15 unless that day is a Sunday on Madison Ave followed by a multi-cultural concert. A Bollywood star and a popular cricket personality or famous person usually serve as Grand Marshall. Guyanese community leaders, like Ramesh Kalicharran, Pt. Ramlall, and others like myself were very active from the first parade in 1981. The political group I belonged to marched in the parade with banners and distributed Guyanese newsletters and other literature (flyers, pamphlets) to raise political consciousness about human rights abuses in Guyana. Many Guyanese pleaded for India’s intervention to put an end to rights abuses and help to restore democracy in Guyana. Vishnu Bandhu sponsored a float in the parade for a couple years promoting his URP. Guyanese by the thousands patronised all of these events. Guyanese artistes normally performed at the cultural extravaganza. One of organisers of the annual parade, Yash Pal Soi of Punjab, played a leading role in the struggle for the restoration of democracy in Guyana. He was honored by Guyanese for his contributions for free and fair elections with the Gold Medal of Freedom award in 2016 and was also praised by President Cheddi, Janet and Jagdeo for his contributions to Guyana.
The India Day Parade in August 1981 was the first free public event that brought Indo-Guyanese together in America by the thousands. Earlier years, there were Guyanese cultural concerts and parties that charged an entrance fee. But later Guyanese activists and community leaders, including this writer would organise free Phagwah and Diwali celebrations and parades modeled after the India Day Parade.

Events like the India Day Parade and other cultural celebrations are helping Guyanese Americans to maintain “their roots with Guyana and India, the ancestral motherland of some 65 per cent of the Guyanese diaspora and 45 per cent of the country. The impact created by the India Day Parade and related ceremonies play a meaningful role in Indo-Guyanese preserving the heritage of their Indian forbearers, bringing them together, and promoting the concept of unity among them in the U.S to champion or advocate their interests. The parade also evokes memory of flag hoisting ceremonies in their villages in Guyana during the struggle for swaraj and the independence of Britain’s Caribbean colonies.

Indo-Guyanese played a meaningful role in the independence movement of their ancestral motherland. The desire for India to become a free nation propelled Indians all over the Caribbean to identify with and support the “Quit India” movement and the struggle to free India of British rule since the early part of 20th century. The older generation reminisced about their singing of the Indian National Anthem, participating in India’s flag raising ceremonies, and attending religious services in observance of India’s Independence in Guyana. They referred to the flag hoisting ceremonies as “swaraj”, a concept initiated by the Indian Congress of Mahatma Gandhi. They paid homage to the tri-color Indian flag. It was not unusual for Indian school children to sing the Indian National Anthem instead of “Old Glory” and to say “Jai Hind” instead of “Long Live the Queen”. My grandparents and parents told me that they partook in swaraj movements in Port Mourant and flag hoisting ceremonies. Several Indians contributed to a fund to support the movement in India. Some Guyanese also returned to India and joined the nationalist movement against British colonial rule. Indians from Trinidad and Fiji also returned to India and joined Gandhi’s nationalist movement for India’s independence.
Later the freedom of India would pave the way for the freedom of Caribbean colonies. The Caribbean colonies began obtaining their independence in the 1960s. The struggle for independence in the Caribbean was modeled after India’s — peace and non-violence. India has stood on our side since independence in 1966, doling out hundreds of millions of American dollars in assistance – perhaps the largest donor in dollar value to Guyana.

Yours truly,
Vishnu Bisram