“NON-VIOLENCE is the greatest force at the disposal of mankind. It is mightier than the mightiest weapon of destruction devised by the ingenuity of man” – Mahatma Karamchand Gandhi.
The foregoing is the philosophy by which great leaders such as Dr. Cheddi Jagan and Martin Luther King jnr lived; but warmongers across the globe continue to precipitate destructive approaches to problem-resolution, which has always proven counter-productive and devastated the lives and livelihoods of mankind in countries where beating of war drums, and not ‘suasion holds sway.
October commemorates two significant anniversary days for two great leaders – the culmination of Dr. Jagan’s decades-long fight for freedom from dictatorship and the restoration of democracy, which eventuated in an electoral victory and the dawn of a new era of freedom and progressive prosperity on October 5th, 1992 for Guyana: and the birth on October 2nd 1869 of India’s iconic ambassador of peace, the world-revered Mahatma (great soul) Karamchand Gandhiji.
Wikipedia describes the latter thus: “Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi was an Indian lawyer, anti-colonial nationalist, and political ethicist, who employed non-violent resistance to lead the successful campaign for India’s independence from British rule, and in turn inspired movements for civil rights and freedom across the world. The honorific Mah?tm? (Sanskrit: “great-souled”, “venerable is now used throughout the world. His contributions to the formation of Modern India also gave him the title – “Father of the Nation.”
Likewise is Dr. Jagan known in Guyana as “Father of the Nation”; he has also been given the honorific: “Mahatma of the West.”
Wikipedia elucidates, in part: “It was in South Africa that Gandhi raised a family, and first employed non-violent resistance in a campaign for civil rights. In 1915, aged 45, he returned to India. He set about organising peasants, farmers, and urban labourers to protest against excessive land taxes and discrimination. Assuming leadership of the Indian National Congress in 1921, Gandhi led nationwide campaigns for easing poverty, expanding women’s rights, building religious and ethnic amity, ending untouchability, and above all for achieving Swaraj, or self-rule.
“Bringing anti-colonial nationalism to the common Indians, Gandhi led them in challenging the British-imposed salt tax with the 400 km (250 mi) Dandi Salt March in 1930, and later in calling for the British to quit India in 1942. He was imprisoned for many years, upon many occasions, in both South Africa and India.
“In August 1947, Britain granted independence, but the British Indian Empire was partitioned into two dominions, a Hindu-majority India and Muslim-majority Pakistan. But, sadly, Nathuram Godse, a Hindu nationalist, thought Gandhiji was too lenient with Muslims and assassinated Gandhiji on 30 January, 1948 by firing three bullets into his chest.
Gandhiji’s birthday is commemorated in India and by the Indian diaspora as Gandhi Jayanti; and worldwide as the International Day of Non-violence.
Ever since Dr. Jagan resigned from the MPCA in 1945, he began fighting for the rights of sugar workers nationwide; but he was then head of the Sawmills and Woodworkers’ Union (SWU), Recognising the need, he resolved to establish a political organisation to represent the interests of workers. Consequently, he, Messrs HJM Hubbard, General-Secretary of the Trades Union Council (TUC), Ashton Chase, Asst. Secretary of the British Guiana Labour Union (BGLU), Brindley Benn from the British Guiana Clerical Association (BGCA), and Mrs. Janet Jagan, who was fighting for the general rights of women in every capacity, especially domestic workers, formed the Political Affairs Committee (PAC) – the forerunner to the PPP, in 1946.
The formation of the PAC marked the beginning of the intense struggle against British colonialism and for the establishment of programmes to improve the economic, social and political
conditions of the people of Guyana.
The PAC made full use of the Moyne Commission Report of 1939, which described the atrocious economic and social conditions in Guyana, to propagate its demands for change. Dr. Jagan and the PPP led a decades-long fight for freedom for Guyana.
However, the British, which had denied independence to a Jagan-led PPP government, granted independence to a government led by Burnham under the assumption that he would be more malleable and amenable to control.
By the Guyana Independence Act, the British Government on May 26, 1966 relinquished responsibility for the government of the territory which immediately constitutes the Colony of British Guiana, which was renamed Guyana.
But this was a subjective freedom, as the oppressive forces still held sway in the land. They dominated and devastated the Guyanese nation with impunity as a result of one rigged election after another. Oct 5, 1992, is Guyana’s landmark day as democracy was restored.
