GUYANESE recently observed Arrival Day. In his message to mark the occasion, President, Dr. Mohamed Irfaan Ali extended greetings to all Guyanese and lauded the contributions of our ancestors from all ethnic groups.
As said by the Head of State in his message on Arrival Day, “On this day, declared a public holiday, we pay homage to our African, Asian, European and West Indian ancestors who together with our indigenous peoples laid the foundation of our country’s ethnic diversity, each contributing, in no small measure, to our country’s attainment of freedom and its development.”
In short, all of our ancestors play a significant role in the economic, social and cultural development of Guyana. They all added value to our ethno-cultural mosaic, which is uniquely and distinctively Guyanese.
In this regard, there is not much to be gained by seeking to project the importance or contribution of one group over the other.
Such ethnocentric views are, at best, puerile and certainly dysfunctional in terms of the realisation of the One Guyana vision to which President Ali and the PPP/C administration are fully committed.
President Ali could not have been more correct when he observed in his Arrival Day message that it is through the process of multiculturalism that we are successful as a society to benefit from the rich cultural heritage of our respective peoples.
Guyana’s multiculturalism brings together the cultural traditions of Asia, Africa, Europe and the West Indies and in the process help to forge that sense of oneness. These distinct and varied strands are being weaved into a singular, strong and unified national fabric, where differences are acknowledged, recognised and respected.
This is exactly what the One Guyana vision is all about. It builds on, and draws sustenance from our diversity and multiculturalism.
It is, therefore, a natural progression of the shared sentiments and values of our ancestors who, even though they came from different lands and from different boats, had collectively strived to create a single nation-state, of which we are all proud — a free, unified and prosperous Guyana.
This is not in any way meant to downplay the monumental contributions of our Indo-Guyanese ancestors who arrived 185 years ago and who, today, constitute the largest segment of the Guyanese population.
The arrival of Indian immigrants in large numbers over the period of Indentureship, had over time changed the demographics of the then colony, as well as the economic and social infrastructure of the then emerging colonial edifice.
Now we are all, as it were, in the same boat collectively facing the challenges of our development. Guyana, today, is a vastly different place from what our foreparents came and met.
Looking down from the heavens, they would no doubt be proud of the progress made by their descendants and off-spring, and the direction in which the nation is heading, where all Guyanese regardless of race, political or religious orientation have an equal opportunity to contribute to the growth and prosperity of the country to the full limit of their potential.
This is exactly how our foreparents would have liked to see it. Indeed, Guyana has now become a model of multiculturalism and unity in diversity.
