TODAY is the birth anniversary of a unique Caribbean leader whose inner qualities and refined mind have yet to be attained by most current and immediate past governmental heads around the world. It is ironic that John F. Kennedy, through violent planning, removed Jagan, but Kennedy could not possess an ounce of the integrity Jagan had.

No one has ever written a monograph comparing Jagan and his competitors and what Guyana would have been like if those within and outside of the PPP had succeeded in demobilizing Jagan. Dr. Jagan had a long list of detractors, and when you look at what they became, you wonder if Guyana would have survived had these anti-Jagan activists succeeded in dethroning Jagan and had acquired power.

This column here is a small contribution to that comparison which will have to be brief because of space constraint. We start with Eusi Kwayana. He is supposed to be a Guyanese nationalist but has been living outside of Guyana the past 20 years with zero contribution to his country. Jagan spearheaded the struggle for free and fair elections. In 2020, Kwayana endorsed the political entities that conspired to install permanent power.

Next is Martin Carter. For me as a trained historian and political analyst, this man’s political life I find obnoxious and ugly. Criticising Jagan for being a soft communist, Carter the ultra-communist became a leading participant in European imperialism in Guyana and ended his life in the ignominious alleyway of the bottle.

Next is Moses Bhagwan. He was expelled from the PPP in the sixties and remained firmly grounded in anti-Jaganism for more than 50 years. As a competent lawyer, he chose to live abroad doing non- legal work of no consequence instead of holding his dignity high and expanding the scope of access of poor people to legal assistance in Guyana.

Surely, there was enormous space in Guyana’s legal society for Bhagwan to be someone of recognised worth. In 2020, in response to my request, Bhagwan refused to condemn the five months of a gargantuan effort by the PNC, WPA and AFC to bring back the Burnhamite playground of permanent power.

Next is Balram Singh Rai. He failed to dethrone Jagan by forming his own party and competing against the PPP in the general election of 1964. Rai migrated to the UK in 1970. Here now is a quote from his biographer, Baytoram Ramharack somewhere around 2004 when he spoke to Rai: “He told me that he refused to comment on Guyanese politics since his self-exile to England in 1970 because he had not kept abreast with the political situation in Guyana.” Can you imagine this was the man who wanted to replace Jagan as PPP leader?

Next is Paul Tennassee. He wanted to keep alive his father’s insane hatred for Jagan. So, he returned to Guyana in late 1980s to oppose Jagan. He formed the Democratic Labour Movement and contested the 1992 election in which he failed to win even one seat. In 1992, Tennassee migrated to the US and has lived outside of Guyana since then and has made zero contribution to Guyana in any area whatsoever.

While Rai was happily ensconced in the UK, Jagan carried on the endless fight against rigged elections from 1973 until 1992 and even the 1992 poll was nearly aborted through violent machinations. For a good account of this important episode in the tragic evolution of modern Guyana, see the two books- Father Andrew Morrison, Justice: The Struggle for Democracy in Guyana, 1952 and 1992 and Yesu Persaud’s autobiography, Reaching for the Stars, part 2.

Next is Rupert Roopnaraine. This is one of the most untenable politicians the Caribbean has produced. An elitist, Mulatto/Creole personality with no willingness to ground with the masses even though he spoke about liberation of the masses, the theme of Walter Rodney. Roopnaraine saw himself as better than Jagan. The fact is Jagan’s substance was trillions of miles ahead of Roopnaraine.

Here are the words of Roopnaraine in denunciation of Jagan: “The PPP were only pretending to fight a liberation struggle.” This Johnny-Come-Lately had the temerity to say that about one of the world’s leading liberation fighters, Cheddi Jagan (taken from Frank Birbalsingh, The PPP of Guyana, 1950, 1992: An Oral History).

This same Roopnaraine became a minister under the Granger presidency. Mr. Granger was in charge of the army when Walter Rodney was killed. Roopnaraine in an interview with Dr. Dhanpaul Narine in the newspaper, “The West Indian,” said that Granger had always been a close friend. The list above of political failures actually tried to sideline Cheddi Jagan. They had no philosophical chemistry, so they were destined to fail and spend the rest of their lives as 10th rate citizens of other countries.

DISCLAIMER: The views and opinions expressed in this column are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the Guyana National Newspapers Limited.