-Soodai Mohabir at 107 years-only survivor of the Rose Hall Riot
(QUOTE) “What we enjoy today, that foundation was laid by our martyrs. Our sugar industry played a pivotal role in the life of our country. It was this industry that led the way that changed the conditions of our people. The sugar industry produced the first set of managers who went to class and helped to develop other industries in Guyana; skilled workers came firstly from this industry.” 

THE Rose Hall Memorial Monument was unveiled by President Donald Ramotar last Thursday in commemoration of the 101st anniversary of the March 13, 1913 Rose Hall Riot in which 15 defenceless sugar workers were killed by the colonial authorities.
Hundreds from across Guyana congregated to witness a moment that would be etched in Guyana’s history and to pay tribute to the Rose Hall Martyrs.
The monument was erected to commemorate the defenceless sugar workers who made the supreme sacrifice in demanding a better life. On that day, 15 sugar workers lost their lives: Motey Khan, Bholay, Sohan, Hulas, Badri, Jugai, Sadula, Sarjoo, Lalji, Durga, Gafur, Roopan, Juggoo, Nibur and Gobindei – the only woman.
President Donald Ramotar speaking to the large gathering said: “What we enjoy today, that foundation was laid by our martyrs. Our sugar industry played a pivotal role in the life of our country. It was this industry that led the way that changed the conditions of our people. The sugar industry produced the first set of managers who went to class and helped to develop other industries in Guyana; skilled workers came firstly from this industry.”
He added: “The sugar industry for a long time led our economy and was the biggest contributor to our Gross Domestic Product (GDP). At the moment the industry contributes some 3.9% of our GDP and it earned last year US$114M, which accounted for 8.3% of the total export earnings of Guyana. It pays wages to workers totalling $19.9B and it employs some 16,000 workers, where they have 80,000 persons benefiting directly from this industry. Because of the difficulties that the sugar industry is experiencing and the changes in the regime, the government has and still supports this industry and yet again in this year’s budget the industry will be catered for, but while we are doing this we see the opposition parties calling for the closure of the sugar industry, but I ask you comrades ‘stand with me and together we will overcome the difficulties and take the country to greater heights.”

Dr Frank Anthony, Minister of Culture, Youth & Sport recalled “not so long ago we did not know what took place 101 years ago at Rose Hall, and in fact when we first visited here this place was a dump site. This happened perhaps because we the people did not understand what took place in this community and where our martyrs have been buried. Indentureship was not an easy period of our history, there were many things that were dealt out to our ancestors, in some cases they worked for 3 months without any payment for the job done. These were the conditions that our ancestors laboured under.”
He noted: “Many of these incidents of our history are lost because we do not put it into our books that our children read. If we do not know our history then we would repeat the same mistakes, we must understand our history so we can defend what our ancestors fought for. As we honour our 15 martyrs, it is the hope that it will be incumbent on all of us to teach our history to our families, our friends and our country at large.”
Speaking from a historical view Mr. Evan Persaud, Lecturer -Faculty of Technology, University of Guyana related that “the University of Guyana is currently reviewing the official report and investigating the events that transpired on that fatal day, and so far has determined that the information is false and are working fervently to have it corrected.”
Mr. Persaud disclosed that: “Corporal James Ramsey led the arrest team to arrest Motey Khan and started to fight with him, they ended up into the nearby trench where the police opened fire and shot Corporal Ramsey. The report stated that Corporal Ramsey was hacked with a stick by Motey Khan but this was proven to be fallacious when his body was exhumed.”
Chairman of the Canje Development Committee, Mr Mohammed Akeel, thanked all parties that assisted with erecting of the monument and explained that within one year a dream has become a reality.

“Sookdai Mohabir is the only surviving member from the March 13, 1913 riot but at the time was too young to understand what transpired, she is presently 107 years old” Mr Akeel said.
President of the Guyana Agricultural and General Workers Union (GAWU), Komal Chand expressed the same sentiments of the speakers before him but urged the working class “to be vigilant because the industry now has different challenges and all stakeholders must play their part to eradicate these challenges.”
“GAWU is optimistic about the future. We can move forward and progress. We owe it to our martyrs and today we also see our workers have advanced in several ways because of their sacrifices,” Mr. Chand said.
In an effort to secure a better life on the sugar plantation, labourers on the Rose Hall Estate protested the retraction of a four-day holiday awarded to them for a good grinding season. The refusal of an order given from the plantation manager, Mr Smith to plant cane on those days by the labourers led to a formal complaint to the Immigration Officer.
In exchange for the charges levied against the labourers to be dropped, Mr. Smith demanded that they pay the legal cost. The labourers offered to pay in installments but management refused and the case went to the Magistrate’s Court on February 7, 1913.
Hundreds of immigrant labourers filled the Reliance Magistrate’s Court where the men were found guilty of instigating resistance to work. The workers protested the verdict and management threatened to transfer the protesting families to distant plantations. The threat caused the workers to raise the level of their protest.
Warrants were issued for the leaders and on March 13, 1913 the police attempted to execute the warrants. The workers resisted and the police opened fire injuring 56 persons among which 15 sugar workers died.
By Rebecca Ganesh-Ally