Relatives still uneasy
Hundreds of devotees and the relatives of those who were murdered during the Lusignan Massacre gathered last evening at the Lusignan Tarmac for the first of the three-night Pitri Paksh Satsang held in remembrance of the eleven people who were killed.
Clarence Thomas, 48, his 12-year-old daughter, Vanessa Thomas and his son, Ron Thomas, Mohandai Gourdat, 32, and her two sons, four-year-old Seegobind Harrilall and ten-year-old Seegopaul Harrilall, 22-year-old Shazam Mohamed, 55-year-old Shaleem Baksh, Seecharran Rooplall, 56, his wife, Dhanrajie Ramsingh, 52, and their 11-year-old daughter, Raywattie Ramsingh were murdered during the early hours of January 26 when a gang of gunmen targeted five homes in Tract ‘A’ Lusignan Pasture shooting indiscriminately.
Pirtri Paksh is observed during the fifteen days of the dark half of the Hindu month of Ashwin (September-October). Tillanjali (water with black sesame seeds) is offered in the name of their departed ancestors during this time. During this period, the ancestors are worshipped and every effort is made to satisfy their wishes so that they rest in peace for the rest of the year.
Master of Ceremonies, Tejram Mohabir opened the three-night gathering by announcing the Satsang (religious gathering) was being held in remembrance of those “who were murdered by Rondell ‘Fineman’ Rawlins”.
The event was organized by various Mandirs along the East Coast Demerara. Prayers were offered, hymns sung and speeches made but Gomattie Thomas, the wife of Clarence Thomas and mother of Vanessa and Ron Thomas said that while “…the effort was touching…the pain will never go away”.
“I am happy they keep this lil service…the people are showing that they love and care for us,” the woman said.
Noreen Seecharan, who lost her parents, Rooplall and Ramsingh, and her sister Vanessa as well as Bibi Baksh, the wife of Shaleem Baksh, agreed with Thomas that they still didn’t feel safe in their homes and were still traumatized.
“…a promise is a promise,” Seecharan said, “they promised us proper street lights and a police outpost and still we haven’t seen those things,” she continued. With much emotion she further said that the bush in the area which was supposed to be cleared was still there as well.
“The two street lights that were in front of my house haven’t been working for a while now,” Thomas explained. The woman said that she had reported the matter the Guyana Power and Light Company but nothing has been done to date.
Bibi, her voice quivering and tears streaming down her cheeks, said that when she arrived at the Tarmac and saw her husband’s picture on the stage she couldn’t stop crying. “I believe that people truly understand how we feel and I think that they really care.
Although James Anthony Hyles called Sally, Mark Royden Williams and a 14-year-old boy of Strathspey Squatting Area who cannot be named for legal reasons have been charged for the murders the relatives of the victims said that they still don’t feel safe.
One relative stated: “Even though they’ve arrested these men and they’ve managed to hunt and kill Fineman we still don’t feel safe in our homes…there are others out there…many others and we’ll never be safe”.
The families of Gourdat and her two sons and Rooplall and his wife and daughter performed prayers with the guidance of a Pandit for the deceased. It was stressed that during this period of Pitri Paksh prayers are offered to God especially for the souls of the departed relatives so that they may be blessed and protected.
“I’m not sure what happening to their souls…I can only hope that they’ve found some peace now and that is all I can pray for their peace and mine,” one relative said.