Appeals for peace and forgiveness were made last Thursday night, when hundreds of Guyanese flocked the Lusignan Tarmac for the final of the three-night Pitri Paksh Satsang, offering prayers and remembering the 11 men, women and children who were murdered on January 26, this year.
Eighteen pandits and mandirs cooperated to plan the religious gathering. The main objective of the occasion was to offer prayers on behalf of the deceased so that their souls may be blessed and given peace.
The organizing team repeatedly explained that the gathering served not only as a way of comforting the families of the victims, but as a medium to give them some hope and remind them that they were not alone.
During the early hours of the fateful day, gunmen murdered five children, and six men and women. Those killer were Clarence Thomas, 48, and his children 12-year-old Vanessa Thomas and Ron Thomas; Mohandai Gourdat, 32, and her two sons, 4-year-old Seegobind Harrilall and 10-year-old Seegopaul Harrilall; 22-year-old Shazam Mohamed; 55-year-old Shaleem Baksh; and Seecharran Rooplall, 56, his wife, Dhanrajie Ramsingh, 52, and their 11-year-old daughter, Raywattie Ramsingh.
The Hindu community stressed that in remembering those who died the young followers of Sataya Sanatan Dharma (The Supreme Truth) were given the opportunity to display their talents.
Many preached about peace, about the scriptures that spoke of death and coping with grief and one man spoke of forgiving. Gowkaran Maharaj during his speech posed the questions: “Have you forgiven? Can you continue to hate man?”
Forgiven but never
forgotten
“What goes around comes around,” Vishnu Seecharran, the son of Rooplall and Ramsingh, said. “…most people get head shots…look where he [Rondell ‘Fineman’ Rawlins] get it…,” he continued.
Seecharran recalled that when he first got the news of Rawlins’s death he was in disbelief. “I wanted to make sure was he…when I see it on TV I feel…I was glad,” he managed to say after several pauses.
The man, in a voice that reflected his pain, said he would now sit in the same living room where his parents and younger sister were murdered. “…when I watching TV I does be right there…I does always remember…the memories…”
Seecharran said he was at his girlfriend’s house when the shooting occurred but he can still see in his mind’s eye the blood-spattered bodies of his family in their chairs. “…can’t forget. I can be a old man walking with a stick and these memories will never go away.”
Gomattie Thomas, who lost her husband and two children, said she is a woman of God who believes in his teachings. “God say must forgive them. I think if I saw those men I would be able to forgive them and leave them in the hands of the Lord but I will never be able to forget,” she said. “All I can do is let God deal with them.”
Throughout the three nights of worshipping Bibi Baksh, who lost her husband Shaleem Baksh, was often observed staring towards the stage where her husband’s picture could be seen alongside the others. The blank expression and tears said it all.
“I am attending the Satsang because maybe… maybe he soul around and he might feel glad that I am there,” Baksh said. “I sit at the gathering; I am there but my mind is somewhere else. I am always thinking about my husband.
“My daughter,” Baksh continued, “was hiding with my husband when he was murdered…she still groans in her sleep…”
One woman who attended the Satsang said: “…the relatives of the massacre victims all seem to be struggling with emotions that they themselves can’t understand. I think that instinct is making them happy that the man they believe committed the murders is dead… they may be able to forgive but never forget.”
“Thing happen and
get stale…”
“After this thing happen and get stale nobody ain’t got time with we no more,” Seecharran said.
The man, other families who lost someone during the massacre and even community members stressed that enough was not being done to provide them with security. Seecharran said Lusignan had been attacked and robbed in the past by gangs but only after the mass killing were they given promises of a police station.
“Last month people see some strange people went in the area… for de last month or so police only patrol this area one time,” Seecharran explained adding, “…after the thing happen we complain about the high grasses and dem come and clear it off…like they think it wouldn’t ah grow back.”
“I don’t depend on nobody,” Baksh stated. “They put the street light yes but de bulbs always blowing…last time me and my neighbour had to buy a bulb and fix back the light in front we house.”
The woman said that she works most days now and explained that her daughter has been granted a scholarship by her high school. “I am thankful to the people who organised de Satsang…they had to provide food to feed many…I am glad that although some people forget we it still got some who remember.”
“…This thing had to happen so… and it done happen… The people in this community never used to remember God enough. They always used to be drinking and enjoying themselves… God let this happen so they eyes can open,” a resident said.
Thomas confided that on the night her husband and two children were murdered she prayed to God begging him not to take anymore of them. “…you have taken three and you can’t take anymore…God save us,” she recalled saying that night.
Her two sons, Roberto and Howard Thomas, were also injured.
Thomas said she was thankful that their injuries have healed and they are now able to continue their lives. “We may be forgotten completely soon enough,” Thomas stated, “but God will never forget us.”