-amid heavy police presence
As promised by Minister of Home Affairs Clement Rohee and Commissioner of Police Henry Greene police were out in their numbers on Saturday night and managed to successfully secure Deepavali celebrations in Alexander Village despite some “minor hiccups”.
“[On Saturday night] we celebrated the return of peace,” Gerhard Ramsaroop, a resident of Alexander Village and a member of its mandir, told Stabroek News yesterday.
The village, for more than a decade, had become notorious for the large crowds of revellers who invaded their peace and disrupted their Deepavali celebration mainly by launching squib attacks on residents, their homes and the Ruimveldt/Alexander Village Vishnu Mandir.
Last year thousands of revellers flooded the village and despite numerous calls for help from the police there was no response. A week before this year’s celebration residents and members of the village mandir beseeched the security services and Ministry of Home Affairs for help to regain the peace they once enjoyed on Deepavali. There was an immediate response from Rohee and villagers were promised protection.
On Saturday night, after 11 years of not being able to safely conduct their evening service, mandir members said they began and ended their devotion amidst the heavy police presence.
Police, according to several Alexander Village residents, arrested “four van loads” of persons who had disturbed the peace mainly by lighting squibs; a prohibited item under the Laws of Guyana.
The squib throwers came from both in and out of the village. In addition to this, residents said, a group of persons who live in a nearby neighbourhood attempted to enter the village “to have fun”.
“A group of persons from [neighbourhood named] attempted to enter the village and they clearly wanted to cause trouble,” Ramsaroop explained, “but the police stopped them.
Many of them openly abused the police, accused them of spoiling their fun and threatened to come back when they were gone…”
There were about 130 policemen, Ramsaroop said, about 20 members from a neighbourhood policing group and several rural constables. Police were placed strategically along all the village’s streets. Barricades were also placed at the entrances to the village restricting the flow of vehicular traffic from 5 pm until midnight.
Stabroek News also learnt from another resident that a woman’s handbag was snatched in Third Street, Alexander Village on Saturday night. It was unclear whether the culprit was apprehended by police, the resident reported, but the incident created “quite a commotion in Third Street”. A group of persons was also playing music loudly in that street but it was “not a major disturbance”, the resident said.
Meanwhile, many residents said they were grateful for the help provided to them by police and while there were a few hiccups this has been one of the better Deepavali celebrations they have had in many years.
“Some persons had come in the village earlier to set up stalls,” Ramsaroop also told this newspaper, “but these were quickly dismantled by police. It is clear that if the police had not been here Saturday night then things might have been as bad as last year…”
Ramsaroop also said that Deputy Commander of Police ‘A’ Division (Georgetown to Timehri), David Ramnarine, has promised residents that there will be a heavy police presence in Alexander Village on Deepavali night for “the next few years”.