Dear Editor,
It was with profound sadness that I received the news of the untimely death of Navin Chandarpal, a veteran politician, science teacher and lecturer. Documentation of Guyana’s political history will one day highlight the contribution of Cde Navin as an indomitable stalwart of Guyana’s political struggle alongside his beloved leaders and heroes Dr. Cheddi and Janet Jagan.
Very early in his professional career and just after graduating from the University of Guyana with a Physics-Maths Degree in 1975, Cde Navin lifted the torch of leading the Progressive Youth Organisation (PYO) in a crisis period after a group of top ranking PPP/PYO leaders that included Ranji Chandisingh, Vincent Teekah and Halim Majeed, chairman of the PYO, defected to the PNC in 1976. Cde Navin was able to re-energize the PYO and placed it on the map of the world as one of the most militant youth organizations in Latin America and the Caribbean. When he graduated from the PYO leadership in the mid 80’s no one was able to fill his shoes.
Cde Navin was a tactical field marshal and a loyal foot soldier in the battlefield. He enjoyed his political activism. I remembered how enthusiastic he was to write and paint banners and placards as demonstrations grew in front of Parliament during the debate on a referendum for a new constitution in May 1978. Again in 1978, the PYO was denied the use of the school for its Bi-annual congress at Bath. Cde Navin led from the front to construct a tent for the hosting of the PYO congress at Bath Settlement, West Berbice that came out successfully.
Cde Navin’s technical skill and ability to translate numbers to fit practical reality was second to none. Very prominent was his ability to find solutions and formulas with the opposition parties for the regional and geographic distribution of parliamentary seats in the run up to the 2001 election. He was capable of finding a balance between combative militancy and conciliation in the national interest that resulted in win-win situations.
Cde Navin chose the political struggle over post-graduate studies or professional middle class life. He loved to analyze and discuss the ideas and politics of his mentor Dr Cheddi Jagan. It is therefore not surprising that he successfully pioneered the New Global Human Order at the United Nations. He also had poetic skills, the last I heard was a poem on Janet Jagan last year at Umana Yana
Apart from his politics Cde Navin loved teaching and the classroom. Be it dialectical materialism in philosophy or teaching physics, he did it with a passion and enthusiasm. One could never be bored in his classroom. Cde Navin’s social skill was one of his great attributes – very lively wit, lively sense of humour and his commitment to help the helpless. I know of a popular commentator who badly needed help for his child. When all doors were closed Cde Navin was there for him. Even when I visited him during his ailment a few months ago in New York he was in high spirits and prepared to meet ”his fate like a man”. His loss left a void in Guyana’s politics, in the words of Martin Carter “It is the death of a comrade”. A comrade in the true sense, never known to flaunt his intellectual prowess nor his position. We will miss his trademark smile and open arms for helping others.
Rest in peace dear comrade, your great work shall live on.
Yours faithfully,
Rajendra Rampersaud
