Dear Editor,
With regards to comments and your editorial (SN Mar 22) on the Jagans’ home in Plantation Bel Air, I wish to note for historical record that the house was constructed on flooded land and with voluntary time and labour (at least partially by known individuals) by supporters of Jagan, some of whom came from as far away as Corentyne. This was revealed by the now deceased Pandit Churkeeman to a bunch of us who flew from New York (in my case from Manila, the Philippines where I was on a study sabbatical) for Dr. Jagan’s state funeral and public viewing. Pt. Churkeeman, formerly of Alness, Corentyne, narrated his relationship with Dr. Jagan and his role in helping construct the house that is now the subject of much comment in the media. The account was filmed by TV host Roy Ramsaran with the pandit answering a number of questions I posed to him, and it was showed on ITV shortly after Cheddi’s funeral.
Pandit Churkeeman began his narrative of Cheddi’s frugal lifestyle and his struggle for the working class at JFK Airport (Billy Braithwaite, then GAC Manager was there though not taking in the lecture as he was busy for the delayed flight on the eve of Dr. Cheddi’s funeral as the aircraft was returning from Timehri after taking down the body of Dr. Cheddi from Washington). The lecture about Jagan’s life continued aboard the Guyana Airways flight in the wee hours of the morning and at Albion (public viewing), Ankerville (house where Dr. Cheddi grew up with his parents), and at Babu Jahan (where he was cremated).
Pandit Churkeeman, also called Walley, was well known on the Corentyne, selling milk on a bicycle and he was also a rice and vegetable farmer at Alness who sold to the public. He was known for honesty, generosity, and hard work and for volunteering his time to help organize the PPP. He was a disciple of Jagan and was at one time considered as a candidate for the PPP on the Corentyne.
The Churkeeman’s lecture about Jagan’s lifestyle that began at JFK continued at Albion and Port Mourant where public viewing of Jagan’s body occurred. Moses Nagamootoo would know Pt. Churkeeman well because the pandit lauded his organizing activities and writing skills on behalf of the PPP. Dr. Joey Jagan would also remember Pandit Churkeeman because I saw the two conversing at Albion, and during his narrative with us, Pt. Churkeeman spoke quite a bit about Joey who as a little boy used to jump from the window of the house at Ankerville, unknown to his aji, to attend political activities. Pt. Churkeeman also related that he took Joey to political meetings unknown to Cheddi’s mother. The aji was a simple woman who got around walking to a lot of (distant) places speaking about political issues and about Cheddi; at times she slipped into the Bhojpuri language when she did not want us to hear certain things. Joey’s aji was very concerned about his welfare and did not want to compromise on his safety. She was a very caring and compassionate woman, just like Cheddi and she also lived modestly though not as frugal as Cheddi. I remember Joey’s aji because as a little boy I used to deliver groceries to her home in a box from my Aunty Bethlyn’s shop where she was a regular visitor and customer. It was a very simple home well attended to by the old lady. She would give me fruits from the yard and an occasional shilling; they had plenty fruit trees. Joey’s cha chi and cha cha, Uncle Oudit as we called him, used to also shop at Aunty Bethyn’s grocery. When Joey’s aji died, I faintly recall Cheddi, Janet, Burnham and a huge coterie of officials from Georgetown coming to the funeral – because of the enormous respect they had for her.
Janet seemed to know Pt. Churkeeman well as they embraced and engaged in conversation for some time at Albion and at the cremation ground with tears flowing from her eyes.
As Pt. Churkeeman revealed, the house at Plantation Bel Air was built on land that was prone to flooding and had to be drained and built up. As he and others revealed, individuals from the surrounding area and East Coast volunteered time and their trucks to fetch dirt to build up the land. This account of the preparation of the land on which the house is located was subsequently confirmed by others. Pt. Churkeeman revealed that he was a lead carpenter and that a group of workers under his leadership travelled from Corentyne to town and helped build the house with minimal compensation from Cheddi. There were also mostly volunteers for the painting of the house with minimal compensation labouring tediously to get the construction completed for their beloved leader.
Churkeeman also said that he pleaded to Cheddi to have a puja done for the opening of the house and that Cheddi’s mother also wanted a puja done as is the custom in Hindu tradition (Cheddi’s mother was a very devout Hindu who conducted annual rites at her home and who would pray at the Ankerville Shivala). But Cheddi objected. Pt. Churkeeman said he told Cheddi that Cheddi did not have to be the yajman (devotee) and he (Churkeeman) would sit (as the devotee) and have the puja performed. But Cheddi won’t relent. Nevertheless, Churkeeman conducted a prayer blessing for the house unknown to Cheddi. As Churkeeman stated the House was simple but relatively large in Guyanese standard for that period of time; Cheddi wanted a simple, working class home and he was not attracted to fancy decorations and architectural intricacies, and at any rate houses were relatively simple at the time, not the kind of fancy designs seen today. So a comparison with the houses of today may not be fair. A comparison of Jagan’s lifestyle and his sacrifice for the well-being of the poor would be fair and virtually no one could match Cheddi or Janet Jagan.
On the land on which the house was constructed, it must have been quite fertile. I recall Cheddi sharing bananas with myself, Moses and others at Freedom House during a visit to interview him for an article I was working on.
Yours faithfully,
Vishnu Bisram
