Dear Editor,
As reported in a national newspaper on February 23, Republic Day, President David A Granger sent a most powerful and inspiring message to all the peoples of this country. A significant portion of this message was spent extolling the contribution of Indians to the Guyanese nation.
I would like to commend the President for being the first Head of State in recent times to officially acknowledge the contributions of Indians in national development, culture, diet and agriculture, etc.
The nomadic Amerindians who travelled here, the Africans who arrived enslaved, the Indians, Chinese, Portuguese who came as indentured labourers and the Europeans who came to explore our lands, all added to the flavour and culture that we have today. Indeed, we can echo from the President: “Unity achieved through diversity”.
Our ancestors who came under difficult circumstances and struggled to adapt to this new climate and lifestyle remained strong, and this shows determination. I wish to advise my fellow Guyanese brothers and sisters to acknowledge the transformational words used by President David Granger, and to also acknowledge the contributions that each of our foreparents brought from Africa, India, Asia and Europe.
When we had the first Ethnic Relations Commission (ERC) Islamic cluster meeting with the former Minister of Social Cohesion, Ms Amna Ally, I said that we are all talking about getting unity, but how we can achieve unity? I believe we should celebrate what we have. We have social cohesion, there is no open racism without reprimand; we have different ethnicities, religions, backgrounds and cultures but still unite and respect each other’s talents, gifts and abilities. The fact remains that in this country, we are honoured with the privilege of freely celebrating each other’s holidays whether religious, social or cultural.
We should work as a people to make Guyana a truly blessed country. Let us motivate those who have genuine sentiments in their hearts for cohesion to inspire those who are not yet connected to this ideology. Let us count our fortunes, let us count the fact that we have a democracy. We must work for nation building, for national cohesion; this will attract the lost Guyanese in the diaspora to return home and make investments in our nation. I thank the President for this statement and we are aware that he has acknowledged the contributions of the Chinese and the Africans, and we know he will continue showing appreciation for all peoples.
Yours faithfully,
Hajji Roshan Khan
