Dear Editor,
Returning with my wife after an overseas trip we were welcomed with a large sign at Rahaman’s Park, with Dr. Cheddi Jagan’s photograph stating ‘Father of the Nation.” To many of us, this may seem a simple irritant to be ignored, but knowing the proclivities of the governing PPP elite, this is an effort, not only to distort our history but to burnish the image of the ruling elite to our youths or visitors and those with short memories to disregard another who has made a greater contribution to nationhood. Let me make it clear, since my days in secondary school, I’ve admired Dr. Jagan for his courage and contribution, for changing our country from a colonial outpost to a full-fledged nation state.
However, to ordain him ‘fatherhood’ is too great a bestowal. Here I share the views expressed by his son, Cheddi (Joey) Jagan (Jnr) published in SN, Wednesday 22, 2023 in which he said and I quote, “The people of Guyana now own Jagan, not those who will use the name for their benefits – the soul of President Cheddi and his honesty, integrity and humility will fan the flames of resistance against poverty, despair and injustice which still exists in our beloved country.” Therein is the problem. Those in the PPP with feeble morality now seek to use Jagan as a propaganda tool. This is the problem, the ruling elite suddenly remembers his birthday after being asleep for four years and as one who has been in the hustings for seven decades, on Thursday March 24, 2023 at a Press Conference at Congress Place, I asked the Leadership of the PNC, to request that expensive Billboard to be removed.
At that Press Conference, in response to a question I offered the name of one who may better deserve the title of Fatherhood. No man is perfect. To begin, Dr. Cheddi Jagan failed to attend, in spite of being persuaded by external and internal forces, some within his own Party, to attend the Independence Conference held at Lancaster House in 1965 where the details and the date of Independence were discussed and settled, which established us constitutionally as a Nation. What sort of father is not being present to take part in the identification of our elevation to Nationhood? Implementation of the Waddington Report, which for the first time allowed ordinary folks to vote. Jagan-Burnham PPP won the elections in 1953. Queen Elizabeth II coronation was fixed for June 2 and all the legislatures in the British Commonwealth sent pledges of loyalty and congratulations; our legislature, at the instance of Dr. Jagan, he did not. Forbes Burnham noted that this was a misjudgment.
Later that same month, Ethel and Julius Rosenberg were executed for allegedly selling atomic secrets to the Soviets. Burnham and others felt we should not go beyond talking about the sanctity of life. However Dr. Jagan, like others, was critical of the trial. Dr. Jagan’s wife, Mrs. Janet Jagan’s family’s name was Rosenberg and this fact was used against the newly elected PPP Government. Using the boogey-man of communism and the fear that the Jagan-led government would turn Guyana into communist outpost, the British sent troops and suspended the whole Constitution dismissing the six-elected Ministers.
Fatherhood must ensure that you say or do nothing to compromise the welfare of the family and their objective. In our case, the main goal was Independence. In 1955, when the group met at Bandung, it was to set the stage for the establishment of the Non-Aligned Movement, formalized in September 1961 at Belgrade. The Non-Aligned Movement was intended to “create an independent path in world politics that would not result in member States becoming pawns in the struggles between the major powers.” In other words, that our bauxite, copper, diamonds, gold, timber, marine resources, gas and oil should not be capriciously harvested to the disadvantage of citizens. Dr. Jagan was not particularly enthusiastic, but Burnham felt it was a good idea and had the busts of the four architects of NAM, erected in the Company Path Gardens.
Recall when the West Indian Federation was established in 1958, for reasons which may not be obscure, the Jagan administration kept Guyana out, so you have a Father who is unwilling for his children to mix and meddle with his cousins and traditional members of the family in the Region. It was Burnham, who at Dickenson Bay in Antigua with Vere Bird and Errol Barrow, revived the idea which led to today’s CARICOM. That is progressive, responsible Fatherhood. After a long process of consultation and information gathering, the Burnham led administration changed the name of our principal airport Atkinson Field to Timehri in honour of our indigenous Amerindian brothers and sisters. Then the anthropologists and others discovered rock carvings visible at low tides in some of our rivers, obviously done by our Amerindians.
The mentality that erected that sign at Rahaman’s Park is the same that showed scant regard for the Indigenous people when they renamed without consultation, our main international airport, Cheddi Jagan International Airport. Many Amerindians are still upset. Sincerely,
Hamilton Green
Elder
