At the funeral service of Ashton Chase SC yesterday, President Irfaan Ali described him as a simple and humble man who shaped the history of Guyana, allowing citizens the right to enjoy a free and democratic society today.
“He leaves us with a rich history of service, selflessness, and upliftment of Guyana and the Guyanese people. He is a national treasure”, Ali stated.
Chase, the last of the PPP/C’s founding members, passed away on Monday at the age of 96. Chase, Cheddi Jagan, Janet Jagan, and Jocelyn Hubbard formed the Political Affairs Committee which was the precursor to the formation of the People’s Progressive Party (PPP) in 1950.
Chase would later move away from the PPP and became heavily involved in labour and his legal practice.
He also had a long association with the union, NAACIE and authored important works on trade unions and other areas.
President Ali speaking at his funeral service in the compound of Parliament yesterday, stated that when Chase led the movement for workers and political freedom and democracy, “it is important for us to understand that that is an era of ideological positioning and we cannot divorce the ideological debate and the ideological discussions that characterize that era and that is what positioned the thinking and work of people like Comrade Chase in the global context because they were part of a global conversation in which philosophical and ideological positions were debated in the interest of service to humanity and we must not forget that.”
Calling Chase, a “great Guyanese”, Ali said he firmly believes that Chase was one of the most outstanding individuals Guyana has produced.
“Not only was he a great man but importantly he was a good man. He was not after fame but preferred working in service to the working class of this country. He was good because he served the workers of Guyana and did so with selfless dedication”, he said.
He stressed that Chase’s struggle for workers’ rights was inseparable from the struggle for national liberation. “The law was to be an instrument in the struggle for both and this was the context in which he saw the law.
He saw the law as something that was alive, something that was a tool, an instrument in the work of representing the struggle for the people, and that is why he was such a brilliant force because he was able to bring to life the law in the interest of the working people and that is why he was deservingly admired”, the President said.
Ali stressed that Chase, despite climbing the ladder of success, his feet remained firmly planted among the working class – something which caused the workers to hold him in the highest esteem and the country holding him as an important pillar in the struggle for national liberation.
“When he co-founded the Political Affairs Committee it was because he saw this as an important vehicle to advance pro-labour aspirations”, he said.
According to Ali, Chase, a former Minister of Labour, was at the forefront of efforts to improve the wages of chauffeurs and cinema workers. “He fought and led work to institute an eight-hour work day for factory workers and reduced the working hours of watchmen and increased their pay… To investigate the conditions of employment and wages of domestics, to advance plans for improvement in working men’s compensation including protection against injuries on the job and benefits to dependents, and to press for recognition of the rights of workers in the sugar union to union of their choice”, Ali said.
The President added that Chase was a man who stood for justice and offered his service whenever he felt there was injustice at play.
Ali said that he would never forget when he (Ali) was taken at 4 am to SOCU for questioning by those then in charge that Chase and Charles Ramson Sr quickly offered advice to him and his lawyers. “Because he felt strongly on the matter”, Ali said.
Addressing Chase’s grandchildren, Ali said that they have a very important responsibility of living the legacy of a legend.
Ralph Ramkarran, SC, in his tribute to Chase at the funeral service yesterday spoke about Chase’s career which he said played a significant pioneering role in creating Guyana.
“The Guyana in which we live today has been shaped substantially by the efforts of Ashton Chase.”
Touching on Chase’s career, Ramkarran said that Chase assisted in leading the charge against the suppression of workers’ rights “both as a militant and as a lawyer” pointing out that two of his landmark cases were Seeram Teemal against the Guyana Sugar Cooperation and Mohamed Ali against the Attorney General of Guyana to “help to beat back attempts to diminish workers’ rights and trade union rights.”
Meanwhile, Prime Minister of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Ralph Gonsalves in a video recording played at the funeral shared his tribute to Chase, stressing that Chase dedicated his life to the poor and working people. “Ashton Chase accomplished so much to uplift the working people and the peasantry. Both in the urban and the rural areas of Guyana.”
Calling Chase – a “great man” – and an example and a mentor to him, he said, “Ashton Chase along with his colleagues helped to remake post-colonial Caribbean, fought against colonialism, racism, poverty, colonialism imperialism, to build a free people, a people who come from civilization, a Caribbean civilization which is noble and which has a trajectory for further ennoblement. Ashton Chase made his mark in bringing us along and helping us to embrace a better future. He gave us hope and importantly he taught us solidarity…”
PPP/C officials also bid farewell to Chase yesterday morning at Freedom House, Robb Street, Georgetown.
