– A book review by Christopher Ram
Part 6
Introduction
This is the sixth and final part of the review of Moses Nagamootoo’s autobiographical account of his political career starting in 1961 until the fall of the Coalition Government in 2020, of which he was the Prime Minister.
Under the title The New Normal, chapter 23 traces the history of the relationship between Guyanese of African and Indian descent, claiming that there was racial discrimination on both sides of the major ethnic divide which existed long before the 1953 elections. The chapter notes as an incontestable fact, that Indians suffered from racial violence, discrimination and alienation under the PNC rule. It highlights his parents’ choice to marry under Christian rites, then predominantly Afro Guyanese, even as they continued their Hindu religious practices, and the role and contribution of the Afro village nurse and schoolteachers. Controversially, he sees as a response to the “anti-Indian dilemma,” the formation of the Indian Peoples’ Revolutionary Associates (IPRA) by Moses Bhagwan, described as Jagan’s successor-in-waiting, and the teaming-up of Dr. Fenton Ramsahoye, Doodnauth Singh, Ayube McDoom and Ganraj Kumar to form the Guyana Anti-Discrimination Movement.