Dear Editor,
The month of May is especially important to Guyanese. This year marks the 186th anniversary of the arrival of Indians in Guyana from India. The Arrival should be recognized fully by all Guyanese as a significant record in Guyanese history. Most Guyanese, and particularly Indo-Guyanese, benignly and shamefully do not know their history because of the deliberate policy during colonial times and the inherent skewed education syllabus. Some impertinently treat the contention with derision.
The history of Indian Indentureship was hardly taught in schools; still students and the general public were/are not yet adequately exposed to this segment of historiography, except to some extent at high school and university levels. People generally are not aware of the Gladstone Experiment with the “Hill Coolies” and the many voyages thereafter from Calcutta and Madras to the shores of Guyana; of the conditions of work on sugar estates thenceforth; and of the persevering, tenacious and indomitable struggle during that period.
Only a few know of and had access to Henry Kirke’s, Peter Ruhoman’s and Dwarka Nath’s writings. Few knew of James Crosby except the fact that they “were going to ‘Krasby’s’ office”. Few yet ever heard of the prolific letter-writing immigrant, Bechu, except when he was minimally referenced by Tyran Ramnarine and later introduced by Clem Seecharan for general reading. Apart from a few academics, Guyanese did/do not know of Hugh Tinker, James Beaumont, William Des Voeux and Charles Freer Andrews; most, including many academics, still do not know!
History is integral to the overall culture of the people and the nation. The films by Rohit Jagessar and Shundell Prasad did in fact give glimpses of and tended to popularize the indentureship era. This void is regrettable. There should be immediate remedial mechanisms to fill this gap.
The month of May is especially important to Guyanese because it was during May 1964 when inter-racial animosity resulted in hundreds of innocent Indian men, women and children being wantonly abused in every way possible – violence, killing, rape, burning and looting of property – in the most brutal manner. It was an ignominious time that resulted in mass migration of Indians from the predominantly African township of Wismar/ Christianburg/Mackenzie area.
Reading the Wismar Report should be sobering for all Guyanese. (http://www. guyana.org/features/wismar_report.html) This Report was suppressed for many years in Guyana. But the stories were in the international press – New York Times: “East Indians flee race violence in British Guiana mining area.” Wednesday, May 27th, 1964; New York Times: “Official accuse Police in British Guiana.” Thurs-day, May 28th, 1964; Time Magazine: “British Guiana race war.” June 5th, 1964; Newsweek Magazine: “Politics of violence.” June 8th, 1964; Facts on File, Volume XXIV: “British Guiana.” June 4, 1964 – to which only a few in Guyana had access.
The month of May is especially important to Guyanese because it was on May 26, 1966 when Guyana became an independent nation. After all this time, some Indo-Guyanese still feel strongly that the selection of May 26 lays bare insensitivity to many Guyanese, and is a brutal reminder of the internecine conflicts. There is the phenomenon of epochalism. You cannot turn back the clock. However, one must be socialized in other modes of thinking – in an epistemological manner. You can’t mend “the broken plate”: Grab a plate and throw it to the ground./OK, done./Did it break?/Yes./Now apologize to the plate/Sorry/Did it go back to the way it was?/No. Now, do you understand?
Nevertheless, we must not allow certain discontinuities to continue. The nation must heal and find closure to the anomic periods of the past. For this, there should be openness, truthfulness, and generosity of spirit. The truth must be known, for only the truth can make one free. After 58 years of independence, there is sadly a lot still under the rug. When we individually and collectively develop this ability and mind-set to address all matters truthfully, without fear or favour, then our minds will truly be free – to deal with independence and nationhood – and hopefully find closure.
Sincerely,
Gary Girdhari
