PPP General Secretary urges Guyanese to ‘zealously guard’ hard-won freedoms

Guyana’s 57th Independence anniversary celebrations will be subdued across the country, due to the national tragedy in Mahdia, Region 8, and as the occasion offers and opportunity for reflection, the lessons of Guyana’s independence struggle must never be forgotten.

This is according to General Secretary of the People’s Progressive Party (PPP), Bharrat Jagdeo, who said, “We must never forget the lessons of our independence struggle. We had to walk a very difficult road and we overcame many odds and obstacles on the path to freedom….today we are a free country largely because of the struggles of our ancestors who fought against slavery, indentureship and British colonial rule and brought our country to the stage where we became free people and became independent and where there was dignity in being Guyanese. We must never forget that struggle.”

He urged personal reflections among Guyanese and a commitment to ensuring that Guyana’s freedom, which came close to being lost during the March 2020 General and Regional Elections debacle, is zealously guarded. “We have to zealously guard our freedom….the threat is near and very near to us. Regardless how you vote, you must zealously guard your right.”

Jagdeo also urged commitment to rejecting efforts to divide Guyanese. “We have been plagued by attempts to divide our people. When our people are trying to forge a unity that existed in the early 50’s, we saw the division… today we still see people who actively divided through rumors and lies and who are continuing to do that….efforts to divide our people has no place in a free society. We must commit to banish that sort of behaviour and commit to fighting racism in all it manifestations and against people who benefited from that type of behaviour,” he said.

Stronger That Divisive Forces

The face of colonialism was division – division of the people in countries under the control of colonial masters – a contention that is maintained by General Secretary of the People’s Progressive Party, given that it rings as true today, as it did decades go.

He maintains that if Guyana is to move forward as a progressive nation, together, the move must be made from the basis of recognizing that

Guyana is stronger that the things that divide the Guyanese people. Jagdeo in the past has said that, “We believe that, as Guyanese, we have more in common than those things that divide us – regardless of the robust debates that we have, regardless of the numerous encounters that we have….we are all children of the soil. We all share this history and our history, regardless of our race, did not start when we came to this land – it is the entire history of Guyana….that common history binds us. The pride we share when we travel abroad to talk of our country, regardless of who is in power, is common to all of us. We believe that this blood tie that binds us is stronger that the heated political divisions we have that may find very robust expressions.”

He expressed confidence in the fact that Guyana “will do better” in the coming decades.

STRUGGLE Independence and the reflection around independence must take account of the struggles of all those who fought for it, according to him. He said, “If we look at struggles for independence across the world, we will find that in every instance, they had to sacrifice to at- tain independence. It was not handed to them on a platter… colonialism was not a benign thing….independence was only granted because of the struggle of people. Here too in Guyana, we must disabuse our minds that somehow the British handed this to us…from the organised trade union movement to the Political Affairs Committee (PAC) in 1946…and the formations of the first political party in Guyana, the People’s Progressive Party….they were all important milestones in our march to freedom.”

According to him, it was the progressive policies that the 1950 group (the PPP and its leaders) started to enact – because they wanted to change the lives of the Guyanese people for the better – that led to external pressure and interference. “We all have an obligation to look at the source documents, as Members of Parliament and as ordinary Guyanese….to see how the troubles of the 60’s were externally fermented because they did not want freedom to be extended to our people,” he urged.

Visible Scars

Jagdeo has acknowledged that the scars of colonialism are still visible in Guyanese society. He said, “Because of the trouble, the race riots, etc., we have had to overcome or to struggle with the suspicion of period and it has harmed us, because it has lived in the minds of that generation….from then to now.…when we talk of social cohesion today, the primary task, I think, is to go back and restore – almost have to remove the suspicions from that period.”

“…our history, good or bad, it is our history and many of the lessons of that history should help us in the future – examination of our economic history, our political history, and our institutional history,” Jagdeo declared.

According to him, Guyana did have local leaders “who might have been used” by external forces, but he stressed that the plots, which ignored the will and interest of the Guyanese, were external. “The plot to divide our people was purely external and we lived with the consequences,” he said.

He added, “…if we are going to make progress in the future, as a cohesive na- tion, we have to ensure that the policies, which we enact today, are for all Guyanese and that people perceive them to be for our entire country.”

Plans

The PPP and its members will always work in the nation's interest, Jagdeo assured. He said, “Our patriotism must never be questioned….our members love this country as much as anyone else…we will work as hard as anyone else. We are patriots…I have listened carefully to the two speeches made by the President….and we in the PPP share many of the sentiments of the President. We believe that we have to work together, regardless of our political affiliation, to move our country forward.

“We too share a vision for this country…we would like our people to progressively have a better live. We want a green economy….we want out people to live together in harmony and not be divided by history and current circumstances.”

Jagdeo noted that the PPP is looking forward to the future. The Guyanese Leader extended wishes on behalf of all the members of the PPP.