Guyana Politics Part 1: Jagan & Burnham in India
If you don't read history you're in a "dark place". A person in a dark place mistakes a coil of rope for a snake. From then on their logic may be impeccable, their behaviour entirely reasonable, but they are still WRONG.
It is the basic assumptions which determine all the rest.
This programme was eagerly embraced by the vast majority of the people, but it enraged the elite elements including the landlords, leaders of the "big business" community, the sugar plantation owners, leaders of Christian denominations who controlled primary education, and heads of "company" trade unions and newspaper owners. The PPP Government, for wanting to implement these democratic reforms, was thereupon branded "communist" and all efforts were made by the British Governor, Sir Alfred Savage, in collusion with the anti-PPP forces, to hamper and undermine the efforts of the Government to implement these reforms.
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Salaam All...Let's start this email like a fairytale...ONCE UPON A TIME in Guyana Jagan and Burnham were political mates and belonged to the PPP. So what happened to cause this racial bitterness that plagues this beautiful tropical country. Guyana's political DNA was forever warped by cunning & deceit and the greed for power.
Watch this video clip of Jagan & Burnham TOGETHER in 1953. Listen carefully to the words of Jagan.
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So let's start our journey with excerpts from the included pdf file outlining Jagan & Burnham's trip to India way back in the 1950s. Many talk of race politics in Guyana without understanding our history. So this series of emails titled Guyana Politics will share several books that will enlighten the reader.
Excerpt 1...
Thus, shortly after the new democratically elected PPP Government was sworn in (which included Jagan & Burnham), the British Government began entertaining ideas to remove it from power. Unaware of these machinations, the new Government, led by Dr. Cheddi Jagan, immediately set about to implement its programme as set out in its election manifesto. This included social and economic reforms such as the improvement of health, housing, and education, and expansion of agricultural and industrial development. The programme also involved the extension of rights to workers to choose their trade union representative through a democratic process, the expansion of secular education and land reform. The free movement of Caribbean people and the right to obtain access to new ideas, including reading material, were also among the PPP's legislative plans.This programme was eagerly embraced by the vast majority of the people, but it enraged the elite elements including the landlords, leaders of the "big business" community, the sugar plantation owners, leaders of Christian denominations who controlled primary education, and heads of "company" trade unions and newspaper owners. The PPP Government, for wanting to implement these democratic reforms, was thereupon branded "communist" and all efforts were made by the British Governor, Sir Alfred Savage, in collusion with the anti-PPP forces, to hamper and undermine the efforts of the Government to implement these reforms.
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And this excerpt...
CHEDDI JAGAN: REFLECTIONS ON THE VISIT TO INDIA
We had gone to India from the United Kingdom on November 21, 1953 and had made a lightning tour of the principal cities. The highlight of the visit was an address in New Delhi to an informal assembly of the members of both Houses of Parliament with the Prime Minister, Jawaharlal Nehru, in the chair. Wherever we went, we were warmly received, sometimes with great pomp and ceremony. There were many embarrassing moments for me, however, particularly on two questions - language and the birthplace of my grandparents.
Actually, I had never taken the trouble to find out precisely from which village in India my forebears had come. All I knew was that they were from the State of Bihar. This of course was not a satisfactory answer, especially in Bihar, where I was pressed for details. The other source of my embarrassment was my inability to speak Hindi or Urdu; all I could manage were a few sentences of broken Hindi.
I left India somewhat disillusioned. Although protocol treatment from the government was strictly correct and support from the people unreserved, somehow I had the impression that in official quarters we were in the way. The government of India seemed hesitant to give us official sponsorship. I was made to understand that India was in trouble with the United States over Pakistan and Korea and thus needed the support of the British government. Moreover, the Indian government, preoccupied with its own Communists in Kerala, Hyderabad, and elsewhere, was somewhat influenced by the British government's anti-Communist propaganda against us.
Two things about my visit to India left their imprint on me. The first was the incredible poverty in evidence everywhere, particularly in the many refugee centres in the principal cities. It was a pitiable sight to see people sleeping at night on railway platforms, ill-clad and shivering from the cold in the North. I could not help thinking what a great country India would be if all its human resources were utilised. The second was the Gandhian creed of civil disobedience and passive resistance. Everywhere we went, we were asked whether we would adopt similar methods. We found ourselves sucked in by this tidal wave demand of questions. Soon we were saying that on our return home we would also be using the same methods of resistance.
We had gone to India from the United Kingdom on November 21, 1953 and had made a lightning tour of the principal cities. The highlight of the visit was an address in New Delhi to an informal assembly of the members of both Houses of Parliament with the Prime Minister, Jawaharlal Nehru, in the chair. Wherever we went, we were warmly received, sometimes with great pomp and ceremony. There were many embarrassing moments for me, however, particularly on two questions - language and the birthplace of my grandparents.
Actually, I had never taken the trouble to find out precisely from which village in India my forebears had come. All I knew was that they were from the State of Bihar. This of course was not a satisfactory answer, especially in Bihar, where I was pressed for details. The other source of my embarrassment was my inability to speak Hindi or Urdu; all I could manage were a few sentences of broken Hindi.
I left India somewhat disillusioned. Although protocol treatment from the government was strictly correct and support from the people unreserved, somehow I had the impression that in official quarters we were in the way. The government of India seemed hesitant to give us official sponsorship. I was made to understand that India was in trouble with the United States over Pakistan and Korea and thus needed the support of the British government. Moreover, the Indian government, preoccupied with its own Communists in Kerala, Hyderabad, and elsewhere, was somewhat influenced by the British government's anti-Communist propaganda against us.
Two things about my visit to India left their imprint on me. The first was the incredible poverty in evidence everywhere, particularly in the many refugee centres in the principal cities. It was a pitiable sight to see people sleeping at night on railway platforms, ill-clad and shivering from the cold in the North. I could not help thinking what a great country India would be if all its human resources were utilised. The second was the Gandhian creed of civil disobedience and passive resistance. Everywhere we went, we were asked whether we would adopt similar methods. We found ourselves sucked in by this tidal wave demand of questions. Soon we were saying that on our return home we would also be using the same methods of resistance.
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Shamal...225-9031; zamalsgy.
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