Will Indians continue to be children of the PPP?

 

Dear Editor,

 

In recent weeks much exasperation has been expressed by letter writers over the sloth of the Guyana Third Force and the Alliance For Change in establishing their machineries to contest elections that are due no later than August 2006, but which I am sure President Jagdeo will call as soon as GECOM is ready.

I also share those concerns, especially since President Jagdeo has been in election gear for a while now, taking every opportunity to dispense monetary inducements to all and sundry. In any other country that experienced multiple major floods in less than a year coupled with rampant crime, corruption, and gross incompetence, it would have been a foregone conclusion that the electorate would have had no hesitation in removing the PPP from Government.

However in Guyana , the major ethnic group has in the past 40 years not voted on issues but rather along lines of ethnic unity and solidity. So preponderant has been Indian support for the PPP that in the last ten years, such blind loyalty has been referred to as a vote bloc or vote bank for the PPP. Such labeling is not new.

Shortly after the 1964 elections, US officials in noting that Indians had voted for the PPP as a unit referred to it as “the Jagan built wall.” That “wall” had been meticulously constructed ever since Dr. Cheddi Jagan returned to Guyana in 1943, soon followed by Ms Jagan with her little library of Lenin books.

Then, the political and educational development of the Indian Guyanese masses and those in India were probably similar. Such was the underdevelopment of the Indian masses that it had caused Gandhi, in a discourse with Tagore, to defend the worship of idols on the ground that the masses were incapable of raising themselves immediately to abstract ideas. Tagore could not bear to see the people eternally treated as children. ( Rev. Andrews re 1998 Noble Prize winner Amartya Sen in his book “The Argumentative Indian” p92)

Conditions were such in Guyana then that Tagore's observation could very well be applied to Indian Guyanese. The political underdevelopment of the Indo Guyanese masses provided ideal conditions for the foundations of the “Jagan Wall.” Those foundations were the manipulation of religion and racial insecurities. Ms Jagan was quick to recognise this.

Taking advantage of her being perceived as a “White Lady” and donning a sari, I was told by the Leader of ROAR, Mr. Ravi Dev, how Ms. Jagan visited a Mandir at Uitvlugt and read selected verses from the Bhagwat Gita that told of the incarnation of Lord Rama, who would descend on earth to deliver his people from oppression and injustice.

New York Accountant Mr. Prem Sahadeo related how Ms Jagan attended meetings at Enterprise , ECD, dressed in a sari and how she impressed all the Indians present with recitations from the Holy Gita. Indian activist, author and Asst. Professor Dr Baytoram Ramharack recalled how the PPP distributed portraits of Gandhi and Dr. Jagan on the Corentyne. In this way Indians were led to associate Dr Jagan with the images of Lord Rama and Gandhi and to view him as the one sent to free them from oppression, and he therefore required their unquestioned loyalty and faith in him. I have personally seen evidence of such manipulation of Hinduism.

Growing up on Leguan in the 1960's, I saw a few Indians adorn their homes with pictures of Dr. Jagan and Hindu Gods. In the late 1970's as a PPP/PYO activist on the West Demerara , I saw quite a few Indians keep a portrait of Dr. Jagan next to those of their Deotas. As recent as 2001, I saw this at the home of an ex-PPP activist on the Essequibo Coast , and I also witnessed it in 2004 at the home of a current PPP supporter on the West Demerara . In 2001 on a house to house campaign on Wakenaam, one household had Ms. Jagan's photograph next to Mother Sita's image.

However, I don't think all Hindus kept pictures of Dr. Jagan next to their Dieties and I don't think it was a wide spread practice. I simply make the observation to show evidence of manipulation and such manipulation caused blind loyalty and faith in a godless communist party.

Religion alone was not manipulated to erect the “Jagan Wall.” Those Hindus who did not fall for the religious ploy were, like all other Indians, susceptible to racial fears and insecurities.

Racial fears were also exploited to build the “Jagan Wall.”

Such real fear materialised in 1962. A declassified US Foreign Relations, 1961-1963 Vol X11 document dated April 11th 1962 stated, “A tremendous increase in the racial tension in British Guiana and in the potential for conflict came as a result of a week of strikes and riots, which shook the capital city of Georgetown in mid February 1962. Paradoxically, the February crisis strengthened Jagan by consolidating the support of his East Indian followers.” The continued violence in 1963 and 1964 concretised Indian support for the PPP. The declassified Johnson Administration (1964-1968) Vol XXX11 document stated, “Present indications are that the East Indian people, as a whole, dislike the African, distrust him, especially fear him, and believe that they must stay together, particularly as a voting unit, if their rights are to be protected and their aspirations achieved.”

The declassified Johnson Administration (1964 -1968) Vol XXX11 on Guyana dealt with a report that the US Consul General had submitted after the 1964 elections. It read thus, “Carlson reported that the most striking aspect of the election was the extent of racial voting. He reported that "in one district after another the number of votes for Jagan's PPP was approximately the same as number of registered Indian voters." Carlson said that the cause of "such complete racial voting by Indians apparently stems from fear and distrust of African led government," and that the PPP's propaganda and pre-election violence played on those fears and "created psychology which made Indians impervious to reason.”

The report continued, “Thus Indians deserted United Force with its advocacy of multi-racial approach, non-violence and prosperity. Likewise rejected was Justice Party leader Rai's logical appeal to Indian self-interest to obtain share in non-PPP administration which was certain to come about as result of election." Carlson concluded that the consequence of this racial voting was that the PNC–UF coalition would have to govern without significant Indian representation.”

This exploitation of Hinduism and anti-African sentiments by the PPP was confirmed by Professor Clem Seecharran and Economist Dr. Ramesh Gampat in Dr. Ramharack's book “Against The Grain, Balram Singh Rai and the Politics of Guyana.” Professor Seecharran explained how the PPP painted Africans as Rakshas, the people of the evil king Rawan. Dr. Jagan was portrayed in Hindu imagery as the incarnation of Lord Rama, the noble ruler and the source of all light. Dr. Seecharran wrote inter alia, “this was a Marxist party that garnered every crumb that spilled off the Hindu's table in a cynical exploitation of religion and race. Rai had no right to challenge the great leader (Jagan). He (Rai) had deserted the race; he was on the side of the Rakshas, the blacks - Rawan's people, the enemy of Lord Rama.”

Dr Gampat was quoted as follows, “The PPP has developed an elaborate machinery of control, including religion, to enslave the bodies and minds of Indians; because Indians are afraid of another African Government, a sentiment drilled into their psyche by the PPP, because the PPP ruthlessly strikes down any Indian opposition, is hostile to new ideas and innovations. Because it ruthlessly and relentlessly victimises any Indian who dissents; because the PPP behaves as if it owns Indians.”

Dr. Harold Persaud, a NY Clinical Psychologist, opined that the current psychological make up of the Indian is symptomatic of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder that was triggered by the violence of the 1960's, especially the Wismar Massacre in May, 1966, when hundreds of Indians were either killed, raped, mutilated, burnt or beaten by PNC inspired Africans. The Indian condition was further aggravated by the violence inflicted on them during Burnham's reign.

Their plight has been also exacerbated by continued violence in the form of street beatings and crime waves that have been experienced under the PPP Government since 1992. Scores of Indians have been gunned down and many have been kidnapped and disappeared on the East Coast. Hundreds were forced to flee from Annandale and nearby villages. Dr Persaud further stated that the PPP, instead of removing the factors that causes violence to be unleashed on its supporters, and implement measures to secure Indians, has deliberately kept the situation volatile so that it could continue to manipulate the racial fears and insecurities of Indians.

Other persons also alluded to continued manipulation of religion by the PPP to strengthen its hold on Indians.

I was told that when Ms. Jagan became President she was hosted at various Mandirs in New York and Toronto where analogies were made between her and Mother Sita. President Jagdeo was declared an Avatar, someone who God sends to help the poor and oppressed. President Jagdeo, who is an atheist and communist, has certainly not shied away from visiting Mandirs in Guyana. This probably explains why in the March, 2005, flood of Mahaicony Creek he was greeted by the victims with Malas and Arti as seen on GTV. According to a report posted by Bryan Max on the Discussion Forum of the Guyana Gazette on 01-07-06, President Jagdeo received a tumultuous welcome by flood victims of another area, this time of the December, 2005, flood as seen on Prime News.

It is apposite to view Bryan Max's report which follows, “Hundreds of flooded residents turned up with huge portraits of him and there was even a Tassa drum team beating up sweet tassa music to give the occasion a very festive spirit. One woman was heard saying, "we naaa kay haw flood deh place bee, wance you cum aw visit aweee, aawe happy." The president was immediately hugged by hundreds and in a short five minutes, he had more garlands placed over his head than even the great Cheddi could ever dream of.”

The behaviour displayed by people who had their crops and livestock destroyed does not seemed to be based on good reason. Imagine the Katrina victims in New Orleans in such revelry to greet President Bush. It could not be merely party nor presidential loyalty that led them to engage in such festivity to greet President Jagdeo. It certainly is the manner in which an Avatar would be heralded. But more importantly it demonstrates glaringly that in this age of information technology, the PPP has succeeded in keeping Indian political development at the level of children.

Now Gandhi might have seen the Indian masses as children 50 years ago but they at least have since been sufficiently politically developed to know when to vote out politicians who do not serve their interests. Has the Indo-Guyanese masses undergone any political development since then? It does not appear so. They still seemed “impervious to reason.”

I argue then, that unless the AFC and GTF can in the few months available before elections 2006 erode the twin columns of racial fear and religious manipulation on which the “Jagan Wall” is anchored, then we will once again witness Indians rededicate themselves as obedient children of the PPP. I close with the observation that since taking office in 1992, the PPP has failed to address Indian security concerns and African fears of continuous exclusion from political office in the current electoral and political systems, given the majority Indian vote bloc that the PPP owns.

The election, whenever it is held, as was the case in 1997 and 2001, is a sure recipe for social unrest. As always, Indians will be the victims and the PPP the benefactor.

Now I know many Indians will be quick to point out that Africans have also supported the PNC as a bloc, but this is not quite true. A significant section of Africans rebelled against Burnham's dictatorship in the late 1970's, and 15 of them were mercilessly cut down by a death squad in 1979 and Walter Rodney was assassinated in 1980.

The same PPP that commands the Indian vote bloc was at the time trying to persuade Mr. Burnham to form a National Patriotic Front Government with the PPP! By 1984, the PPP entered into power sharing talks with the PNC to save Mr. Burnham from a possible US invasion, which, if it had happened, would have freed Indians from PNC oppression. So I say to Indians, explain that to me.

 

Malcolm Harripaul