Latest update June 3rd, 2026 12:40 AM
On this Diwali day, East Indian must join the train of historical truth
I felt released from a huge mental burden when I read a letter by Malcolm Harripaul that appeared in the same edition of both independent dailies (Wed. October 14). This is a fine letter by a Guyanese East Indian who wants his fellow Guyanese to know their country’s history.
A long time ago on this page, I dreamt of the day when young Indians would research the history of their country and tell their fellow Indians of Guyana about an historical myth that they have virtually wrapped up in their psyche. It is the myth of Cheddi Jagan and what he did for Indians.
The more we look, the deeper we dig we see a flawed leader that was far from innocent. We see a man who sacrificed his people on the altar of an ideology he was in love with. He loved that ideology more than human beings. In the process, the Indians were dispossessed, humiliated and devastated. But history moves in mysterious ways. This very Anti-Christ that betrayed his people was deified by the very victims. The most potent analogy I can think of is Jewish admiration of Adolph Hitler. Historical events could move so fast that they confuse us.
Were the Indians confused or did they walk into the temple of deception with their eyes wide open. As this paper hits the newsstands, the Indians would be in the temples, praying to God to safeguard for them all the sacred value every human being wants to have in his/her life.
As they emerge from their prayers, they would return to their homes to light their diyas as night covers the afternoon skies. And they would pray again. When the day is done, every Hindu should reflect on the Hindu priests they worship to and the Hindu leaders they believe have brought them thus far in the land of their birth. They must be truthful to themselves.
Many of their priests do not deserve to be sermonizing to them in any temple of Guyana. One particular popular priest is very far from God. One day, God will turn him away (if you believe in God). Many of the Indian leaders they believe have protected them from the OTHER KIND they perceive as being against them have in fact failed them. One such leader is Cheddi Jagan.
The Indian psyche finds it hard to accept that their angel was a fallen mortal who was just as ordinary as any other mortal but had less virtue than the average human. This is the story of Cheddi Jagan. It will take a long time for the Indian psyche to grasps reality about an obsession that has so taken over the mind.
Time marches on and history like the ocean reveals its secret.
The dark secret in Guyana is that Cheddi Jagan was not the selfless, dedicated leader his flock thought him to be. Jagan’s fault lines were countless and they led to the exodus and tragedy of the Guyanese Indians. He does not serve the adulation given to him by his people. Only history can show them his errors.
Time marches on and it brings its epiphanies, apocalypses and truths with it. Young Indians are writing. Malcolm Harripaul is the latest. Harripaul’s elegant letter is a brave attempt to get inside the psyche of Jagan’s flock. His insightful letter is a response to Ravi Dev’s tempestuous condemnation of the dictatorship of the PNC’s days in power. Each time Dev points to the unacceptable conduct of the PNC Government, Harripaul gives him examples of matching perversities from Cheddi Jagan. Here are some examples where Harripaul contributes to the truths of history.
Dev- Burnham killed liberal democracy that we took from the British by introducing cooperative socialism.
Harripaul – Jagan was a relentless advocate of Marxism-Leninism and saw liberal democracy as a capitalist concept.
Dev – Burnham introduced party paramountcy.
Harripaul – party paramountcy is an essential pillar of Marxism-Leninism and Jagan offered “Critical Support” that that very government that was practicing party paramountcy in 1976 and planned to merge with it in 1985.
Dev- After the PPP won the 1992 election, the PNC wanted the PPP Government to embark on substantive democracy but the PNC went about it with a scorched earth policy.
Harripaul – wasn’t the scorched policy of Opposition Leader, Desmond Hoyte, a reaction to the destruction of liberal democracy by the PPP after 1992 that Hoyte reintroduced in 1988? This last point by Harripaul all Indians should note. Hoyte had returned to substantive democracy by 1989.
Sadly and most tragically, the PPP turned its back on a historic opportunity to free Guyana.
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