A policeman died in 1973

Apr 01, 2015 Letters

Dear Editor,
Mr. Adam Harris, Editor of the opposition outfit, Kaieteur News, in a Press Conference with former President Dr. Bharrat Jadgdeo, in Georgetown, corrected Dr. Jagdeo that three people and NOT two were murdered during that terribly rigged election by the PNC, in 1973.
At the time that the Kaieteur News Editor made the statement, Dr. Jagdeo was referring to the constant denial by Mr. David Granger, leader of the PNC-led APNU Party, that there were no rigged elections in Guyana by the PNC.
Jagdeo reminded everyone that Mr. Granger was at the time the head of the GDF Army in Berbice, where the murder of the TWO young men and a police officer occurred.
During the PNC rigged Election in 1973, Jagan Ramassar and Bholanauth Paramanad known as, the Ballot Box Martyrs were murdered when they tried to prevent the GDF soldiers from stealing the Ballot Boxes from the place of polling and taking it to PNC headquarters for “counting” of the Ballots.
Incidentally, Dr. Jagdeo challenged the PNC’s officials to explain the brutal killings of these two civilians while trying to protect the integrity of the ballots in 1973.
The former President declared, “Ten miles from Whim in 1973, two persons – Jagan Ramessar and Bholanauth Paramanand – were killed when they tried to protect the ballot boxes from being stolen, they were shot dead…”
On that note, he dared Opposition Leader David Granger and Vice Chairman Moses Nagamootoo to stand on the platform at Whim and explain why those two men were killed.
Despite many foreign Governments, NGO’s, Human Rights Groups, Churches and everyone else knew and were convinced that elections were rigged in Guyana prior to 1992, Dr. Jagdeo pointed out that Mr. Granger constantly denies those allegations.
Therefore, he concluded that when Granger hides from the past and maintains that elections were not rigged, then he is justifying that those two young men (Ballot Box Martyrs) died in vain.
Mr. Granger had written in his book, “New Road” about the 1973 election event that the “soliders had performed splendidly in the face of provocation”.
Mr. Granger also referred to the PPP supporters as “gangsters” in his book. Even though, none of the PPP supporters and/or civilians who defended the ballot boxes was armed or aggressive towards the heavily armed GDF soldiers on that fateful day at Number 63 Village, Corentyne, Berbice.
In his book “New Road”, Granger appeared to be glorifying the role played by the Army, which he led at the time and fails to acknowledge the fact that Guyanese were killed while exercising their basic human rights, as in 1973 and other Elections the ballots were not counted at the place of polling and there were justifiable fears that the PNC using the Army, would have taken the ballot boxes to an undisclosed place and changed the people’s Votes in favour of the PNC.
However, it was the same Mr. Granger, who claimed to have been stationed at Atkinson Field (now Timehri) and thus had no hand in the 1973 Ballot Box shooting that later published “The New Road – A Short History of the Guyana Defence Force – 1966 – 1976” that incidentally bore prominent the flags of the PNC, GDF and Guyana.
One can only imagine what the reaction would be like if Commodore Gary Best or any serving officer of the GDF were to issue a publication with the PPP’s flag embedded in it.
Mani Singh

Editor’s note: The death of the policeman confirmed that the crowd at the toll gate was unruly and violent. It is unfortunate that the People’s Progressive Party never acknowledges that policeman’s death. It is as if he was a mere statistic.

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A policeman died in 1973

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