This month marks ninety nine years of Cheddi Jagan’s birth

Mar 26, 2017 Letters

Dear Editor,
Dr. Cheddi Jagan was highly regarded throughout the world. It is no exaggeration to say that it was Dr. Jagan who placed this country on the world map way back in the early 1950’s. British Guiana during the colonial period was hardly known outside the shores of Guyana, It was not until the emergence of Dr. Jagan on the political stage that world attention began to focus on an otherwise sleepy and insignificant colony.
It was the suspension of the British Guiana constitution in October 1953 following the landslide victory of the PPP in the elections of April 1953 that catapulted the then colony on the international spotlight. Dr. Jagan and his PPP became one of the few countries in the western hemisphere in which a leftist party won office through constitutional means and it naturally generated much concern both in Britain and the United States. The United States had long ago considered the Caribbean as its backyard and any rise of leftist regimes was seen not only as an unwelcomed development but as a political aberration that needed, as it were, to be nipped in the bud. Of interest to note was that the historic victory of the PPP in the 1953 elections, the first under universal adult suffrage, preceded the Cuban Revolution of 1959.
Dr. Jagan’s activism and strong advocacy for national independence further enhanced the colony’s image on the world stage. Indeed, he had the honour of being the first colonial leader to address the United Nations Committee on decolonization much to the discomfort of Britain, the Mother country. The speech, however, resonated well with other leaders particularly from the Afro-Asian grouping of countries many of whom were also at the time clamouring for idependence. Dr, Jagan’s contribution to Guyana is monumental. March 22, 2017 marks ninety-nine years of his birth anniversary and twenty years since his passing. It is therefore an opportune time to reflect on the life and work of this outstanding son of the soil.
Hydar Ally

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