PNCR backs calls for May 5th to be designated Indian Arrival Day

May 05, 2022 News

Kaieteur News – The People’s National Congress Reform (PNCR) in hailing the contributions of East Indians to Guyana’s development has joined calls for May 5th to be officially designated Indian Arrival Day rather than Arrival Day.
In recent weeks there have been renewed calls for the government to take steps to have May 5th be properly designated. “The PNCR hereby joins the call for the May 5th observances to be officially recognized henceforth as INDIAN ARRIVAL DAY,” the party said in its Arrival Day message. It added: “Designating May 5th as INDIAN ARRIVAL DAY also respects the historic fact that the date specifically marks the arrival of the first Indian Indentured labourers to these shores. May 5th therefore should be wholly devoted to celebrating the valuable contribution that our East Indian brothers and sisters have made to the development of our country and the shaping of its rich cultural tapestry. Separate Arrival Days for Guyanese of Indian, Portuguese, and Chinese descent; a Heritage Month for Guyanese of Amerindian descent; and Emancipation Day for Guyanese of African descent should all be seen as occasions to celebrate our distinct ethnic identities and cultural expressions, while at the same time embracing our unity in diversity, our mutual respect, our common understandings, and our shared destiny,” the party noted. In its message the PNCR used the theme, “SAFEGUARDING AND BUILDING ON OUR RICH HERITAGE.”
It said May 5th has been designated as the special occasion when “we pay homage to the arrival of Indentured workers to these shores regardless of their origin. It also marks the anniversary of the arrival of our East Indian ancestors on this day in 1838. The arrival of these various Guyanese ancestors has added to the multi-ethnic, multi-religious, and multi-cultural magnificence of Guyana. This rich diversity today is rooted and given unity in our shared experiences, shared goals, and shared destiny as One Nation.” According to the PNCR the untiring efforts and enormous sacrifices of these ancestors have helped to build a nation that today we are proud to call home, that we are ready to represent and defend, and that we are willing to keep building. “True, much more work remains to be done as we today undertake, in the words of the preamble of Guyana’s constitution, our collective quest for a perfect nation.” Arrival Day therefore should cause us to recommit to the charge in the very preamble to “safeguard and build on the rich heritage, won through tireless struggle, bequeathed us by our forebears.”
The party said to strengthen national integration and social cohesion by according due respect and recognition to the various ethnic groups in our multicultural society, the former Leader of the PNCR and President of Guyana, David Granger, issued two public notices: (i) on February 27, 2017, he designated May 3rd each year as PORTUGUESE ARRIVAL DAY; and (ii) on January 6, 2017, he designated January 12th each year as CHINESE ARRIVAL DAY. Given these changed circumstances surrounding the original purpose of Arrival Day – coupled with the fact that Guyanese of African and Amerindian origin have designated days or months to celebrate their distinct heritages, the party said it was time the East Indians be accorded with the month of May to celebrate their heritage.

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