56 years later Guyanese still wallow in the lies of our history

May 31, 2022 Letters

Dear Editor

May 26th, 2022 marked Guyana’s 56th Independence Anniversary. As an artist who’s works in both categories, painting and sculpture, focuses on our Pre and Post Colombian History and Culture out of the realization that Art can play an instrumental part in social transformation.

In the production of an outline of Guyanese history the titled work ‘THE ANATOMY OF A DICTATORSHIP’ is a condensed study of the monumental breakthrough in the colonization process that occurred in Guyana, the only English speaking country in South America.

The 1763 Berbice Rebellion was the first blow for Internal self-government. Guyana’s strategic Geopolitical location ignited an inter-continental flood of events in 1776 with the American Independence in Haiti in 1791 and in Latin America in 1808.

It is not as though Guyana’s Independence was given on a plate. It was fought for by our fore-parents of both African and Indian people against the cruelty of the Colonial rule. It is unfortunate or rather well designed that the date chosen for Guyana’s Independence would not in any way be remembered as part of our Revolutionary struggle as a people but one of racial conflict and animosity.

Two years earlier, some sources claim from the 22nd of May 1964 to the 26th of May 1964 an unprecedented wave of violence against Indians in the mining community of Wismar was unleashed. Homes were burned, people were killed, beaten, women raped, and not even children were spared. Hundreds of millions of dollars in damage to properties and over 3,000 citizens were displaced.

Though orchestrated by the CIA to prevent Guyana from becoming another Cuba in America’s backyard, this is oftentimes down played and the local politicians and their support base have for their participation been blamed for what was the British and American government’s agenda since the ousting of the Nationalist PPP Government of 1953.

Guyana is not singular in its experience, this is what the British and American governments have done in most of its former colonies. They have left us a Legacy which their handpicked colonial subordinates have effectively used to Divide and Rule its population. 56 years later, Guyanese of Indian descent, particularly those living in the diaspora reflect on the horrific event that changed the course of their lives. This has dampened the appreciation for Guyana’s Independence and the Struggles of our ancestors both African and Indian against the atrocities of Colonialism.

Guyana remains of strategic Geopolitical importance in the region, rich in natural resources, the discovery of Oil/gas, which should have long since accelerated its developmental thrust with a viable agricultural sector. Instead, that process has been deliberately undermined by the local Political Elites acting in concert with big Capitalist Consortiums. The oil/gas blocks will bring prosperity to a few while the majority continue to exist in a state of abject poverty.

While Guyanese 56 years Later, still grapple with a past unable to see the big picture, wallow in the lies and distortion of our history that has been constantly fed to them.

Yours Faithfully
Desmond Alli (General Secretary GUA)

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