The Constitution of British Guiana was announced by Her Majesty

Jun 26, 2022 News

This Day in History: June 26

Compiled by Zena Henry

Kaieteur News – Guyana’s Parliament has gone through many phases in its evolution; from the time of its colonial members to its current seat holders elected by the citizens of this country. In 1956, however, the British Guiana (Constitutional) (Temporary Provisions) Order in Council was amended. The Legislative Council appointed under the British Guiana (Constitution) (Temporary Provisions) Order in Council was dissolved with effect from June 29, 1957.

Guyana’s Parliament

In 1957 general elections were held and the PPP Jaganite under the leadership of Dr. Cheddi Jagan won the elections. A second Legislative Council constituted under the (British Guiana (Constitution) Temporary Provisions) Orders in Council 1953 and 1956 was appointed. The Legislative Council consisted of the Speaker, three ex-officio members, 14 elected members and 11 nominated members.
On July 18, 1961 this second Legislative Council was dissolved. On July 18, 1961, a new Constitution – The Constitution of British Guiana– annexed to The British Guiana (Constitution) Order in Council, and made on June 26, 1961, by Her Majesty and with the advice of Her Privy Council – came into operation. This new Constitution revoked the 1953 Constitutional Instruments and the amendments thereto. Provision was made in the new Constitution for a Premier and a Council of Ministers (not called the Executive Council or the Cabinet). Provision was also made for a two-chamber Legislature – a Senate and a Legislative Assembly.

The United Nations Charter was signed in San Francisco
Established in 1945, the United Nations (UN) is basically a supergroup of the world’s politicians addressing various issues such as war and inequality. The formation of the U.N. wasn’t exactly a new idea since during World War I, the League of Nations was created to handle the constant crisis of war. Unfortunately, they were unable to mediate the growing problems that led to World War II. As a result, “the powers that be” were already discussing the founding of the U.N. back in 1941.

Representatives of 50 World Nations signed on to the UN Charter (Credit Photo: History 101)

The revolutionary plan began to gain steam when American President Franklin D. Roosevelt and English Prime Minister Winston Churchill penned the Atlantic Charter in late 1941. As a result, of these new guidelines for global unity, Roosevelt officially spawned the term “United Nations” for the group of Allies who fought against the Axis powers. After years of deliberation, the time had finally come for the international peace organisation to come into fruition.
On June 26, 1945, representatives from 50 different countries gathered at San Francisco’s Herbst Theatre to sign the U.N. Charter. After the document was inked, it was ratified in October 1945. From then on, the U.N. General Assembly had their first meeting in London, England in January 1946. The intergovernmental organisation has even received over 10 Nobel Peace Prize awards since it came into existence. Today, the UN’s main purpose is to maintain international peace and security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be a centre for harmonising the actions of nations. It is the world’s largest and most familiar international organisation. It is headquartered on international territory in New York City, and has other main offices in Geneva, Nairobi, Vienna, and The Hague; home to the International Court of Justice.

The first Grand Prix car race is held
Grand Prix motor racing, a form of motorsport competition enjoyed by millions of people around the world and has its roots in organised automobile racing that began in France. In 1906 Grand Prix de l’Automobile Club de France, commonly known as the 1906 French Grand Prix, was a motor race held on 26 and 27 of June on closed public roads outside the city of Le Mans.

One of the more modern Grand prix races of today

First Grand prix racing event in 1906

The Grand Prix was organised by the Automobile Club de France (ACF) at the prompting of the French automobile industry as an alternative to the Gordon Bennett races, which limited each competing country’s number of entries regardless of the size of its industry. France had the largest automobile industry in Europe at the time, and in an attempt to better reflect this, the Grand Prix had no limit to the number of entries by any particular country. The ACF chose a 103.18-kilometre (64.11 mi) circuit, composed primarily of dust roads sealed with tar, which would be lapped six times on both days by each competitor, a combined race distance of 1,238.16 kilometres (769.36 miles), lasting for more than 12 hours. Today, there are 12 Grand prix countries in the world with Formula One, (F1), is the highest class of open-wheeled auto racing series. (1906 French Grand prix)

The Emergency (India) is declared after PM pinned in election fraud
In 1975 the former President of India, Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed declared a state of internal emergency, which granted Caesar-like powers to Prime Minister Indira Gandhi. It was considered by many to be the lowest point in Indian democracy.

Assassinated Indian PM Indira Ghandi

After Gandhi was found guilty of the charge of misuse of government machinery for election purposes by the Allahabad High Court she got a conditional stay from the Supreme Court. This led her major opponent JP Narayan who demanded her resignation and declared nationwide protests. Gandhi convinced the president to declare a state of emergency lasting some 21 months. Setting off nearly two years of widespread arrests, censorship of the press and severe curtailment of civil liberties to India’s millions of citizens. The 21-month period, known in India simply as the Emergency, represents one of the darkest periods of India’s political past.
The first move was a complete blanket ban on anything that was critical of Gandhi and her regime. Most newspapers of the day gave in and the one that fought the hardest was The Indian Express. The day after the declaration, The Indian Express ran a blank page as a protest. The government cut power supply to newspaper printing presses, harassed and imprisoned journalists and even banned Kishor Kumar’s songs because he refused to perform at a Congress rally. Many of Gandhi’s opponents were jailed. With many members of the opposition jailed, there were vehement protests, mostly led by the Sikhs and the RSS. The government responded with censorship and intimidation. The RSS was also banned in this era and thousands were imprisoned. The RSS defied the ban by forming underground movements. It was in this era that a young man named Narendra Modi came in touch with LK Advani and helped the underground movement. Modi would move around dressed as a Sikh to hoodwink the authorities.
Some of the atrocities carried out in this era included the detention of thousands of people without charges; abuse and torture, destruction of slums and even forced sterilisation. Sanjay Gandhi, Indira’s younger son held no power but was considered by many to be an unofficial dictator and whoever protested was removed. He is also believed to have destroyed tenements housing thousands and when they protested over 150 people were killed by the police. However, the most controversial was the forced sterilisation campaign, which some estimate was carried out on over eight million males.
“Not since India gained its independence from Britain in 1947 had it faced a constitutional crisis of such magnitude,” a TIME article dated June 23, 1975, describing then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi as being disqualified from her seat in the Indian Parliament after being found guilty of “campaign irregularities” in her 1971 re-election.
PM Gandhi was assassinated by two of her own bodyguards on 31 October, 1984 at her residence in New Delhi. She was killed by her Sikh bodyguards who retaliated for the military operation she ordered, Operation Blue Star. The Indian military action carried out between 1 and 8 June, 1984, sought to remove Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale and his followers from the holy Golden Temple of the Harmandir Sahib in Amritsar, Punjab. The collateral damage included the death of many pilgrims, as well as damage to the Akal Takht. Military action on the sacred temple was criticised in and out of India. (Indian Times)