Why Arrival Day and not Indian Arrival Day, why PPP callousness?

May 05, 2023 Letters

Dear Editor,

Kaieteur News – Much debate is presently being generated regarding May 5 being given the title of INDIAN ARRIVAL DAY. And while APNU/PNC, the main Opposition and many other small parties and most Indo-Guyanese are in agreement with such title designation, it is really shocking to the point of callousness that the government of the PPP has refused such undertaking especially when one considers that it is their “own people”, the Indian voting block that has perpetually ensured this Party’s rise to power and prominence decades ago.

Those who follow the thought process of this group ought to realize that the founder, Dr. Cheddi Jagan was an avowed Marxist who saw people in terms of class instead of race and colour. When his nemesis somersaulted into the socialist landfill, the comrade was elated to the point where he gave Burnham ‘Critical Support’ in the nationalization of foreign companies such as the bauxite and the sugar industry! Such legacy lives on as Guyanese are lumped into capitalist exploiters, petty bourgeoisie, working class, proletariat, even miscreants!

It is a disgusting, sickening, vulgar, and a gross insult to Indians by a dysfunctional set of self-styled autocrats, led by the honcho and de facto President to use the name Arrival Day instead of Indian Arrival Day. Why this autocratic leader has refused to bestow on the descendants of 239,000 Indians who were brought as “indentured labourers” to work on the sugar plantations in Guyana in 1838 and 1917? Those Indians who are silent about this insult by the very people who they elect to office are equally guilty.

In fact, it is an anomaly that the descendants of the people who arrived on May 5 have generally voted for the very people who have refused to recognize their own values. It must be remembered that it is the PPP under the late Dr. Cheddi Jagan that recognized Indian Arrival Day, but this government under the direction of the honcho, who believes he knows everything has refused to recognize the rights of its own people, while APNU/PNC did. The fact that he and his cohorts have used the name Arrival Day instead of Indian Arrival Day clearly shows contempt for the people of Indian descent, who are their supporters. I hope the Indians remember this at the polls.

Sincerely,
Leyland Chitlall Roopnaraine

Discover more from Kaieteur News

Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.

APNU/PNC, descendants, Dr. Cheddi Jagan, indentured labourers, Indian Arrival Day, Leyland Chitlall Roopnaraine, PPP

Latest News