Latest update December 4th, 2024 2:40 AM

Guyana's largest selling daily and New York's most popular weekly

Latest News

Mahdia’s tragedy, the pain

May 24, 2023 Letters

Dear Editor

My pain is unbearable, and if this be mine, then that of the Indigenous Guyanese community has to be beyond the blood of anguish that I sweat, the convulsions that wrack.  Oh! The horror and agony of 19 young schoolchildren, the flower of indigenous womanhood, trapped in a cage and savaged by fire, then transformed into human pyres.  There is nothing remaining of them, but the bitterest ashes in the mouths of parents maddened by grief, and a community struck in the cruelest manner, from both loss and the incredible contempt that came in the wake of their untimely, harrowing deaths.

All the right words and phrases are uttered, but they mean nothing.  There will be three days of national mourning, but with a careful eye to complete that inconvenience in time for the usual Independence Day fun and frolic.  How can this be, even contemplated, when Guyana has just had the equivalent of a mass killing.  What kind of people are we?  Of which god do we claim to be?  What has happened to our humanity, or does this not extend to the indigenous people?

Nineteen gone, and we cannot even give them our time, our attention, our hearts.  Surely, Indigenous life cannot be this devalued, this cheap.  One can only imagine the outrage, the explosion of emotion and passion, if it were children other than Indigenous children, who had died like this, as prisoners, when their only crime was wanting an education, hoping to be somebody.

Surely, these dead Indigenous young are due some dignity, unlike what they got, where they met their gruesome end, in a cage of steel and concrete.  My heart is wrenching, when the thought comes that the only feature that was missing had to be surrounding barbwire to seal the crematorium that is now their final place of stealthy restless sleep.  It was what came like a thief in the night, and snatched their breaths, their life, away, with powerful authority, with fearsome finality.  They had no chance.  They were as good as dead.  And now, the rush is for this to be over and done with, so that the festivities could not be interrupted.

Oh, the urge is to call for ‘heads to roll’, and there are many, and of that there must be at the proper time and place.  Presently, the priority is for the Indigenous community to bury these young beloveds, these now forever lost ones.  Amid the ugly official formality, I call upon my people, my own indigenous sisters and brothers, grieving mothers and helpless fathers, let us do our duty and bury our dead with love in our hearts and dignity in our steps. It is at times like this that the Guyana Indigenous community, none like those stricken parents, whose lives have been ripped to shreds, know what it is to live the soaring, immortal words of that great Greek philosopher, Aeschylus:

“Even in our sleep, pain which cannot forget

falls drop by drop upon the heart

until, in our own despair, against our will,

comes wisdom through the awful grace of God.”

I pray for the parents.  I pray for the Indigenous Guyanese community.  I pray for Guyana.  Lord, give us the strength and courage.  Give us the grace.

Yours faithfully,

Mervyn Williams

Similar Articles

The Glenn Lall Show | December, 2nd, 2024

Follow on Tik Tok @Glennlall

 

THE BLUNT OF THE DAY

Sports

UDFA Year-End Futsal Tournament kicks off December 15

UDFA Year-End Futsal Tournament kicks off December 15

Dec 04, 2024

-$1M up for grabs in 15-team tournament Kaieteur Sports- The Upper Demerara Football Association (UDFA) Futsal Year-End Tournament 2024/2025 was officially launched on Monday at the Retrieve Hard...
Read More
Jaker, Taijul and Rana script Bangladesh’s first win in West Indies since 2009

Jaker, Taijul and Rana script Bangladesh’s...

Dec 04, 2024

Trophy Stall and Superbet on board with Kashif and Shanghai Futsal tourney

Trophy Stall and Superbet on board with Kashif...

Dec 04, 2024

Jai Hind Jaguars trounce North Soesdyke Masters to claim O50s title

Jai Hind Jaguars trounce North Soesdyke Masters...

Dec 04, 2024

BMC invites clubs/teams to register for the 2025 BMC O40s Tournament

BMC invites clubs/teams to register for the 2025...

Dec 04, 2024

ASK-G holds successful Karate Grading Examinations

ASK-G holds successful Karate Grading

Dec 04, 2024

Features/Columnists

Publisher’s Note

Freedom of speech is our core value at Kaieteur News. If the letter/e-mail you sent was not published, and you believe that its contents were not libellous, let us know, please contact us by phone or email.

Feel free to send us your comments and/or criticisms.
Contact: 624-6456; 225-8452; 225-8458; 225-8463; 225-8465; 225-8473 or 225-8491.
Or by Email: [email protected] / [email protected]

Weekend Cartoon

Bridge Watch

Demerara Harbour Bridge

> Berbice Bridge […]