Independence Day: a different one

May 26, 2023 News

Kaieteur News – Wishes for a quiet Independence Day is extended to all Guyanese. It may be a forlorn wish, but I must believe that there are still some Guyanese, enough of them, who know what it is to be living under a cloud of calamity, and who will arrange themselves, and adjust their observation of Independence Day 2023. In view of current conditions, the word ‘observation’ is preferred over celebration. May it be subdued with the appropriate level of solemnity gracing this extraordinary national day.

My choice would have been for the period of national mourning to extend to and end on Friday, May 26.So, now there is this challenge before all citizens relative to how they treatthis particular national holiday in this instance, which is the beginning of a ‘long’ three-day weekend. The hope is that the sober headed and considerate will prevail, if only to pay proper respect to those no longer with us. If only to indicate how much we truly care about those wishing they could switch places with those who departed.

It should be noted that I am avoiding certain words and names, for there have been more than a few homages already paid. A sense of proportion is sought, just that right balance that honors and dignifies, whilst leaving enough space for those impacted so horribly to regroup on their own terms. It is that idea, the same standard, that is tabled on this national holiday. There has to be that discipline, that respect, across the narrow and wide spaces of Guyana. I have some trouble as to whether we are capable of handling such a call, such restraints, with a bow to local celebratory culture. This will be a test case as to what Guyanese are made of, how well they respond to a stark situation. Is bottle and glass more irresistible than undeniable grief? Is the sound of uninhibited celebration going to be the order of the day amid the dirges and cries? We shall see, and it will reveal just how genuine we are in all that has taken place.

Already, some well-meaning citizens have seamlessly shifted gears, and have listed what should be official priorities relative to safety and preemptive precautions. They used to call these contingencies that come from conducting the kind of sweeping examination that covers plenty of territory, and touches every warning signpost. The public spaces have come alive with valid contributions from several quarters about building codes, fire service advice, and policies and procedures as integral aspects of the step-by-step prevention apparatus that should be in place. I think that those are solid. In addition, there have been calls-angry, sharp, and insistent-for ministerial heads to end up in places other than where they are now. Those have their merits, which is what I limit myself to today, and in the spirit of the recommendation to keep matters subdued. I move on.

There is another disaster that emphasizes how much we are not independent, confirms how little real liberty we live with re: the deepest, profoundest senses of that spiritually inspiring word (liberty) in this richly saturated land. Look and listen and read carefully: our elected officers cannot speak freely, are unwilling and unable to carve out a position that is for the Guyanese people, the citizens who elevated them into office. The PPP Government and the PNC Opposition are not their usual strident, blustery, aggressive selves, when they have to take a patriotic stand and draw a national line for the patrimony gifted to Guyana. There is too much telltale stonewalling, too many instances of overwhelming obfuscating, and too often more dodging about than going at it toe to toe for the benefit of Guyana. The positions of the foreigners are adopted by our own as their own, as limiting, if not crippling, as they are to the present and future welfare of all Guyanese. In sum, when our elected are reduced to parroting and touting the selling points of self-enrichers (to our loss), then there is a yawning void that points in one and one direction.

From my perspective, that is not fully fleshed freedom, but a more subtle form of leadership harnessing and hobbling. It is not liberty in the least on the biggest thing ever to be struck in this country, no matter how nuanced, regardless of how well watered, how sweetly schemed. It is endowment enslavement, and this stings to say on Independence Day. As usual, there are the foreign corporate salesmen to pitch their angles and their outswingers at Guyanese. I will not assert publicly which political leader confided in them that Guyanese are shackled by dumbness, but that is what comes out of the pores of the foreigners. When we should have adversarial lines drawn in neon paint, I have difficulty separating my own Guyanese leaders from foreign self-serving narratives and storylines.

What is now crystal clear on this Independence Day 2023 is that history is repeating itself with foreign operators partnering with local political collaborators. Yesterday it was sugar. Today it is that deepwater commodity. Reality: we are not free.

1 thoughts on “Independence Day: a different one”

Shawn Teixeira May 29, 2023 at 10:45 pm

Nothing to celebrate. British Guiana was a paradise; infrastructure was good and it was safe. You can’t even walk the streets of Georgetown without fearing for your life now.