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Reply to "Burnham fought inequality, poverty and illiteracy."

Bibi Haniffa posted:

Since the history of Guyana was never accurately recorded, we will never know the exact number of people who were political martyrs.  On the ECD, every single Indian person was removed from the villages of Bachelor's Adventure, Victoria, and Belfield.  Some were killed.  Others were driven out.  Many of their houses were burned to the ground.  By the end of 1966, there were no Indians left in those villages.  A few returned to sell their land cheaply.  Only to never return again.

Suh the "Commission of Inquiry" did not give a true picture of what happened.

Did you read it ??  http://www.guyana.org/govt/wynnparry_report.html

Refresh your memory.

24.The two largest ethnic groups of the population of British Guiana are the East Indians and Africans. At the end of 1961 the East Indians formed 49 per cent of the total population and Africans 32.7 per cent. The East Indians it may be mentioned are the descendants of the indentured labour originally imported from India to work on the sugar cane farms. More than a quarter of a million of them were brought over between 1844 and 1914, and of these 65,000 were repatriated to India, while the rest remained to make a permanent home for themselves in British Guiana. The Africans are the descendants of the slaves who were brought by European settlers to work on the land and were later emancipated. They and their descendants adopted British Guiana as their homeland. In addition to these two ethnic groups, there are some Chinese, Portuguese and Amerindians, who are the descendants of the original Red Indian residents. As is inevitable in a country of several races, there is a substantial element of what is now known as "mixed population"'. The East Indians are for the most part agriculturalists and, therefore, residents of villages. They work on the sugar cane and rice farms. The Africans, for the most part, are factory workers and, therefore, town dwellers. Thus we find that according to tire Census of 1946 the Africans comprised 53.6 per cent of the population of Georgetown and East Indians numbered only 15.5 per cent. it would appear that a similar state of affairs also obtains in New Amsterdam. The Portuguese are mostly town dwellers and are employed in commerce, and almost all the Chinese and Europeans live in the towns. The Amerindians are to be found in the Savannahs.

25. The initial aloofness of the Indians, springing, perhaps, from a nostalgic attachment to their native land, is no longer observable and the present generation of East Indians have not only accepted British Guiana as the country which they inhabit and to which they owe allegiance, but they have without qualification or reservation identified themselves with every aspect of its life. Their inherent habits of hard work and thrift have enabled many of them to rise above the humble status of manual workers and enter the professions of law, medicine, commerce, and the civil service.

26. The Indians now take a prominent part in the social and political life of the country. There are several able lawyers. including more than one Queen's Counsel, and a number of highly qualified doctors. Dr. Jagan, the Premier and several of the Ministers in his Cabinet are East Indians.

27. With regard to the political affiliations of the various ethnic groups, although there is no sharply defined classification, the Indians, for the most part, support the People s Progressive Party, of which Dr. Jagan, the present Premier, is the leader. The Africans support, for the most part, the People's National Congress, which was inaugurated comparatively recently. Mr. Burnham, a local barrister, is the leader of this party. Until a few years ago he was a colleague and supporter of Dr. Jagan. The Portuguese, for the most part, support the party known as the United Force, of which Mr. D'Aguiar, and important businessman of Georgetown is the leader. It is difficult to escape the hypothesis that considerations of race are to some extent responsible for political affiliations and loyalties, although it must be stated that many East Indians support Mr. Burnham's party and many Africans owe allegiance to Dr. Jagan's party. The various political parties are of recent birth and, being still in the formative period, the convictions and loyalties of their members are somewhat superficial and personal.

28. We found little evidence of any racial segregation in the social life of the country and in Georgetown, East Indians and Africans seemed to mix and associate with one another on terms of the greatest cordiality, though it was clear that the recent disturbances and the racial twist given to them by some of the unprincipled and self seeking politicians had introduced slight, but it is hoped, transient over-tones of doubt and reserve. Among the inhabitants of Georgetown there is, of course, always present the danger that hostile and anti racial sentiments may be aroused by a clash of the hopes and ambitions of rival politicians. We draw attention to this possibility because there have been indications of such friction in the past, although, as will appear in the course of this report, the disturbances of February 16th did not originate in a racial conflict, nor did they develop into a trial of strength between the East Indians and the Africans.

Django
Last edited by Django
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