In 2003, a “Special Select Committee to Review the Public Holidays Act” was established to consider May 5 and May 26th being declared public holidays. The rationale offered for the first was: “Guyanese of Indian origin, who form a large portion of the country’s population, had, for a period of in excess of the past forty years, been calling for 5th May to be declared a statutory public holiday, in observance of the arrival of the first batch of Indian indentured labourers, who came to the then British Guiana in 1838.”
Yet when, on 14th April, 2003, a Resolution (No.12 of 2003) was drafted and proposed by the Government, it asked for May 5 to be declared as “Arrival Day”, and not “Indian Arrival Day”. The rationale offered on the floor of the National Assembly was the Government wanted to acknowledge the arrival of all the other groups that were brought to Guyana after the abolition of slavery in 1834.
The subsequent advertisements in all of the national newspapers were all phrased as asking for submissions on “Arrival Day”.
However, when the Committee finally made its recommendations on May 5th, after summarising all written and oral submissions, it stated as the “rationale”: “The proposals and counter proposals supporting 5th May must be seen in the context of Guyana’s realities. Having regards, therefore, that:- • the call to designate 5th May as a National Holiday was made over 40 years ago with increased support over time; • Indians constitute the majority of the population of Guyana; • they have made significant contribution towards the development of Guyana; • while there were different assessments as to the nature of or meaning of Indian Arrival, all respondents accepted its landmark status as a seminal event that had permanent consequences for all Guyana.”
In accordance with its mandate, the Committee recommended however: “Arrival Day, that is to say, the 5th May, or, if that day is a Sunday, the following day, be included in the Public Holidays Act, Chapter 19:07 as a public holiday.” But it felt compelled to issue an explicit “caveat”: “While the aforesaid recommendation is in keeping with our mandate, the Committee wishes to note that all the submissions favouring 5th May as a Public Holiday recommended that it be designated “Indian Arrival Day”, as is the case in Trinidad and Tobago.”
In a very ethnically divided polity, the PPP Government was obviously bending backwards not to validate accusations that it was pandering to “Indian” sentiments. The testimonies offered to the Committee supported the PPP concern. The Committee received a total of fifteen (15) written submissions from nine organisations and six private individuals, but was forced to concede: “What is significant is that the majority of the organisations supporting 5th May and 26th May are all Indo-Guyanese.” In fact, it was ONLY Indian-based organisations that supported May 5th as a Holiday, and all asked it be designated “Indian Arrival Day”.
However, as in Trinidad, where the day when Indians first arrived, May 30, was also initially designated “Arrival Day” but was later changed to “Indian Arrival Day”, it appears that President Granger has decided to designate the holiday as “Indian Arrival Day”.
The commemorations of the event since 2004 have shown that the fears of the day being used in a “triumphalist” fashion and causing further divisions were unfounded. In fact, the Day is gradually evolving where other ethnic groups are also becoming involved.
With his Government being primarily grounded in the African Guyanese community, President Granger has less to fear of being accused of “pandering” to his “constituents” in designating May 5 “Indian Arrival Day”. He is also to be commended for recognising the “Arrival Days” of the Portuguese and Chinese.
One columnist of this newspaper pointed out that some 39,059 immigrants from the West Indies and also 13,355 from Africa came to these shores after 1834, and “Days” for them should also be designated. Along with Emancipation Day and Amerindian Heritage Month, the mosaic formed after the immigrants joined would then be complete.
