Dear Editor,
Over little more than a week ago, we have had many informative letters and articles written by some leading contributors on matters pertaining to East Indians, and the call for naming May 5 as Indian Arrival Day is a major recurring theme.
Those contributors included Shri Ravi Dev, Lomarsh Roopnarine, Devanand Bhagwan, Shabudeen, and Vishnu Bisramji, among others. It is very interesting that most of these gentlemen reside outside of Guyana, and I am certainly perplexed as to why we do not have more stridency on this issue by East Indians residing here.
Before making my small contribution, I refer to Vishnu’s letter in today’s newspapers, mentioning Dr. Balwant. I thought it best to state he is in fact referring to Dr Balwant Singh Sr, former Chief Government Bacteriologist and Pathologist, and former General Secretary of the Gandhi Youth Organization.
I have been associated with the GYO since 1971 to current, and have attended many of these Rama Khan celebrations which Mr. Bisram alluded to. The president of the organization at the time was the inimitable Shri Raghunandan Misirji (founder) and the spiritual head, and the first Pandit Dharma Acharya was Pandit SP Sharmaji.
The main purpose of my letter, however, is to point out that East Indians, who currently make up the largest single group, at around 40% of the population, have been taken for granted despite their monumental contributions to the life of this country; excelling in every sphere of endeavour, but have been given short shrift by all Governments, and, without a doubt, the 5th of May must be designated as Indian Arrival Day as of 5th May 2022.
If a Government led by East Indians cannot have this relatively simple matter corrected immediately, then I advocate that East Indians sign a petition of not less than 20,000 persons and immediately send same to the President’s Office, to the office of the Leader of the Opposition, and to other parliamentary leader(s), to ensure that this travesty is resolved forthwith.
Yours sincerely,
Chris Persaud
