Arrivals… and celebrations

Your Eyewitness notes that today is “Arrival Day”…a national holiday that’s supposed to celebrate the coming of three of the “six peoples” of our dear Guyana as indentured labourers!! These are the Portuguese/Maderians; Indians and the Chinese Guyanese. The remaining three are the Indigenous Peoples; Europeans/Whites Guyanese; and the descendants of enslaved Africans Guyanese. We don’t do nothing for the Europeans/Whites – because they were the ones who dragged us here for our free labour (Africans) and cheap, bound labour – the indentureds.
Part of the reason why we blank them is probably cause even though we slavishly try to imitate them to this day, we’ve all got a love-hate relationship with them!! This is because they invented the notion of race that automatically plunked us BELOW them on the social and every other ladder!! So ever since even with us cussing them out stink and dutty – we each insist that we’re closer to them than the other!! For example, the Portuguese try their darndest to pretend the Whites’ decision to NOT classify them as “Europeans” was just an oversight – rather than lumping them with the “darkies” to put them in their place!! When the Europeans/Whites departed they presumptuously tried to step into their (dirty) Whites shoes!!
The Africans insist they don’t want no truck with the Whites/Europeans – but early on tried to lord it over the newcomers and the Indigenous Peoples cause they wore clothes like the Whites; tried to speak like the Whites; believed in a white Jesus like the Whites and so on down the line – as far as “culture” is concerned. The Indians and Chinese who came for the money didn’t pay no mind as they worked like Banshees and saved like misers!! Pretty soon, they were independently well off – which teed off the other groups and caused no end of finger pointing to this day!!
Anyhow, the PPP government – after facing demands from the Indians that their presence should be acknowledged – with an “Indian Arrival Day”, did the legal thing and sent the matter to a Bi-partisan Parliamentary Committee!! They unanimously agreed that May 5th 1838 should be Indian Arrival Day!! However, because for their entire existence they were accused of “favouring” its Indian support base – they decided to show magnanimity by calling the day “Arrival Day” writ large. Problem was the Portuguese had never asked for an arrival day since they wanted to pass as Whites and the Chinese just didn’t care since were only a handful decided to remain!!
So today, while “Arrival Day” gonna be celebrated, your Eyewitness is willing to bet dollars to donuts that the only folks out there celebrating and carrying on will the Indians!!
Happy Indian Arrival Day!!

…in Essequibo
At long last, we’ve reached the homestretch of our long battle to fend off the Venezuelans from seizing Essequibo – two-thirds of our country!! The World Court’s taking oral hearings from both sides and we went first!! One of the strongest points we made is that since “possession is nine-tenths of the law” and we – in the form of our Dutch and English colonials who not only arrived first but have had continuous possession of the land they claimed – have that much better claim to sovereignty over Essequibo!!
Fact of the matter is we’ve been very generous with the Venezuelans – as far as claims to land goes!! Our initial contention to the 1899 Arbitral Tribunal was that every piece of real estate east of the Orinoco was actually ours!! Since we own the Cuyuni by international conventions we own its entire basin!!
But we generously compromised since we weren’t hogs about land and had Schomburg draw a line faaar east to the present boundary!!
The Venezuelans confuse generosity with genuflection!!

…of BJP in Bengal
On Indian Arrival Day, the BJP of Modi won W. Bengal’s Assembly elections!! Interestingly, the earliest Indian indentureds were from Bengal and 95% of all indentures were shipped out of W Bengal’s Calcutta!