It was quite heartening to see the turnout at Babu Jaan as the PPP celebrated the life of their founder – Dr Cheddi Jagan. Like a veritable sea of red poppies!! Frankly, your Eyewitness thinks that since the party doesn’t make the Babu Jaan trek on the day the Old Man passed – March 6 – but on the following Sunday, they ought to declare this day a Public Holiday!! So you might retort that Sunday’s already a holiday…sure, but it isn’t a Public Holiday, is it?? It’s a religious holiday – for Christians to go to Church – and since Cheddi didn’t have no truck with religion, it would be a fitting (sly) gesture!!
Anyhow, your Eyewitness has to submit his piece during the day, and since the event over in the far reaches of the Ancient Country didn’t start till 3 pm in the afternoon, he couldn’t get a report on what the two main speakers – Pres Ali and VP Jagdeo actually said. But since the announced theme was “Celebrating the life, work and legacy “ of the great man, maybe your Eyewitness can give his take on those aspects!!
So what kinda life did Cheddi live?? Well, for one, even though he came from a sugar plantation – Port Mourant, in the heart of Berbice – he wasn’t a fella who liked to hit the bottle!! Interestingly, he wrote that his father who worked in the cane fields did like a tup or two of the grog!! It woulda been something else if he hadn’t –- since as a “Driver” it would’ve been one of the skills he HAD to acquire to keep his men in line!! Heck…most of the women could belt down their tups!!
Then there was his work. First of all, we know he DIDN’T work in the cane fields!! His elder brother Oudit did and helped send him to Queen’s College in GT and then to the States. There, he picked up a degree in Dentistry and also a wife and returned to Guyana – where dentistry became his SECOND job. He preferred politics and plunged enthusiastically into that field with the VERY active support of his American wife — who was dubbed “Blue Eye Bhowgee” by the folks in the cane fields who supported him even MORE enthusiastically!!
Then, of course, there’s his legacy. For his whole life he fought to improve the lot of the “working class”, but didn’t get to use the METHOD he felt was best to do the job – communism. Interestingly, even today there’s a fierce debate going on about his choice. But what we DO know is that while Prezzie and VP don’t use that method, they are working for the working class.
So Cheddi’s legacy lives!! No??
…to Asha
Just when your Eyewitness thought Guyanese politics couldn’t sink any lower on third force possibilities – after the betrayal of Ramjattan and Nagamootoo, we now have this young politician refusing to give up a seat her party acquired through 227 votes in 2020!! The AFC at least had gotten 35,000 votes and SEVEN seats!! Imagine getting a squeeze with those handful of votes on a “joinder” slate – proportionately splitting a single seat with two other parties that scraped up enough votes for that seat – and now not moving aside for the next party ANUG – with 2286 votes!!
But your Eyewitness suspects that some cynics gonna say politics is a dirty game and the young politician – who happens to be a medical doctor! – is proving she’s very well qualified, thank you!! But ANUG should’ve expected this. Have they forgotten the conflict of interest incident involving her just two months after the election – forcing SIX executives from their party to resign??
Maybe as a doctor she took the HYPOCRITIC oath?!!
…to Russia’s fears
With Sweden now joining NATO after Finland’s accession last year, looks like as Putin’s getting strategic depth in the west – by absorbing eastern Ukraine – he’s losing it in his northwest and getting encircled!!
