In tribute to Basdeo Panday and ties to Guyana 

Dear Editor,
Basdeo Panday died on New Year’s Day at a Jacksonville, Florida hospital. Tributes have poured in about this very colourful character who was a lawyer, politician, trade unionist, economist, actor, Indian musician (instrumentalist). He is well known among Guyanese at home and in the diaspora because he mingled and socialized among them, visiting Guyana multiple times going back to the 1970s.
Panday, or Bas, as we called him, had a long association with Guyanese and with Cheddi Jagan, as he related to me in numerous conversations at his home, office, New York, Guyana, India, and elsewhere. He met Cheddi in Trinidad after the suspension of the 1953 Government, before jetting off to London to further his studies in 1957 when democratic governance was restored in Guiana.
Panday studied with Guyanese in England during the late 1950s and early 1960s, particularly during his law studies at Inns Court of Law. Like so many Guyanese and other West Indians, he became a member of Lincoln’s Inn, and was called to the bar. (Panday also studied Economics, obtaining a BSc from University of London).
In 1965, Panday was awarded a Commonwealth scholarship to pursue a PhD at the prestigious Delhi School of Economics. He decided to return home first and visit his family. He got caught up in local politics, culture, and family life, and decided to forego the scholarship. He ran for office, and was resoundingly defeated as a candidate for the Workers and Farmers Party in 1966.
He became a Senator in 1972, and won a seat as a ULF candidate to the House in 1976, becoming Opposition Leader.
Panday’s association with Guyanese deepened after 1966. He became close to Cheddi especially after the 1968 election-rigging. Cheddi visited Trinidad regularly, seeking support for free and fair election, having meetings in Tunapuna, St. Augustine, and South Trinidad. In 1977, a group of Guyanese and Trinis formed an organization (Indo Club) in NY to champion free and fair elections. In 1978, I communicated with Panday, seeking the opposition support for our struggle for FFE, and he was supportive.
Panday, who was also leader of the sugar workers union, was invited to Guyana by Dr Nanda Gopaul in late 1970s, and addressed the NAACIE labour conference in Georgetown. He visited Guyana several times thereafter, and also visited New York at our invitation, and discussed Guyanese and Trinidadian politics. At our urging, he raised the issue of rigged elections in Guyana in T&T Parliament during the late 1970s.
Panday sought our assistance for his party in Trinidad, and he received our help, which included a group of us travelling to Trinidad and campaigning for his party in the 1981 elections.
During the late 1970s, Guyanese migrated to Trinidad in search of better economic opportunities. In a racially polarised society, they naturally gravitated towards Panday’s Indian-supported party, ULF, and other reincarnations. Panday’s newly-formed Trinidad and Tobago Alliance was resoundingly defeated.
During the new Parliament (1981-86), Panday, Trevor Sudama and Kelvin Ramnath regularly raised the issue of fraudulent elections and human rights’ violations in Guyana. The Opposition also called for regularization of status and amnesty for Guyanese living illegally in Trinidad. He spoke out against the abuse of Guyanese, particularly females, in Trinidad, and their harassment at Piarco.
Panday entered into an alliance (NAR) with other opposition parties, and appealed for resources from our NY group; Guyanese responded positively. The NAR won the December 1986 elections, and Panday was appointed Minister of Foreign Affairs. As promised to us, Panday piloted amnesty and legalised status for Guyanese and other undocumented in Trinidad and Tobago in 1987.
Panday also travelled to Guyana several times as Foreign Minister, and called for FFE. He met Cheddi and other stalwarts involved in the struggle. Panday spoke out against Robinson’s reluctance to speak out against rigged elections and human rights’ violations in Guyana; NAR MPs backpedalled on a commitment they made with us (including Ravi Dev’s and Depoo’s group UDM) in NY to assist in our struggle for restoration of democracy in Guyana.
Panday (and Oma) visited New York in September 1987 for the UN General Assembly Session, and met a group of us. The discussion focused on FFE in Guyana. Panday committed to intensify the struggle for racial and working-class equality in T&T and for restoration of democracy in Guyana.
On returning to Trinidad, Panday was told to take his “ten Indian seats and go”. He became more emboldened to speak out against racial discrimination. Robinson expelled Panday and several other Ministers and MPs affiliated with Panday. They sat in the Opposition. Panday became Opposition Leader and continued championing the cause of FFE in Guyana. He and Cheddi were invited to, and delivered keynote addresses at, our Global Conference on Indians in the Diaspora at Columbia University in July 1988, and held meetings. The duo met again in August 1989 at the global convention of PIOs in NY.
In conversations I had with Cheddi in NY, he complained that Panday was not “left” enough, and that he should join the international movement against imperialism. Panday remained a centrist, but was a laborite who championed the working class.
Facing international political pressure, including from Trinidad and Caribbean leaders, President Desmond Hoyte agreed to hold free and fair elections in October 1992 under international observers. The PPP won, and Manning was present at the swearing-in.
But President Cheddi and Panday met several times. Several fundraisers were held by Guyanese New Yorkers for Panday’s UNC after 1991, and those continued until 2010.
When Panday became PM in 1995, one of his earliest acts was cancellation of tens of millions of dollars in debt owed by Guyana. He travelled to Guyana as PM to meet Cheddi.
Panday attended the State Funeral of Cheddi, who died in March 1997, spending several days, and even travelling to Corentyne for the cremation. He stayed at Albion Estate. He won re-election in December 2000; his government collapsed in 2001 in a fallout with Ramesh Maharaj, his AG, who carried out a campaign against corruption. Panday expelled Ramesh, and called snap elections and lost. Panday was not able to make a comeback, and remained Opposition Leader till 2010, when he was defeated for party leadership by Kamla Persad-Bissessar.
He met Presidents Sam Hinds, Janet Jagan, Bharrat Jagdeo, Donald Ramotar, and Irfaan Ali in his various titles. Post 2010, Panday continued his association with Guyanese. Panday was also hosted as speaker at several functions organized by Guyanese in NY, including by GOPIO when Berbician Ashook Ramsaran was President. Deo Gosine, Ashook, and I succeeded in reconciling Panday and Ramesh Maharaj at a PBD reception in Mumbai in January 2005 at the Taj Palace hotel. He also developed a very close relationship with Nohar Singh of Travel Span; Nohar hosted him and Oma at his home. Panday and Oma were also at several programmes hosted by Nohar in Guyana, and at Travel Span tours including last summer in Punta Cana.
He attended several concerts where Guyanese entertained audiences in Trinidad, Guyana, New York, and other locations. He would be remembered by Guyanese for his contributions to the struggle for FFE, and for his socializing with Guyanese who developed a likeness for him. He was a charismatic and charming figure.

Yours truly,
Vishnu Bisram