The 11 victims of the Lusignan massacre which occurred 10 years ago were on Friday remembered at an inter-faith service coordinated by the Indian Action Committee (IAC).
The Tenth Anniversary Memorial Service saw attendance of members of the Lusignan community, Government officials, Opposition members and families of the victims. Commemorated with hymns, bajans and recitals from the Quran, the gathering was sombre.
In the feature address, Former Chairman of the Ethnic Relations Commission, Bishop Juan Edghill, spoke on the strength of the Lusignan community, considering the irreconcilable damage that has been done to the community.
Edghill alluded to a statement made by President David Granger at a GDF
A section of the gathering at the Remembrance Service at Lusignan, ECD on Friday
conference on January 25, where he expressed the need for inquiries and investigations to be done of past deaths of a particular era.
Edghill said he welcomes this initiative, “The country needs to know what happened here. This country needs to know who are the intellectual authors of what transpired here. I look forward to an independent inquiry that is not directed by political influences,” he added.
Social Cohesion Minister Dr George Norton highlighted the resilience of residents of the Lusignan community. In an expression of sympathy, the minister stated, “Overcoming pain is one thing, but living or coping with pain is another thing. That you continue to do, (and) for this I admire you.”
The memorial concluded with prayers from the three major religions in the country.
Recap
In the wee hours of January 26, 2008, gunmen armed with rifles and shotguns invaded five homes and killed almost all of their occupants. Those killed were: Shazam Mohamed; Clarence Thomas; his son Ron, 11, and daughter Vanessa, 12; Mohandai Gourdat, 32, and her two children: Seegobin, four years old, and Seegopaul Harilall, 10; Shalem Baksh, 52; Rooplall Seecharan, 56, his daughter Raywattie Ramsingh, 11, and his wife Dhanrajie, called ‘Sister’, 52.
Those injured in the ordeal were Howard Thomas 19; Nadir Mohamed, 48, and Roberto Thomas, five years old. The motive of the vicious attack is still unclear; however, the actions were claimed by the notorious killer Rondell ‘Fine Man’ Rawlins, who is now dead.
The IAC has since held a memorial service every year for the victims of the brutal attack.
