Sacrifices of Rose Hall Martyrs must be remembered – Min Mustapha

The struggle and sacrifices of the Rose Hall sugar estate martyrs were lauded on Saturday at a remembrance ceremony to mark 108 years since the workers were killed while advocating for better working conditions.

The 15 sugar workers were killed on March 13, 1913. Those killed were Badri, Bholay, Durga, Gafur, Gobindie, Hulas, Jagai, Jagroo, Lalji, Motie Khan, Nibur, Roopan, Sudulla, Sarjoo and Sohan.
In an effort to secure a better life on the sugar plantation, the 15 men along with others protested the retraction of a four-day holiday awarded to them for a good grinding season.

They had refused to plant cane on those days but instead, the plantation manager informed the immigration officer.
The matter was taken to court but the men were found guilty of instigating resistance to work. The workers protested the verdict and management threatened to transfer the protesting families to distant plantations.
Warrants were issued for the leaders and on March 13, 1913, in the process of the Police executing the warrants, 56 persons were injured and 15 killed. A Police Corporal was also killed during this incident.
However, at a simple wreath-laying ceremony on Saturday last, Regional Chairman David Armogan recalled among the dead was a woman who was shot to the chest.

“Today we come here to remember them. We come here to commemorate their memory and we come here to ensure that we do not forget the sacrifice they made so that we can enjoy the freedom that we have today. They paid the ultimate price with their lives,” the Chairman said.
Also laying wreaths were two of the grandchildren of one of the martyrs.
Present at the ceremony was Agriculture Minister Zulfikar Mustapha, who related that those workers stood up against the unfair management and many of them paid the ultimate price as they fought for the sugar industry which played a very important role in Guyana.
“Over the years we have seen some very infamous struggle and some famous struggles.” He also made reference to the 1913 incident and the Berbice Slave Rebellion.
“This was because of sugar in our country we had the Berbice uprising. Because of sugar, we had the Enmore Martyrs where sugar workers were sacrificed and Dr Cheddi Jagan would have made that silent pledge that he would dedicate his entire life to the cause and struggle of the Guyanese people.”
Mustapha called on his country folks to rededicate their energies to ensure that the sacrifices by the 15 Rose Hall workers along with the Enmore Martyrs, Kowsilla of Essequibo and all others who paid the ultimate price for freedom and democracy in Guyana live on.
He noted that just one year ago Guyana’s democracy was under serious threat when the A Partnership for National Unity/Alliance For Change (AFC) under the leadership of David Granger held the country at ransom as it attempted to rig the March 2020 National and Regional Elections.
The Guyana Agriculture and General Workers Union (GAWU) in a release stated that the sugar industry has been the centre of several infamous battles which have been documented for posterity.
“Those incidents remind us of the wretched conditions and harsh measures imposed by the plantocracy on those who toiled the plantations. The flashpoints tell us of the heroism, selflessness and sacrifice made by our ancestors to better our lives and for which we should remain eternally grateful,” the release said in part.
It added that the Rose Hall incident showed resistance to inhuman living conditions which were an integral part of plantation life.
“As we specifically give recognition and pay tribute to those who fell at Plantation Rose Hall, we are reminded that they left a legacy which runs through the veins of the contemporary workforce of the sugar industry. The fallen workers remind us that sugar’s history is enriched by the struggles, sacrifices and the sweat and blood of the working class. That spirit continues throughout the years and survives to this day in the industry,” GAWU said.