The unfortunate death of 11-year-old Adriana Younge has touched a deep nerve in Guyanese people at home and abroad. And indeed, it has shown that we have possibly moved past the old accusation that “we are a state, and not a nation.” We came together as one in mourning Adriana’s passing and demanding that there be a full and complete investigation into the circumstances of her death.
The unanimous verdict of the three foreign pathologists: that Adriana died by drowning, raised as many questions as answers; and is therefore only the beginning of that investigation which must now proceed from the cause of death to the manner and mechanism. We have already recommended that a foreign, credible, investigative team be sourced asap, in light of the deep, deserved suspicions engendered by the GPF.
Adriana’s death acted also as a sort of collective Rorschach test that revealed, through varying conjectures and interpretations of the circumstance of her drowning, that there remain several national fissures that must be addressed if we are to go forward as a nation. One of these is the positions taken on the actions of a newly-labelled group in our society – Scrapeheads, or Scrapes – and another is the assertions that Adriana was killed in a Hindu religious rite that demanded human sacrifice. I will deal with the latter today.
Typical of the assertions on Hindu rites was that made by Bert Wilkinson, an experienced freelance journalist of Guyanese origin. That assertion was carried by several reputable media groups, like AP. “Child killed in bizarre religious ritual at a Guyana hotel” was the headline he gave to the story carried in Caribbean Life, an online newspaper.
“Villagers and relatives are adamant that Adriana has been the victim of some Hindu -related religious ritual, mainly because of a similar incident at the facility in 2012. Back then, visitor Sideek Juman was killed virtually along the same lines as Adriana, as his body showed marks of blunt trauma before it was dumped into the pool.” The Juman murder is undisputed since the matter went to the courts, but in no account were there allegations of Hindu rituals performed; just that it was consequent to an altercation between the hotel owner and Juman.
But the allegations about a Hindu ritual sacrifice of Adriana gained tremendous traction over social media, especially among Opposition- aligned persons and groups. It was asserted that Hindus engage in human sacrifice to their Gods in their “drive to acquire wealth by any means necessary”. The reality is that human sacrifice is expressly forbidden in numerous sacred texts, such as the Bhagvata Purana (5.26. 31) Mahabarata, and Bhagavad Gita. And after the 1st century BC, even animal sacrifice was discouraged in favour of ghee and vegetables, and remains today only in some forms of worship to the Divine Mother.
The maligning of Hindu practices began during the colonial era, when the British “othered” them by insisting they were “heathen” and “pagan” – as they had done with others, such as Africans. There was an official government-sponsored programme to convert Hindus to Christianity that was accompanied by a denigration of Hindu practices. Africans and others who had converted to Christianity adopted the British position.
One of the memes on Hindu “occult” practices, circulating since Adriana’s death, is of VP Jagdeo offering milk and other liquids like honey in sacrifice to a Lingam. In reality, as with all Hindu worship, the actions were all symbolic, and in this case, the liquids represent the desire for the individual soul (atma) to merge with the cosmic soul of the formless God Shiva, represented by the ovoid stone Lingam. Like others, Hindus pray to their deities for success for themselves, but in their five prescribed daily “sacrifices” or Yagna, they also pray for the well-being of all, including animals.
But the calumny heaped on Hindus is actually a trope for the abovementioned search for an explanation for alleged Hindu “success”, and as such, ironically shows that the Hindu detractors are the ones who believe in the efficacy of human worship. In terms of success, Hindus are told this would be based on their own virtuous actions, and they are exhorted to work for what they desire. There is the aphorism, “work with a hundred hands”, but it has the caveat, “and give with a thousand”. Meaning that one must work to one’s maximum capacity, but be generous in sharing with society.
Every Hindu ritual ends with the prayer Sarve bhavantu sukhina – “May all be happy.”
