School children must learn about the Ballot Box Martyrs and Michael Forde

Last Sunday, July 16, 2023, was the 50th anniversary of the Ballot Box Martyrs. A few hundred persons, led by the Minister of Agriculture, who happens also to be the Executive Secretary of the PPP, gathered at the #66 Cemetery, where the graves of Bholanath Permanand and Jagan Ramessar are located, to remember and honour them for giving their lives for freedom and democracy. Fifty years ago, these two young men were brutally gunned down by GFD soldiers. All they wanted, like the majority of their Guyanese sisters and brothers, was for their votes to be counted. Their struggles and their sacrifices were part of the heroic Guyanese struggle to ensure every vote is counted in our elections. Every year, on July 16, PPP members and leaders gather in pilgrimage to honour these heroes, because we know that what they gave their lives for is something we must constantly protect. Between March 3 and August 2 2020, we were reminded in a cruel way that those who will deny our votes are still trying to do so.
On Monday, July 17, the PPP continued its traditional observance at the Le Repentir Cemetery to honour the life and sacrifice of Michael Forde, a young man who on July 17, 1964 was killed at Freedom House, Robb Street, Georgetown with a bomb that someone placed in the bookshop, intended to destroy Freedom House. At the time, Janet Jagan and other leaders of the PPP were in Freedom House. Had Michael Forde not grabbed the bomb and run out of the building, Freedom House would have been collateral damage, because the intent was to murder Janet Jagan and other leaders. Michael Forde sacrificed his life for a woman who later became the President of Guyana. There are others – too many, unfortunately – to be listed here whose lives were lost to terrorism in our country, terrorism intended to deprive us of our freedom and to ensure democracy is dead in Guyana.
The Ballot Box Martyrs, Michael Forde, and others sacrificed their lives because Guyanese believe in the notion that development is not possible without freedom and democracy. Between 1964 and 1992, the 28-year period in which Guyana was under a dictatorship, Guyana went from the #1 economy in the Caribbean to being the poorest country in the Southern Hemisphere. By 1992, Guyana was a highly indebted poor country (HIPC). Its debt was more than 700% of its GDP. The World Bank and expert economists around the world say that when a country’s debt exceeds 60% of its economy, that country is on the road to bankruptcy. In effect, by 1992, Guyana was a bankrupt country. The per capita income in 1992 was less than it was in 1964. Life expectancy had declined also, and threatened to fall under 60 again by 1992. The physical infrastructure was totally dilapidated. The deleterious impact of autocracy as practised by Forbes Burnham and his PNC party destroyed Guyana, such that, by 1990, 2500 children under 5 years old died every year. It is why we honour the lives of the Ballot Box Martyrs and the life of Michael Forde, because they helped dent the armour of autocracy in Guyana, resulting in freedom which Guyana eventually won in October 1992.
This past week, the World Bank reclassified Guyana as a high-income developing country. The journey between 1992 and today has seen Guyana on a trajectory that has reduced poverty, increased per capita income, and is developing a physical infrastructure that already is beginning to look like a high-income country. Guyana’s life expectancy has increased to 70, the mortality of children under 5 years old has dropped to under 200, from 2500 per year. Presently, the new high-span Demerara River Bridge is under construction. Soon a new Corentyne River Bridge will link Guyana and Suriname. By 2025, the road to Brazil will be completed, and Guyana and Brazil will be completely linked. Presently, twelve new, modern hospitals are under construction. New schools are being constructed across Guyana. Thousands of Guyanese now are doctors, lawyers, engineers, with thousands with Masters and PhD degrees.
Guyana has never been as respected internationally as we are today. This is because, as a free country, Guyana has now achieved the distinction of being the world’s fastest-growing economy. Guyana is the country leading Caricom and the global struggle for food security. Our country is also playing a lead role in fighting climate change. Our LCDS is a model for countries transitioning to low carbon development models. Leaders from big countries are today eager to visit Guyana, and countries and organizations are always seeking our leaders to attend meetings.
Right now, in the UN, Guyana is playing a lead role in the global development programme for universal health care, as world leaders try to find a way to stop the scourge of chronic diseases and the emergence of new pandemics.
None of this would have been possible if Guyana was not a free country, if Guyana was not a strong democracy. But our freedom and democracy were not given to us on a platter. Lives were lost, blood and sweat, disappointments and despair are mixed into the soil we traverse every day. Jagan Ramessar and Bholanath Permanand and Michele Forde were among the lives sacrificed. For this reason, every child in school should learn about the Ballot Box Martyrs and Michael Forde and others.