Selfless sacrifices of Enmore Martyrs will not be forgotten – PPP

In reflecting on the killing of the five sugar workers called the Enmore Martyrs, the People’s Progressive Party (PPP) has pledged to not let their selfless sacrifice be forgotten.
The Party made this commitment on the 75th anniversary of the Enmore Martyrs’ shooting. Rambarran, Pooran, Lallabagee, Surajballi and Harry lost their lives while fighting for improved working conditions for sugar workers at Enmore, East Coast Demerara (ECD) on June 16, 1948.
At the time in 1948, having been strangled by social and economic hardships, the burdensome “cut and load” cane harvesting system, and being deprived of having a union of choice to represent them, sugar workers were forced to mount protest actions after their fair demands were continually ignored by the sugar producers.
However, instead of their demands being met, Riot Police fired on the poor, simple workers killing the five men in the process.
Commemorating their deaths, the PPP, in a statement, reminded of the “…selfless sacrifices of the five slain sugar workers… and the profound relevance of the incident today”.
According to the Party, the Enmore Martyrs died in their quest for a better life for all the workers, and their struggles and horrific deaths significantly impacted Dr Cheddi Jagan – the founder of the PPP.
“On that unforgettable day of their funerals, he silently pledged to dedicate his life to the cause of the Guyanese people and to free them from bondage and exploitation. Fortified in his belief and determination, he was unrelenting in his struggles for the advancement of Guyana and Guyanese,” the Party said.
Having founded the PPP in 1950, Dr Jagan, despite being incarcerated and deprived of his rights during the decades of his unremitting struggle, never succumbed to the atrocities meted out to him and his followers by the oppressive forces.
“The struggles of the Enmore Martyrs and Dr Jagan were guiding forces during that ominous period when thousands of sugar workers were coldheartedly fired and plunged into economic despair through the politically-motivated closure of estates by the APNU+AFC [A Partnership for National Unity/Alliance For Change] coalition.”
The PPP pointed out that those sacrifices were a source of inspiration when the APNU/AFC Government, through its visionless and inept leadership, strangled the Guyanese people through harsh and unjustified economic policies and when, in full view of the world, it shamelessly tried to steal the March 2, 2020 elections in defiance of the will of the Guyanese people.
“Their efforts have imbued in us that profound sense of the value of our freedoms and the need for them to be safeguarded from those with a penchant for totalitarianism and constitutional transgression. The PPP will continue to honour the memory of those martyrs so as to ensure their sacrifices will not be forgotten,” the Party pledged.
In commemoration of the death of Rambarran, Pooran, Lallabagee, Surajballi and Harry, a wreath-laying ceremony is customarily held at their gravesites at the Le Repentir Cemetery in Georgetown. This is followed by another wreath-laying ceremony at the Enmore Martyrs’ monument that was built at Plantation Enmore, ECD in memory of the five martyrs. At the latter event, stakeholders in Government and the labour movement would gather to pay homage and reflect on the sacrifices of these slain sugar workers.