PRESS RELEASE
The Indian Action Committee (IAC) wishes all Guyanese a Happy Arrival Day and, especially, calls upon all citizens to remember the 182nd Anniversary of the Arrival of East Indians in Guyana.
The IAC, an organization which promotes and preserves Indian culture and deals with the issues and concerns of persons of Indo-Guyanese origin, over the years has provided Guyanese with historical information regarding the arrival of just over 239,000 Indian immigrants who came to this country aboard 245 Coolie Ships which made a total of 534 voyages across the Kaalaa Paanii between 1838 and 1917.
The IAC also has clarified and corrected statistical errors pertaining to the arrival of the first two Coolie Ships, the WHITBY and the HESPERUS which, between them landed a total of 423 persons including 382 indentured males, 14 indentured females, 21 children and 6 Christian Anglo- Indian interpreters/ superintendents.
The IAC, as the organization has done over the years, continues to recognize the endeavours by these Indian immigrants and their descendants, the persons of Indo-Guyanese origin, to develop this country.
The IAC, which has recognized important contributions by giving awards to persons from Berbice, Demerara, and Essequibo, is aware that tens of thousands of East Indians have made valuable efforts in all fields of human activity in this country including business and commerce; banking and finance; the sugar and rice industries; coconuts and other crops; fishery and livestock; mining and quarrying; forestry and sawmilling; education and academia; medicine and law; journalism and communications; accounting and insurance; private and national security; the hospitality and aviation sectors; the alcohol and beverage industries; sport and entertainment; culture and religion; and politics and governance.
The IAC recognizes the extreme danger posed by COVID-19 to the entire population of Guyana, including those of Indo-Guyanese origin, and urges all Guyanese to practice the concept of social distancing and to take all necessary precautions to prevent the spread of this lethal disease. This pandemic has caused the organization to abandon a number of its key activities including educational outreaches; the IAC’s annual Rose Hall Estate Martyrs’ commemoration; important planned social work activities involving alcohol and substance abuse and suicide prevention; and the IAC’s planned annual Grand Cultural Melas that were slated for Anna Regina and Albion.
The IAC is gravely concerned with the highly unstable state of affairs in Guyana following the March 2, 2020 General and Regional Elections, which to date, after two months, has not been brought to a conclusion given the abrupt halting of the counting of the Statements of Poll for Region Four; this has created immense and intense polarization in the country essentially between the two main ethnic groups and has seen rioting in Indo-Guyanese villages with one rioter being shot dead. The IAC recognizes the important focus on these elections by foreign governments and international bodies which have expressed unanimously, that democracy must prevail with transparent and credible counting, failing which they have stated firmly that an undemocratic government will not be recognized and if that happens dire sanctions will be placed on it and its leadership.
The IAC, in light of these two major problems facing Guyana at the current time, has observed that the economy is spiraling downwards with many businesses closed and many workers unemployed and large numbers of poor people living desperately with many on the verge of starvation and destitution; and, therefore, the organization is calling for a swift resolution to the elections crisis so that energies can be focused on the massive fight against COVID-19 which has grievously affected Guyanese of all classes, ethnic groups, religious denominations and those who work in both the private and public sectors.
As all Guyanese share in this commemoration, the IAC wishes to remind them of the continued plight of the sugar workers who have been unemployed with the closure of several sugar estates over the past few years and the devastating effect that this has had on their families, their economic and social situations.
The IAC is saddened by the surge in criminal activities in recent years and is shocked and horrified at the almost daily attacks on persons of Indo-Guyanese origin who are being brutalized, traumatized, robbed, and murdered.
The IAC is of the opinion that the concept of social cohesion as espoused by the former APNU+AFC Coalition Government has not worked because of its superficiality and the organization is outraged that large amounts of tax payer monies have been wasted behind this failed policy.
The IAC wishes to remind all Guyanese that the Indian immigrants who arrived in this country almost empty handed, essentially poverty stricken and with a high degree of illiteracy, have bequeathed to this country, descendants who did not remain in that original state but became literate, educated, industrious, wealthy and patriotic.
A Happy Arrival Day to all.