Press Release

The Indian Action Committee (IAC) wishes to convey greetings to all Guyanese citizens, on the occasion of the Independence of Guyana from British colonial rule on 26^th May 1966, fifty-two years ago.

The IAC calls upon all Guyanese citizens to remember and recognize all those persons who contributed to the ending of British colonial rule in Guyana including former Presidents Cheddi  Jagan, Forbes Burnham and Janet Jagan, and stalwarts of the struggle for national liberation like Hubert Nathaniel Critchlow, Jocelyn Hubbard,  Joseph Pollydore, Ramkarran, Ashton Chase SC, Jainarine Singh, E.M.G. Wilson, Cedric Vernon  Nunes, Martin Carter, Rory Westmaas, Eusi Kwayana, Brindley Benn, Moses Bhagwan and Reepu Daman Persaud.

The IAC, in recognition of the challenging history of Guyana during the past fifty-two years dominated by authoritarian rule (1968-1992) and, especially the period from 1962 to 1964 when there was a state of undeclared civil war which resulted in:

1. Over 200 persons losing their lives
2. Over 900 persons suffering physical injuries
3. About 2700 terrorized families being displaced from their homes as villages were engulfed in orgies of ethnic cleansing
4. Over 1700 cases of arson in which over 300 business places and houses were completely destroyed by fire during wanton acts of terror
5. Losses of over US$ 20 million in the local economy as opposed to an investment of US$2.2 million used to destabilize pre- Independence British Guiana according to U.S. declassified documents.
6. The destruction of the Indo-Guyanese community at the adjoining villages of Wismar and Christianburg, where all 87 business premises and 215 homes owned and occupied by Indo-Guyanese were deliberately destroyed by fire between 24^th and 25^th May 1964 followed by the evacuation of almost 3400 Indo- Guyanese persons under the protection of British military forces on 26^th May 1964, exactly two years before Independence.

The IAC is of the view that the national economy is in rapid and serious decline with only the rice industry showing any progress and is calling upon all of the Parliamentarians to work together to reverse this dangerous trend.

The IAC joins with the political parties, religious bodies, trade unions and other civil society groups in the call for inclusion of Guyanese, in the drive towards economic development and prosperity.

The IAC is cognizant of the upsurge in crime within the past year and while recognizing that in Berbice there is a high amount of criminal activity perpetrated by persons of Indo-Guyanese origin against other persons of Indo-Guyanese origin; elsewhere there have been many brutal robberies on Indo- Guyanese business persons who have been deprived of hundreds of millions of dollars in cash, jewellery, electronic devices and vehicles by criminals.

The IAC also recognizes criminal activity impacting to a much lesser extent on other ethnicities.

Let us all resolve to realize the dream of our fore parents and Independence heroes and heroines to make our 52^nd Anniversary a truly national event. The IAC wishes all Guyanese citizens a Happy Independence Day.