The Indian Action Committee (IAC) calls upon all patriotic Guyanese in the name of national unity to remember and commemorate, in their own way, the 101st birth anniversary of the Father of the Nation, the late former President Dr Cheddi Jagan (22nd March 1918- 6th March 1997).
The IAC recognizes that Dr Jagan was the first democratically elected President of the Cooperative Republic of Guyana, because those that preceded him only enjoyed their elevated status because of fraudulent elections between 1968 and 1985.
The IAC further recognizes that Dr Jagan, following his return from successful dental studies in the USA, began to, along with his wife and other comrades, educate the downtrodden masses of the population, mainly working class people, about the evils of British colonialism which had reduced them to living largely in poverty with little access to proper healthcare, better education for their children and few opportunities for economic and social upliftment.
The IAC believes that Dr Jagan’s gaining a seat in the National Assembly in 1947, where he raised his voice continuously on behalf of all the poor and victimized persons living in this country, regardless of ethnicity and religion, led to the formation of the first mass-based political party in the history of British Guiana: The People’s Progressive Party (PPP) which was established on the 1st January 1950.
The IAC is cognizant of the history of this country which saw Dr Jagan leading the PPP to victory in 1953 only to be ousted by the British government after 133 days in office; that he led the PPP to victory in 1957, 1961, and 1964 but was not allowed to form a coalition government in 1964.
The IAC recognizes that the 28 years spent in opposition by Dr Jagan and his party were times of trouble and tribulation where the people of Guyana were robbed of their right to democratically elect a government of their choice by the machinations of the People’s National Congress (PNC) which was aided and abetted by powerful western nations while the Caribbean nations turned a blind eye.
The IAC understands that following the collapse of the Soviet Union and its allies after 1989, it became possible for Dr Jagan and his party along with its civic component to win the October 1992 General and Regional Elections in a democratic fashion, following which he inherited a bankrupt nation which saw its economy and its social and educational systems progressively destroyed by the PNC.
The IAC laments the fact that Dr Jagan did not to live long enough to see his brilliant ideas of economic development and social justice brought to fruition.
The IAC hopes that, in the near future, a large statue can be erected in honour of the Father of the Nation.