EULOGY IN COMMEMORATION OF THE LIFE AND WORK OF
MRS JANET JAGAN, O.E.BY THE HON. CLEMENT J. ROHEE
MINISTER OF HOME AFFAIRS
Born in America!
Yes, Born in America!
On October 20, 1920And no doubt inspired by the familiar and famous words in the Declaration of Independence of the United States;
"We hold these truths to be self evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their creator with certain inalienable Rights that among these are Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness".
Cde. Janet’s life was motivated by a strong, caring concern for people; and the driving passion of her politics was the pursuit of their rights, particularly those of the poorer marginalized classes.
Captivated by Cde Janet, whom he described as "exceedingly beautiful" Janet and Cheddi entered into an abiding relationship that was sparked by "love at first sight" and which produced two children, Cheddi Jnr. and Nadira. Janet Jagan arrived on the shores of the then British Guiana in December 1943.
It was a mere four months before on August 5, 1943 to be exact, that Cde. Janet was married to Cheddi Jagan in a simple ceremony at the Chicago City Hall, Chicago, USA. It was probably with the same eagerness she exhibited to serve as a nurse in the Second World War that she came to British Guiana. Little did she know nor did she suspect that she would be called upon to fulfill so many noble tasks in this country and to serve a people she embraced as her own.
By 1945, two years after she arrived, Janet and her husband were already in the maelstrom of political debate and controversy. The two were inseparable. Eventually they became household names as the proponents for change that would lead to the betterment of the oppressed and downtrodden.
Cde. Janet made a name for herself in those early days in her advocacy for birth control and family planning, interestingly enough. She saw for herself how large unplanned families were an albatross around the necks of the poor of the logie lines
According to Dr Jagan:
"Janet did not care about possessions and is always willing to go out of her way to help others"
By 1946, she was one of the founder Members of the Political Affairs Committee (PAC) and the PAC Bulletin. Later in that same year, she was the principal architect behind the formation of the Women’s Political and Economic Organization, the WPEO.
Cde. Janet was growing in stature as a political strategist, visionary, perceptive and practical.
According to Comrade Cheddi she was " a good administrator and a hard worker"
Cde Janet’s association with the Trade Union Movement was unmatched.
She was Field Secretary of the British Guiana Clerks’ Association, Secretary of the Union of Moulders and Mechanics, and a principal national figure in the Enmore Sugar Workers’ strike and the Bauxite strike in the 1940’s.
She succeeded in securing an increase in wages for town council watchmen and successfully defended the cause of town constables. She fought for the right of quarry workers to have meetings with their Union representatives at Quarries.
She was in the forefront of the struggle for better conditions for domestics, and played a key role in organizing successful May Day Parades displaying the tremendous unity and solidarity of all Trade Unions in British Guiana. After all, Janet Jagan was an avid Trade Unionist. A little known fact was that she and her husband were friends of Hubert Nathaniel Critchlow.
As the political struggle intensified in the colony and as people became more aware of their political and economic rights, Janet Jagan decided to contest the Georgetown Seat in the 1947 general elections, as an Independent.
As a close associate of the Leaders of the Transport Workers’ Union she was given their full support to her contesting the Georgetown Seat.
This is how Cheddi described the scene at one of Cde Janet’s campaign meetings in Georgetown;
"At Janet’s first Public Meeting at the Christ Church School it seemed clear that Percy Wight would lose. Almost everyone who mattered in Georgetown from high to low was there. Janet made a magnificent speech".
"Although she was the more popular, Janet lost largely due to the limitations of the suffrage"
Obviously, there was the need to widen the suffrage.
Three years after the 1947 elections the People’s Progressive Party was formally launched with Janet Jagan as General Secretary.
At the first Congress of the newly founded Party, held one year after, she had this to say;
"The aim of our Party is one firstly; to win for our country complete and absolute independence; secondly, to externally unite our country with people of other colonial and semi-colonial territories in a common struggle. She ended with the slogan: "Support the Party! Build the Party!
Follow the Party!"
In 1948, Cde Janet was in the forefront of the Party’s efforts in providing food and lodging to seventy (70) Canadian seamen belonging to the Canadian Seamen’s Union who were stranded in British Guiana due to a sit in by the crew of one of two Canadian Bauxite Ships as a result of a strike by their Union.
Cde Janet stood as the Party’s candidate for the Municipal Elections held in 1950. She won and became the first representative of the working class to enter the Georgetown Municipal Council where she served for a number of years.
In the 1953 General Elections, Janet Jagan contested and won the Essequibo and West Demerara Constituency, thus contributing to the victory of the PPP, which won 18 out of the 24 seats.
She brought to the elections campaign a bustling energy that was matched by an easy grace of persuasive eloquence.
Following the 1953 elections she became the Deputy Speaker of the Legislative Assembly
With the PPP in Office for only 133 days, the Constitution was suspended and the movement of Cde. Janet and other prominent leaders of the PPP was restricted to Georgetown.
Cde. Janet was imprisoned for six months in 1954 and was released on January 18, 1955.
Where lesser spirits would have been broken, this lady of substance, Janet, showed remarkable resilience and courage that would inspire and embolden Party colleagues nation-wide.
When the split took place in the Party in 1955, Janet Jagan was at the eye of the storm. She stood her ground with other Party stalwarts against those who for opportunistic and personal reasons sought to capture the leadership of the PPP.
It was only after the publication of the Robertson (1954) Report it became known that; "it was largely because of the efforts of Dr Jagan and Mrs. Jagan that the PPP was kept united."
A great achievement and one that offers a bright promise for the future was the 1957 elections victory of the PPP winning nine of the fourteen seats with the Essequibo/Pomeroon being won by Janet.
During that term, she made her mark as Minister of Labour, Health and Housing. Many signs of her achievements are visible up to the present
Later, following the victory of the PPP at the 1961 elections and the passing of the sitting Minister of Home Affairs, Cde. Janet was appointed Minister of Home Affairs and remained there up to June 1, 1964 when she resigned in protest, because her efforts were frustrated due to the non-cooperation of the local Police Force and the complicity of the Colonial authorities.
Hers was a principled act of protest.
She displayed as well an involvement in the Arts and Literature which spoke of the well-roundness of her personality, and which, later, was to lead to her authorship of stories for Guyanese children, and the acquisition of Castellani House as the home of Guyanese painting and sculpture.
From 1964 to 1992 with the PPP in the Opposition, Cde. Janet displayed much strength of character, grit and determination.
Her contribution to Parliamentary debate was characterized by precision in language and a practical wisdom.
She was at the forefront of the struggle for free and fair elections. She served as a member of the Elections Commission from 1968 to 1979 and exposed the State-sponsored rigging of the 1968 and 1973 elections.
It was during this period that Cde Janet helped, guided and mentored a number of young Comrades who had joined the Party.
It is no exaggeration to say that the People’s Progressive Party is a living monument to the vision, discipline, energy and organizational skills of Janet Jagan.
As Executive Secretary of the Party she made a tremendous contribution to the strengthening and consolidation of the PPP while working for the unity and cohesion of the Party at all levels.
And yet year after year, since 1948, she never missed attending the events that commemorated the martyrdom of the Enmore Five, nor the assassination of Michael Forde. This was no political posturing, but a public display of heartfelt sympathy for and solidarity with those who suffered the criminality of colonial officialdom.
Moreover, It was during this period while she was International Secretary, the Party extended its international connections with fraternal parties, National Liberation Movements and Peace and Solidarity Organizations around the world.
Activities related to these international connections would lead to Cde. Janet being awarded the Golden Medal for Peace, Democracy and Women’s Rights. A fitting tribute to the contribution she made in these areas and particularly her strong advocacy for Women’s Rights in Guyana.
Following the victory of the PPP in 1992, Cde Janet became First Lady, a role she filled with dignity, charm and simplicity.
However, desirous of a change from the demands of the role of First Lady she went on to serve as Ambassador to the United Nations during the 48th Session of the UN General Assembly from 1993 to 1994.
After the death of her husband and Colleague Cde Cheddi on March 6, 1997, she was sworn in as Prime Minister of Guyana.
With the advent of the 1997 elections, Cde Janet became the Presidential Candidate of the PPP/C and won the elections receiving a larger percentage of the votes than in the elections of 1992. With that victory she became Guyana’s first female to hold the highest office of the land from December 19, 1997.
But it was to be one of the most painful periods in her political life, and that of the Party.
If the 1950s and 1960s had their difficulties for her and the PPP, the 1997 to 1999 period was even more testing.
For it was during this period that the vilest and wickedest forms of protest including public recourse to obeah, political manoeuvres and subterfuges were used to dislodge her from office eventuating in the reduction of her term by two years. This undoubtedly contributed to her illness. But she bore the indignity with dignity, the insult with courage, and the gamut of indecency with resilience. Such was the nature of the woman!
For a woman who struggled all her life for the advancement of our country, our people and for future generations, to have been treated in that manner, the only decent thing for those who are guilty of these acts to do would be for them to offer her, even in death, an apology in their quiet moments for what they did to her while she was alive.
And, as for those who, to this day, never ever recognized her Presidency only history would prove otherwise.
Held in high esteem by her Party, its members, supporters and all well wishers coming from every nook and cranny and from every stratum of her beloved Guyana, the country which Cde Janet unreservedly and devotedly held as her own; sugar workers, farmers, and other working people, Janet Jagan’s memory will be enshrined in their hearts. Here was a woman, human, simple, feisty as her Mirror editorials indicated, industrious, committed, dedicated to the cause of the advancement of her people’s welfare. What would she want to say to us today? I believe that she would want to use the words of her beloved friend, Martin Carter to say, with that characteristic twinkle in her eye:
Death must not find us thinking that we die
Too soon, too soon our banner draped for you
I would prefer the banner in the wind,
Not bound so tightly in a scarlet fold
Not sodden, sodden with your people’s tears
But flashing on the pole we bear aloft
Down and beyond this dark, dark lane of rags.Dear Comrade, if it must be you speak no more with me
Nor smile no more with me, nor march no more with me
Then let me take a patience and a calm
For even now the greener leaf explodes
Sun brightens stone and all the river burns.
Now from the mourning vanguard moving on
Dear comrade, I salute you and I say
Death will not find us thinking that we die."Farewell, JJ, friend, colleague, patriot and thank you from all of Guyana.
March 31, 2009
Tributes to Janet Jagan