Remembering Cheddi Jagan
CELEBRATING THE MONTH OF CHEDDI JAGAN
by Ralph Ramkarran
For the PPP March has become the month of Cheddi Jagan. I have written and spoken much about the inspirer of the People’s Progressive Party and will again be speaking shortly at an event organized in his honour. In the meantime I would like to celebrate the beginning of this month by offering for re-publication an article, with an amendment only to the first sentence, which I did on him for last year’s Independence celebrations entitled “FOR CHEDDI JAGAN THE INDEPENDENCE OF GUYANA SURPASSED EVERY OTHER CONSIDERATION,”
As we enter the month of March once more, it is about time that someone challenges the hate campaign that is being daily waged in some quarters about Cheddi Jagan’s politics and his record of service for the freedom and development of Guyana.
The people of Guyana spoke decisively about Cheddi Jagan when he died. They recorded their judgment of him in their thousands, in a quiet and dignified surge to pay tribute, in an outpouring never seen in the known history of Guyana. They sealed that judgment permanently with their grief and it will be forever etched in the consciousness of all who witnessed it and all who come after. In the city, towns and rural communities, the Guyanese people gave final recognition to and gratitude for the life of a man who committed himself at a young age to their liberation and sustained that commitment throughout his life, without expectation or hope of reward. They thanked him for it even though some may not have supported him in his lifetime. Had it been possible he would have witnessed for himself the true, forgiving, noble character of the Guyanese people which he always knew existed and in which he had placed lifelong confidence.
The formation of the Political Affairs Committee in 1947 by four intrepid revolutionaries, Cheddi Jagan, Janet Jagan, Ashton Chase and Jocelyn Hubbard, set the stage for the formation of the Peoples’ Progressive Party in 1950 and for the demand for universal adult suffrage, independence and social justice. The daunting road to that goal did not seem to faze those in the leadership of the PPP. They were inspired and motivated by the American Revolution and the constitution it gave birth to, the principles underlying the Atlantic Charter, India and the Soviet Union. Their youth and revolutionary fervor gave them energy and confidence. They brought hope to the Guyanese people.
The astonishing success in bringing together such broad forces under the umbrella of the PPP, the winning of universal adult suffrage and the astounding electoral victory of 1953 set the stage for Guyana’s independence. The setback of the suspension of the constitution and the split in the PPP, although devastating, were temporary. As he did all of his life, Cheddi Jagan shrugged off these defeats and setbacks, focusing instead on the larger picture and the final goal. Having won the 1957 and 1961 elections, the latter under an advanced, self-governing constitution, independence was now within reach, a realizable goal. But as we know, the massive intervention in Guyana by foreign elements with the collusion of their local henchmen between 1962 and 1964, paralysed the PPP government and eventually ensured its removal.
The professional Jagan/PPP haters, motivated by nothing more than common ill-will and spite, barely capable of stringing two credible thoughts (or sentences) together, constantly whip up sensationalism, hurling epithets, in a frenetic drive to sustain a post retirement dollar. They seek endlessly to distort Cheddi Jagan’s record and history, constantly boasting of their own tarnished democratic credentials, forgetting their dedicated commitment to a “communist” regime (as described by those they now uphold) which refused to hold elections and which collapsed from its own dead weight, inviting the worst foreign intervention in this region since our countries gained independence.
Cheddi Jagan is constantly portrayed as a ‘monster communist,’ in scenes plucked right out of the discredited Joe McCarthy era of anti-communist hysteria in the US, and regularly regurgitated to us from hack writers pretending to be ‘analysts,’ ‘essayists’ and ‘theorists,’ who wouldn’t recognize a theory if you hit them over the head with one. But we are never reminded that he is the man who, in desperation at the prospect of independence being postponed, agreed trustingly to place reliance on the self-proclaimed British sense of justice and fairplay to mediate the differences between himself and the opposition, even though he recognized that he might be the loser. He placed his own political future on the line knowing that independence for Guyana surpassed every other consideration and could not be delayed, whatever the internal political consequences. This noble act of selfless patriotism has been lost on those whose motives in criticizing Cheddi Jagan are not based on honest and objective analysis but reek to high heavens, the aroma drifting upwards enshrouded in the big coat of a government television programme from which they were rightfully thrown off and now intent on mean and vulgar revenge to him, his people and his works. However, it was not forgotten by the thousands of all races, creeds and classes who, in the final moment of judgment in March, 1997, rendered a verdict for the ages.
On May 26, 1966, Burnham, then Premier, was stunned by an unfamiliar act of forgiveness and generosity - the appearance of Cheddi Jagan, no longer in power, at the National Park to celebrate with him Guyana’s new status as an independent country and the realization of his dream and pledge in 1949 at Enmore to devote himself to the liberation of Guyana. The now famous embrace between these two leaders, who have shaped so much of Guyana’s political consciousness, says nothing about Forbes Burnham, the victor, but everything about Cheddi Jagan, the vanquished. This man who, then aged 47, dedicated most of the remainder of his life to delivering the Guyanese people from the clutches of authoritarian rule, which was aided and abetted by the Western powers, is the most eloquent answer to all those of his detractors who accuse him of supporting dictatorship and of dictatorial conduct.
Cheddi Jagan’s legacy is now in the hands of history which in due course will analyse his works, including his ideological orientation, world view and sympathy with the socialist world during the Cold War. It will take into account Arthur Schlesinger’s (President Kennedy’s Special Assistant who helped to devise the US’s policy to destabilize Guyana) apology to him in 1993 for conspiring against him and his belated judgment that a “great injustice was done to Cheddi Jagan.” It will consider whether, having regard to the attitude of Western powers to Guyana and their complicity with the events of 1962/4 and 1968/1985, Cheddi Jagan had any alternative but to seek alliances with the socialist world. That history is already being written. Professor Rabe’s book, “US Intervention in British Guiana” (Ian Randle Publishers Limited 2005) chronicles the ignoring of the positive reports about Cheddi Jagan, his demonisation and the “destruction of Guyana.”
Remarks by Kenneth Joseph, General Secretary - FITUG
Cheddi Jagan Tribute
Venue: Cheddi Jagan Research Centre (Red House)
Date: April 22, 2010
Cde Chairman,
Comrades and Friends
Simply put politics has to be the art and science which must be applied to affect PEOPLE – hopefully in a positive, uplifting and developmental way. Politics should be about the eventual good and welfare of the people.
In any given society, whatever its sophistication, the bulk of the people belong to the WORKING CLASS. Workers are the salt of the earth, the producers, the farmers in field, the others in factories, stores and in the professions and trades. Even the wealthy need the workers.
It follows therefore that none should be surprised when genuine politician and political leaders EMBRACE the working-class.
Such a politician, such as leader, such a man WAS DR CHEDDI JAGAN. From the day he returned to Guyana in 1943 and opened his dental clinic his was about service to and for the working-class-even to the anger of other dentists.
Before and after his political/election campaign for entry into the Legislative Council he was among the workers, not merely for their VOTE, but to assess and assist to improve their lives. In the Legislature from 1947 HE WAS A LONE BUT CONSISTENT CRUSADER FOR THE WORKERS in that middle/upper class highest forum in the land. Here, my friends, is what he said and did in those forties – when some of today’s pretender and critics were NOT EVER IN THEIR NAPKINS!
“I regarded my victory at the 1947 general election as the people’s victory. In fact at a brief post-ballot count speech, I said: “We, the people have won. Now the struggle will begin.” “As I took my seat in the Legislative Council, which included some of the most prominent personalities of the time.
My service in the Legislative Council from 1947 to 1953 was a most rewarding and stimulating experience.”
But Cheddi Jagan one-man mission on behalf of the people really could not be translated into actual law as the legislature was packed with representatives of the colonial government, the planter-class descendents and the merchants/employers.
A partial summary of his legislative crusade would be as follows:
(a) Using the 1948 Budget Debate, he exposed the exploitive practices of the bauxite industry monopoly by ALCOA, its huge profits and it connections with ALCAN and the local DEMBA.
(b) He attempted, but failed to block the abolition of three taxes affecting the sugar industry.
(c) He attacked the government for abandoning the subsidization of salted fish, pickled beef, cocoa powder, split peas, condensed milk and flour.
(d) He strenuously opposed the government’s purchasing, in 1952, of 262 acres of land from Bookers subsidiary at 96 times the purchase price.
(e) He opposed the Local Government Board’s reduction of the charges fixed by the Village Council for Bookers punts passing through Buxton.
(f) He protested the flooding of working-class urban communities, being constantly flooded out as a result of a pump installed for the benefit of Bookers expatriate staff in Bel Air Gardens.
(g) In 1948 and 1949 he championed the cause of lower level of civil servants as it related to their Bonus, allowances and salaries.
(h) He argued for land to the tiller and water control (drainage and irrigation) to assist rural farmers.
(i) He challenged the effectiveness of the Rent restriction and the workmen’s Compensation Ordinance, and reform of the criteria for Old Age Pensioners.
WHEN THE PPP FORMED THE GOVERNMENT – FOR 133 DAYS – IN 1953, THE CHEDDI JAGAN – LED ADMINISTRATION ENSURED THE FOLLOWING:
i. The minimum wage of Sawmill Workers was increased by some 22½%.
ii. Against the employers’ protests the 1953 government prescribed increased wages for cinema employees, hire-car chauffeurs and watchmen.
iii. The PPP Government also agreed with the Nicholson Report to prescribe increases for employees in Drug Stores, Hardware stores, factories and dry Goods stores.
iv. Holiday-with-pay regulations were extended to benefit sawmill workers.
v. Committees headed by Jessie Burnham and Jane Phillips-Gay were appointed to make recommendations to improve the conditions of domestic servants and washers and to modify the Workmen’s Compensation Ordinance.
vi. Reduction in the hours of work of firemen and training for local seamen also engaged the government’s attention of the 1953 government.
vii. The government wrote off a TUC debt incurred since 1945.
These examples point out the very early actions of Dr Jagan on behalf of the working people. In and out of Government, he consistently followed those principles.
On November 2nd 1992 at Omai Gold Mines, less than one month after he was sworn in as President, Dr Jagan declared:
“But we don’t want just recognition. We feel that the workers must be involved in decision making and management wherever they’re working. Workers are not only muscle power. They have brains which must be utilized in making the place run as efficiently as possible. This is how it must be.”
Then on June 24, 1993 at the 10th Conference of GPSU, President Jagan reassured the working class when he declared:
“I tell you once again, this government is rooted in the working class and if I am going to remain head of any Government, this one or any other one, you can be certain that the working class will always have its say in determining the policy of this country.”
His actions right on to the point of his untimely death were always true to the commitments that he made.
One of Dr Jagan’s boldest efforts was to give workers the right to join a Union of their choice with the enactment of the Labour Relations Bill in 1953. The Bill was intended to make it compulsory for employers to recognise and negotiate with the trade union enjoying majority support. However, the Bill, passed in the House of Assembly on October 08, 1953, did not see the light of day. The Constitution was suspended by the British Government on October 09, 1953.
In 1963, again he attempted to pass the progressive Labour Relations Bill, his attempt also failed following Parlaiment being prorogued. After his assumption as Head of Government in 1992, the Bill was foremost on his agenda and had it not been for the procrastination of the TUC, Cheddi Jagan would have seen the Bill in our statue books before his death, nonetheless the Trade Union Recognition Act was passed in October, 1997.
Our reflection so far has shown the enormous contribution which Dr Cheddi Jagan has made to the improvement of the working and living conditions of the Guyanese working class during his five decades of active struggle on their behalf. But Dr Jagan’s contribution extends beyond his lifetime. He has also left for the working class many examples and principles which can and should be applied to the struggles of today.
Secretary General of Caricom Secretary-General of Caricom, Edwin Carrington wrote:
"…He was not afraid to employ his considerable talents to forge innovative ideas and approaches in coming to grips with the problems of the region, particularly those imposed by debt and poverty. Indeed Dr. Jagan, may well have left for us a blueprint for enhancing the human condition, in his several viable proposals, the wisdom of which will certainly help to guide the region in the immediate future and beyond… In all his endeavours, Dr. Jagan’s unparalleled humility and humanity saw no issue as being too large or too small when advancing the cause of the common folk… As a people , we are all the richer for the wisdom and contribution of Dr. Jagan."
I wish to repeat the evaluation that “Indeed Dr. Jagan, may well have left for us a blueprint for enhancing the human condition, in his several viable proposals, the wisdom of which will certainly help to guide the region in the immediate future and beyond…
Dr Jagan did indeed leave us with two well considered components of that blueprint to guide the national process in Guyana and the international process globally. These are captured in his writings on “National Democracy” and “The New Global Human Order.”
In his studied analysis, Dr Jagan found that:-
“The top leaders of the developed capitalist countries cannot present any prescriptions for curing the problems of the world economy. Symptoms, not the root causes, are treated. And the treatment is a palliative, a band-aid, like an aspirin to relieve the pain but not to cure it.
“Modernization monopoly capitalism is unable to deal with recession, unemployment, financial deficit, trade frictions, the global environmental question, and the widening gap between the rich and the poor, the “included” and the “excluded”, in both the developed countries and the developing countries, as well as between them.
“The “trickle-down” economy does not work, even in the most politically and militarily powerful and the economically richest country, the United States of America.
“The prevailing economic and social disparity provides a breeding ground for hunger, disease and poverty, and ultimately constitutes a threat to international peace and security.
“Economic tinkering with interest rates and structural adjustment are not enough. We need a correct theoretical perception of events, not only of the development of productive forces, but also of the relations of production and their contradictions. Piece-meal management is not enough. Nor can everything be left to be regulated only by the market. Both the market and the state have irreplaceable, complementary roles.
“We need our own agenda – a new agenda of sustainable development. Past “models” of development have proven to be wanting.”
“A feasible programme therefore must be based on radical reforms – reforms, not as an end in themselves, but as a means towards a revolutionary goal of socialism. Such a programme in this era of globalization and modernization must be based on interdependence and genuine North/South partnership and cooperation.
“For reconstruction and meaningful change, it is an imperative for developing countries to establish a state of national democracy.”
According to Dr. Jagan, the State of National Democracy must embark on an integrated programme of development based on:
· Good Governance equity – a clean and lean government – with equality;
· Democracy in all its aspects – political, economic, industrial, social, cultural – and the empowerment of the people at all levels;
· The fullest exercise of human rights – civil and political, as well as economic, social and cultural, in keeping with the UN Covenants on Human Rights;
· A mixed economy;
· Economic growth with social justice and ecological justice;
· Balanced agricultural/industrial and rural/urban development;
· Integrated programme of human resource development;
· Multi-culturalism- unity in diversity.
Dr Jagan was very clear on the role of the state sector.
“The role of the state in development is a source of great controversy. This is due to different conceptions by businessmen and social scientists.
“Businessmen want a marginal role for the state. Their philosophy is less government in business and more business in government. On the one hand, they do not want government to interfere; everything must be left to competition and market forces. On the other hand, they want the state to provide the unprofitable infrastructure facilities such as roads, sea defence, drainage and irrigation, etc. This has led to debt payment and balance of payment problems.
“The PPP/CIVIC government sees the need for a mixed tri-sector – state, cooperative, private – economy and a genuine partnership arrangement with foreign capital and local capital and/or the state.
“The State must not simply play a marginal role and be involved only infrastructure development. It must play a dynamic economic role, in a strategic sense.
“The state must become involved in removing market imperfections. Generally, independent underdeveloped capitalist states, there is a lack of free market competition. A monopoly situation and cartel arrangements facilitate profit gouging and high profit margin. Monopolies and collusive practices must be countered by state intervention.
“The state must also curb the private sector’s unfair and illegal practices such as smuggling, under-invoicing, illegal exports, avoidance of payments of taxes through “cooking-the-books”. At the same time, the state must ensure a reduction in the cost of living.”
We in the Trade Union Movement need to study and understand the requirements of the state of national democracy. We must make strong demands that the government stand firm to these principles. We must demand approaches that strengthen the working class and not those that facilitate the enrichment of the specially privileged who comprise a new segment of the capitalist class.
Prof Clive Thomas summarised the qualities of Dr Jagan as follows:
“I will say, from those personal reflections, that I have no doubt whatsoever that Cheddi Jagan was an exceptional patriot, an exceptional trade-unionist with a heart readily committed to the working-class people and the working-class interests.”
The number of labour-friendly legislations passed - the Trade Union Recognition Act, the Prevention of Discrimination Act, the Occupational Health and Safety Act and the Holidays with Pay Act (All workers are now covered; previously only certain categories of workers enjoyed this benefit) and the Termination of Employment and Severance PayAct - passed in the National Assembly testifies to this.
Dr Jagan's legacy will also remain with us. He was a champion of the working people and a true son of Guyana. He was a leader who stood unswervingly in his lofty principles and a leader who inspired us in battles and in periods of calm. From him, we have learnt that progress will come only from our united and principled struggles. In closing, I wish to make the appeal that this beautiful land of Guyana owes a great debt to Dr Cheddi Jagan which we can only repay if we use his wise advice as we seek to chart our way forward.
