A gross insult to Dr. Jagan's memory
Guyana Chronicle
March 8, 2004

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A GROSS insult and crime has been committed against the memory of my late leader Dr. Cheddi Jagan.

I read in the Guyana Chronicle and subsequently saw a picture in Kaieteur News with about seven persons picketing the annual pilgrimage to Dr. Jagan at Babu John in support of Ramjattan. I recognized and also read in the media that the picketers were in fact relatives and friends of Khemraj Ramjattan who used the occasion to defame my great leader for cheap publicity.

If Ramjattan's relatives and acquaintances wanted to make a political point against the PPP, they did not have to insult and should not have insulted Dr. Jagan and the thousands who attended the annual tribute. I am quite sure Ramjattan and his handlers in the media are disappointed that their call for a boycott of the annual event went unheeded. The dozen or so relatives and acquaintances left after no one joined them and their picture was taken out by a photographer transported to ensure that it was in the media.

Ramjattan has once again demonstrated his total lack of respect for Dr. Jagan's memory, the PPP and its supporters. Even if I had doubts about the decision to expel Ramjattan, I am more than convinced that it was a correct one. I don't blame the few relatives and friends who quickly wrapped up their placards and fled in the shame as passers-by ignored them completely.

The PNCR could not have done a better job at insulting Dr. Jagan. Ramjattan's absence from that picketing line does not remove culpability for this gross act of disrespect.
Suraj Singh