The Guyana Indian Heritage Association (GIHA) is calling for May 5 to be made a national holiday and says Boxing Day should be dropped if it is deemed necessary to keep the number of holidays the same.
GIHA said that Boxing Day is an appendage from colonial days and that it has no relevance or significance in Guyana's contemporary society.
The association made its formal submission to the National Holiday Committee for the granting of May 5, Indian Arrival Day, as a national holiday.
In a letter to committee chairman Ronald Gajraj, GIHA formalised its public call for the holiday that will honour and recognise the vital role that Guyana's Indian community has played in the country's development.
In its submission, GIHA reminded the committee that Guyanese such as Dr Balwant Singh and the leaders of the Gandhi Youth Organisation in the early 1960s first forwarded the idea within the Caribbean region for the holiday.
GIHA said that while Indians in Trinidad and Tobago already enjoyed that national recognition, Guyana's Indian population was still lobbying to have the holiday declared.
In addressing the criticisms that its call for the holiday created, GIHA stated that if other communities such as the Portuguese and the Chinese forwarded submissions for arrival day holidays then "their requests would have to be considered on their own merit and should not be used to detract from the importance of recognising Indian Arrival Day as a public holiday."
GIHA further stated that it does not support the call for May 26 to be celebrated as a holiday for any reason in Guyana because of that date being the anniversary of the Wismar massacre. "Republic Day (February 23) already provides a day for the celebration of national pride and dignity," GIHA said.
GIHA stated that the committee's decision could go a long way in making the Indian community in Guyana feel proud and dignified.
GIHA also feels that the committee can show empathy with the pain that Indians endured on May 25 and 26 by not recommending May 26 as any day of national celebration.