CHEDDI AND NELSON
Peeping Tom
Kaieteur News
April 22, 2007
“We are all made poorer by the passing of President Cheddi Jagan. For more than four decades, he cast a positive shadow over the development of what he referred to, in January, 1994, as a “true Caribbean Community.
Dr. Jagan's vision for Caribbean people was one in which he saw the richness of each of us: each country, each national group, each person, being harnessed through mutual sacrifice and mutual respect, resulting in people confident in individual and a common dignity; a people able to take their rightful place, with pride and independence, in the society of nations.
We all know, Mr. Speaker, that sentimental words are cheap and come all too easily for most of us. What distinguishes Cheddi Jagan most in my mind is that he was well-prepared, at great personal sacrifice, to bring his vision to pass, not only for his native Guyana, where, from his earliest involvement in politics and social development, he strove for the establishment of a non-racial society, but also for the rest of the Caribbean.
He can well be, and favourably compared to, that other stalwart for human dignity and true independence, President Nelson Mandela . Cheddi Jagan was detained and, in one sense, he suffered an even more insidious imprisonment when even though he was normally free, the nature of narrow politics confined him to a non-person status.
Yet, in the face of this, he could maintain the gentle spirit which allowed his coming to office in 1992 to be a time of renewed hope. One could never discern a sense of bitterness and regret in his words or his bearing. There was always evidence of a humble spirit, which understood the contradictions of our humanity, but felt nonetheless, that human society was worth the effort. Perhaps it was because he was convinced of the rectitude of his cause and the purity of his ultimate vision that he could bear the indignities that were perpetuated against him.
There are many lessons from the rich and rewarding life that was lived by Cheddi Jagan, for all of us Caribbean people, and most certainly for those of us who strive for public office. There are lessons that remind us of how important it is for us to "number our days aright", to "know our times, and to be instant in season and out of season".
Dr. Jagan has served his people and the Caribbean well. He died with his boots on, a man "called to struggle".
In his last interview from his bed at the Walter Reed Army Hospital in the United States, while there was intense international speculation about his possible successor, Dr. Jagan demonstrated characteristic humility when he noted that people, including politicians, come and go and that he was prepared to go, having accomplished his task and aware of his contribution, life would go on after his passing. It was the calm of a man who had not lost faith in the potential of succeeding generations to bring his vision to fruition. It is our responsibility to keep the legacy of Cheddi Jagan alive.”
(Patrick Manning, now Prime Minister of Trinidad and Tobago, then opposition leader, paying tribute in 1997 to the late Guyanese President )
“Two of the late President's books which he presented to me, Forbidden
Freedom and The West on Trial, will forever be a testimony to the giant of a man
who was made of stuff of which Mandelas are created. His inscription in one of the
books to me which reads, "To Hector McClean, towards peace, freedom, democracy,
and social progress, Cheddi Jagan, June 2, 1989 ", will long be treasured.”
(Speaker of the House in Trinidad, paying tribute in 1997 to the late Guyanese President Cheddi Jagan)
“Jagan was by far and away one of the most significant individuals, and equally by far and away one of the most amazing political figures, not just in the history of the Caribbean but in the world…
Few men, anywhere in this great globe, have suffered more than Cheddi Jagan at the hands of the Great Powers, the United States , the United Kingdom , and I will surprise you, the Soviet Union , more than has Cheddi Jagan.
I participated in a session in Guyana in a preliminary meeting for the Sixth Pan African Congress. One of the young Black leaders of the Caribbean (who shall remain nameless) taunted Cheddi Jagan to the point of ridicule, because he was going to contest the upcoming rigged elections. He was made out to be a fool, a Sisyphian fool, rolling a big stone up a huge hill knowing that the stone would roll down again. And he would have to start all over. Jagan took it. In the laughter aroused, no one bothered to answer Jagan's question in rejoinder: What was the alternative?
I walked away from the meeting, rushed to the bathroom, and for one of the few times in my life since a grown man, I cried. I cried because my own Afro-Caribbean people, who had known much suffering, more than enough of injustice of the bitterest kind, had conspired with the British and Americans to destabilise and ruin a fine man.
Worse, my own colleagues were taunting this historical figure, the butt of American and British cruelty, for having been denied his just due - victory in an election. Democracy itself was mocked. And here we were, the most conscious, the most advanced, ridiculing the victim - Cheddi Jagan. Jagan through it all kept his head erect. There was no intemperance, though hurt.
….despite all the humiliation that Burnham heaped on him during his 28-year sojourn in the wilderness, not even his worst enemies, have ever accused him of acting vengefully to those who had rivalled him, and Guyana as well. He sought no revenge. He jailed no one. He prosecuted none. Even prosecution would have opened old racial wounds, and created new ones. Like Mandela he chose reconciliation over settling scores. Few have accorded this most deserving accolade to Cheddi Jagan .
…..in historical terms, Cheddi Jagan deserves the title: Modern Martyr and Exemplar of the new Caribbean .”
(Tim Hector in a Tribute to Dr. Cheddi Jagan)