Sir Shridath S. Ramphal passed away on August 30. There were glowing tributes extolling his role as Secretary General of Commonwealth of Nations (1975-90). Colleagues involved in the struggle against the Guyana dictatorship (1966-92) and election rigging pondered whether this was the Ramphal they battled against for free and fair elections FFE), restoration of democratic governance, and the campaign against racism in Guyana.
I don’t wish to be an odd person in offering a lone critique of Mr. Ramphal but some truth must be told about him or at least in his domestic politics. People and the media tend to write positively about the deceased. But the media and the public must be honest and objective when reporting on and paying tributes to towering personalities of the past so that present and future generations can learn truthfully about them and have an accurate history of their (political) life, especially their role in consolidating and perpetuating dictatorship and all the attendant effects of that system of governance that oppressed a nation. The truth would assist future politicians and a nation from avoiding a repeat of the past an do justice to those who fought authoritarianism. And I don’t think the family of Mr. Ramphal would be offended if the public is informed of a balanced assessment and truths surrounding him especially on the rise of the dictatorship, oppression, racism, and other negativities.
Ramphal’s life and legacy were marked by controversy. Yes, he made significant contributions to the (British) Commonwealth and Caribbean integration, but he also supported and was a beneficiary of a dictatorship in Guyana. There is no doubt as media and Caribbean leaders stated, Ramphal was an eminent person. What led to his eminence? Ramphal was beneficiary of the removal of Dr. Cheddi Jagan from office and the rigging of elections. The toppling of Dr. Jagan in December 1964 led to the replacement of Sir Fenton Ramsahoye by Shridath Ramphal as Attorney General and Foreign Minister. Dr Ramsahoye was approached by Forbes Burnham to defect from Jagan for the position of Attorney General, but on principle he declined the offer. If the 1968 election was not rigged, would Ramphal have continued being Attorney General? So Ramphal was a participant in and beneficiary of that election rigging and the coup against Jagan and the PPP. Ramphal also benefitted from the 1973 election rigging after he which he became Foreign Minister that led to his international career as Secretary General of the Commonwealth. He never condemned riggings and never offered an apology for his role in the rise of the authoritarian state and of denying Jagan his rightful place as the legitimate elected leader of the country. And when three Indians were shot (two fatally) while protecting the ballot boxes in July 1973 election, Ramphal uttered not a word of condemnation. And yet people praised Ramphal as though he did no wrong in Guyana. The dictatorship of which Ramphal was a Minister and its legal defender was responsible for racism against Indians and other groups, violation of human rights, murder of dissidents, mass starvation, migration of hundreds of thousands, and other wrong doings. He was AG when Burnham abolished appeals to the independent Privy Council and when domestic judiciary was largely compromised in independence.
Ramphal was credited and rightly so for his campaign against apartheid rule in South Africa. But London Sunday Sun (1984) in an article captioned “The Truth about Sonny Boy …” assailed him for not uttering a word condemning apartheid rule in his native Guyana. His silence on apartheid in Guyana where Indians were marginalized did tremendous damage to the country, the effects of which we still feel till this day. Has it dawned on anyone that had Ramphal not supported the dictatorship, Guyana would have been a different place?
It is noted that Cheddi and Janet Jagan never fraternized with Ramphal and had nothing flattering to say about him, only words of condemnation for his role in the dictatorship. I joined Janet, Cheddi, Kwayana and others picketing Ramphal (July 1991) and Caricom team in front of Pegasus Hotel focusing attention on fraudulent elections and suppression of freedom. Ramphal mocked and ridiculed us grabbing a picket and illustrating how we should hold picket signs. In front of Pegasus, the following day, we were threatened with arrest if we continued the picketing exercise as Janet, Kwayana and other PCD leaders met with Ramphal and his CARICOM team making a case for return of democratic rule and free and fair elections (FFE) in Guyana. Leyland Roopnarine was targeted and arrested for peacefully picketing Ramphal and the Caricom team. Reverend Allan Kirton who was part of the CARICOM group was sympathetic with the struggle for FFE.
(When we picketed him in New York (April 1991) in front of Medgar Evers College, he did not mock us because in USA picketers and protesters have rights quite unlike in then Guyana. There were protests against him at UWI, Trinidad also in September 1989 for his support of the Guyana dictatorship. Staff were fearful of consequences in joining a protest against him. So Ramphal was not seen as a defender or protector of basic rights. He could have urged the police not to harass or intimidate protestors or arrest anyone for picketing him.)
On learning of Ramphal’s death, Leyland put Ramphal’s rise to eminence this way: He jockeyed a stolen horse (that robbed Jagan and the PPP of government) to fame and prominence. And in the process, an entire nation suffered, denied equal opportunity. Had it not been for rigged elections, others too would have ridden to prominence and eminence.
Ramphal is credited for prevailing on Desmond Hoyte to allow a study (chaired by Dr Vishnudath Persaud) on reforming the economy and for subsequently agreeing to implement the Economic Recovery Program (ERP) in exchange for a financial bailout of the bankrupted economy. Ramphal may have also played a role in influencing Hoyte to end the ban on all imports including basic foods used by Indians in religious activities and in their traditional diet as part of the ERP. Vishnudath related much about the secret life of Sir Shridath including destroying several lives, which shall remain secrets.
It is noted that Ramphal did not join the observer group for the 1992 elections that led to the first FFE election in Guyana, and he did not join the chorus demanding an accurate count of the ballots of 2020 elections; there was deafening silence in 2020 on rigging. He never condemned election riggings or the assassination of Rodney, Father Darke, Edwin Dublin, Ohene Koama, and others, and he never condemned the harassment of Bishop Randolph George and Bishop Benedict Singh, beating of Sister Rowtie, harassment of Pandits and Mulvis, the shooting of Joshua Ramsammy, murder of Vincent Teekah, beating of protesters and attempted kidnapping of Dr Clive Thomas, some of which took place when Ramphal was AG. The public is inclined to be forgiving for wrong doing if the violator or abuser were to request it. But an apology was never tendered by Ramphal.
In praising Ramphal and other individuals who were once oppressors, younger politicians (like Irfaan, Jagdeo, Nandlall, and others) and beneficiaries of the freedom struggle should take cognizance of the very important role played by brutalized veterans like Nanda Gopaul, Harry Nokta, Nagamootoo, Moses Bhagwan, Donald Ramotar, Terrence Montrose, Father Rodrigues, Rupert Roopnarine, Maurice Odle, Omowale, Freddie Kissoon, Leyland Roopnarine, Tacuma Ogunseye, David Hinds, among others, who were all brutalized during the dictatorship. They too, along with those of us ( Baytoram Ramharack, Ravi Dev, myself, etc.) who were assaulted and or victimized and made enormous sacrifices while combating the dictatorship could potentially also have become individuals of eminence if they (we) were not deprived of a fair opportunity and the privileges afforded Ramphal. Unlike other leaders, Janet and Cheddi were principled and would not have showered glowing accolades on Ramphal.
A former lecturer at UG and UWI, penned: “Unlike the honor (offered for Ramphal) by the President of Guyana, I feel no compassion for the departure of Ramphal. For many of us who were
witness to the rise and fall of Forbes Burnham and election rigging, I find in the life of Ramphal an evil genius and, an accomplice. I cannot forget or forgive the fall of democracy by the Burnham-Ramphal partnership. Many of us who now live abroad, hundreds of thousands, remember how we left our beloved land seeking refuge everywhere. Guyanese went everywhere to seek a new home. We scattered like estranged fragments of injured souls seeking a new life. Here in Toronto where there are hundreds of thousands of Guyanese first, second, and other generations, Guyana still beckons us. We are now witnessing a recasting of our land under the oil and gas regime”.
