fbpx
  • Latest
  • Trending
  • All
  • Opinions
  • Features
  • Letters
  • Videos
  • Editorials
  • Columns
Harry Hergash, Writer of Books on Indian Guyanese

Response to Malcolm Harripaul on Guyana Sun Chapman 

June 16, 2022
Presentations after Gandhi Peace March

Presentations after Gandhi Peace March

September 29, 2023
Dr Ramkissoon at UN to support Guyana Delegation

Dr Ramkissoon at UN to support Guyana Delegation

September 29, 2023
Anguilla-map

ANGUILLA SHOWCASES LUXURY PRODUCT AT VIRTUOSO TRAVEL WEEK IN LAS VEGAS

September 29, 2023
ADVERTISEMENT
Trinidad’s MP Rodney Charles

Trinidad’s MP Rodney Charles

September 29, 2023
Dr. Vishnu Bisram

Guyana Schools & Public Institutions must maintain culturally inclusive environment and treat Indians with Equity

September 28, 2023
Lester Siddhartha Orie

Eulogies of the living Kamla and Rowley

September 28, 2023
Baseless Allegations against Guyana Govt in Race Focused Washington Conference

Baseless Allegations against Guyana Govt in Race Focused Washington Conference

September 28, 2023
PNCR’s Grandstanding in Washington at Afro-Guyanese Meet

PNCR’s Grandstanding in Washington at Afro-Guyanese Meet

September 28, 2023
NYC Mayor Adams Graces Mandir on Gandhi Peace March

NYC Mayor Adams Graces Mandir on Gandhi Peace March

September 27, 2023
Guyana CPL 2023 Champions

Guyana CPL 2023 Champions

September 27, 2023
Urmilla Paltooram Honored for Community Work in Queens, NY

Urmilla Paltooram Honored for Community Work in Queens, NY

September 27, 2023
Ganesh Chaturthi Parade in Queens, NY

Ganesh Chaturthi Parade in Queens, NY

September 27, 2023
  • About
  • Advertise
  • Privacy Policy
  • Contact Us
  • Terms and Condition
Friday, September 29, 2023
  • Login
Indo Caribbean Diaspora News
  • Home
  • Columns
    Indo Caribbean couple shot in Trinidad; Guyanese dead

    Indo Caribbean couple shot in Trinidad; Guyanese dead

    Lester Siddhartha Orie

    Gentleman’s Game or Circus Cricket?

    Lester Siddhartha Orie

    Kumar Sanu’s Gripe

    Dr. Satish

    CELEBRATING SHRI KRISHNA JANAM ASHTAMI

    Vivian Richards Praises India landing on moon

    Vivian Richards Praises India landing on moon

    Lester Siddhartha Orie

    The Wannabe Writers

    Lester Siddhartha Orie

    My Amazon Top Pick

    Dr. Vishnu Bisram

    India’s G-20 Summit, G-7, Caricom, and Developing Countries

    Aparna Sreedhar performing at the Indian Consulate on July 2, 2023

    Indo Caribbeans at APARNA SREEDHAR MUSICAL PERFORMANCE AT INDIAN CONSULATE NY

    Lester Siddhartha Orie

    Rowley’s Endgame: The PNM’s Apocalypse

  • Letters
    Baseless Allegations against Guyana Govt in Race Focused Washington Conference

    Baseless Allegations against Guyana Govt in Race Focused Washington Conference

    Vassan Ramracha

    Indians too Suffered in Guyana

    Jai Lall

    Indian Guyanese Creolese or Dialect on Display

    Tail Wagging Dog in Guyana Gov’t Finances

    Tail Wagging Dog in Guyana Gov’t Finances

    Vassan Ramracha

    NORTON’S CALL FOR AFRICANS TO GO INTO BUSINESS IS HISTORIC

    Vassan Ramracha

    AFRICANS WERE FAR MORE SKILLED THAN iNDIANS AFTER SLAVERY

    Kamla-Persad-Bissessar

    Game over Kamla in Trinidad

    Jai Lall

    India’s Moon Landing is a giant leap

    Vassan Ramracha

    Why do Afros get Free Pass for Rights Violations of Indians

    Rabindra-Moonan

    Kamla’s Chaos and Doom

  • Community News
    NYC Mayor Adams Graces Mandir on Gandhi Peace March

    NYC Mayor Adams Graces Mandir on Gandhi Peace March

    Urmilla Paltooram Honored for Community Work in Queens, NY

    Urmilla Paltooram Honored for Community Work in Queens, NY

    Ganesh Chaturthi Parade in Queens, NY

    Ganesh Chaturthi Parade in Queens, NY

    NY Assemblywoman Honored with Gandhi Peace Prize 2023

    NY Assemblywoman Honored with Gandhi Peace Prize 2023

    Carib Voice Founder Speaks on Gandhi-ji, Suicide & other Social Issues

    Carib Voice Founder Speaks on Gandhi-ji, Suicide & other Social Issues

    Pictorials of NY Arya Samaj Gurukula Program Sept 24

    Pictorials of NY Arya Samaj Gurukula Program Sept 24

    Ganesh Chaturthi 2023 at Arya Samaj ground in Richmond Hill

    Ganesh Chaturthi 2023 at Arya Samaj ground in Richmond Hill

    Ganesh Chaturthi Observed at Tulsi Mandir, NY

    Ganesh Chaturthi Observed at Tulsi Mandir, NY

    Raksha Bandhan

    Holland’s Hague City Councilor Celebrated Raksha Bandhan

    Guyanese Visham Budhoo honored

    Guyanese Visham Budhoo honored

  • Editorials
    Anguilla-map

    ANGUILLA SHOWCASES LUXURY PRODUCT AT VIRTUOSO TRAVEL WEEK IN LAS VEGAS

    Vassan Ramracha

    Balance armed forces in Guyana

    Ravi Balgobin Maharaj

    Fire Minister of National Security of Trinidad and Tobago

    Leyland-Chitlall-Roopnaraine

    PUT YOUR PROMISES IN WRITING

    Mr. Rudranath Indarsingh

    INDARSINGH ON CLAIMS OF BIAS AGAINST COMMISSION

    Jai Lall

    PNC a losing party in Guyana

    Jai Lall

    Satire in Guyanese Creolese

    Jai Lall

    Words have meanings and are important

    Guyana President Speaks on apology from the Gladstone family for its involvement in African enslavement and Indian Indentureship

    Guyana President Speaks on apology from the Gladstone family for its involvement in African enslavement and Indian Indentureship

    Jai Lall

    Death and Memories

  • Opinions
    Dr. Vishnu Bisram

    Guyana Schools & Public Institutions must maintain culturally inclusive environment and treat Indians with Equity

    PNCR’s Grandstanding in Washington at Afro-Guyanese Meet

    PNCR’s Grandstanding in Washington at Afro-Guyanese Meet

    Pictorials of Gandhi Peace March

    Pictorials of Gandhi Peace March

    Ravi Balgobin Maharaj

    Who Should be allowed to represent Trinidad and Tobago; Critique of Miss Grand Int’l Competition

    parmanand Sukhu Honored

    Guyanese Parmanand Sukhu Honored by Canadian Recording Studio

    Dool Hanomansingh

    Diplomacy, not flattery, will save Hindus in the diaspora

    Jaahnavi Kandula

    JUSTICE FOR INDIAN STUDENT MOWED DOWN BY POLICE IN SEATTLE

    The Vilification Versus the Vindication of Narendra Modi

    The Vilification Versus the Vindication of Narendra Modi

    Lester Siddhartha Orie

    Tobago go your way

    Former Guyana Magistrate comments on Special Trials

    Former Guyana Magistrate comments on Special Trials

  • Videos
    Dool-Hanomansingh-003

    US Congress woman Tulsi Gabbard condemns the ongoing genocide of Hindus and other minorities

    Geeta-Vaahini

    Geeta Vaahini, President of the  Hindu Prachaar Kendra speaks on the social significance of Ganga Dhara Festival.

    Geeta-Vaahini

    Geeta Vaahini, President of the Hindu Prachaar Kendra speaks on the Hindu view of the environment.

    swami-brahmadeo

    Swami Brahmadeo – Hindus are top CEOs and Medics in North America and Europe

    Gowtam-Maharaj

    Gowtam Maharaj, a farmer of Barrackpore, South Trinidad, shares his challenges being a farmer.

    BAMBOO #1 Flooding – Frustrated Residents

    BAMBOO #1 Flooding – Frustrated Residents

    NATIONAL-LOTUS-THEATRE

    NATIONAL LOTUS THEATRE – Performance of Niyantran

    radica-jairam

    Story of RADICA JAIRAM from Orange Valley

    fisherman-trinidad

    Families of Orange Valley felt neglected by PNM Government

    Dr Subramanian Swamy

    Dr Subramanian Swamy – Dharma Rising London April 2015

  • Features
    Dr Ramkissoon at UN to support Guyana Delegation

    Dr Ramkissoon at UN to support Guyana Delegation

    Trinidad’s MP Rodney Charles

    Trinidad’s MP Rodney Charles

    Lester Siddhartha Orie

    Eulogies of the living Kamla and Rowley

    Pawan K Upadhyay

    India to Bharat

    Lester Siddhartha Orie

    Not Cricket: It’s Waarrr

    Jai Lall

    “Madeley’s ideology scorns any apology” to Guyana President

    Indo-Caribbean Diaspora News

    Know India Program Dates

    Assemblywoman Jenifer hosts Town Hall on Public Safety

    Assemblywoman Jenifer hosts Town Hall on Public Safety

    DR-Tulsi-Dyal-Singh

    POETRY SATIRE

    Jai Lall

    Public Nominations for Guyana Democracy Awards

No Result
View All Result
Indo Caribbean Diaspora News
No Result
View All Result

Response to Malcolm Harripaul on Guyana Sun Chapman 

by Staff Reporter
June 16, 2022
in Letters
0
Harry Hergash, Writer of Books on Indian Guyanese

Harry Hergash, Writer of Books on Indian Guyanese

452
SHARES
857
VIEWS
Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

Dear Editor,

In his letter “Wismar and the Sun Chapman atrocities of 1964 were cold war events in which Africans and Indians were the victims” (Kaieteur News, May 25, 2022) Malcolm Harripaul has conflated facts and opinions in recounting that period of Guyana’s history. Readers interested in reliable, factual information may want to look at source documents from the UK and US archives as well as those from recognized academics. In this piece, I wish to look specifically at the Sun Chapman matter which he raised.

In his letter, he states “… PR was vehemently opposed by Janet Jagan who had by then commanded a Cuban trained and armed group called the Liberation Army…In July 1964 elements of the PPP’s Liberation Army bombed the Sun Chapman launch killing 38 Africans…” The fact that he did not write this during the lifetime of Janet Jagan speaks volumes. After all, a dead woman cannot defend herself.

It should be noted that no one was ever charged, much less convicted, for the bombing of the launch. It happened during a period when the British Governor and the Police Commissioner were unsympathetic to the PPP, and the US and the UK governments were actively working to remove the PPP from the government. Common sense would suggest that if there was evidence against the PPP, it would have been used to, at least, lay charges to influence voters to abandon the PPP for more US and the UK favoured smaller Indian-led parties as to the Justice Party or the Guyana United Muslim Party.

In assessing the Sun Chapman bombing, I believe we should look at what transpired earlier, i.e. during the General Strike of 1963. In his book The Guyana Story (guyana.org Guyana story chapter 163), historian and former Guyana’s Ambassador to Washington, Dr Odeen Ishmael writes “ after a series of violent attacks on peaceful citizens and bombing of some business places, the police in early May raided Congress Place, the headquarters of the PNC where a large cache of arms and ammunition, chemicals for bomb-making, and documents detailing assassination plans were found. One of the documents gave details of a PNC terrorist organization working under a plan called “X-13” aimed at causing violence and overthrowing the government”…The police, shortly after, prepared a research paper on 14 August 1963 for the Governor, Sir Ralph Grey, on the PNC terrorist organization…

This research paper on the PNC terrorist organization proved to be very embarrassing to the political opponents of the PPP, including the British and American governments which were giving covert assistance to them. As a result, the Governor prevented the release of the report to the general public and did not even make it available to the Premier. (It was not until early 1964 that information of the existence of this report was exposed after Janet Jagan, the Minister of Home Affairs, managed to obtain a clandestine copy. But after the PPP printed copies of it for public circulation, the Governor immediately declared it illegal for anyone to have possession of a copy of the document.)”

A document titled RESEARCH PAPER ON THE ACTIVITIES of the PEOPLE’S NATIONAL CONGRESS TERRORIST ORGANISATION under the name P. Britton, Supt., and dated 14/8/63, is available on the internet at www.guyanaundersiege.com Plan X13 -1. This document incriminates very senior officials of the PNC, linking them to bombings and attempted bombings in Georgetown during the strike. Members of the Security Force are also implicated. In addition, it identifies a once-prominent law firm in Georgetown with storage of “five hundred sticks of dynamite, blasting gelatine and safety fuses” which were brought to Georgetown from the Stampa Quarry by two named prominent PNC members of the Legislature. This raises the question: How were these items transported from the Quarry which is in the interior of the country to Georgetown? Further, the document identifies two other individuals, who on another occasion, “brought a parcel of dynamite from Mackenzie by launch”. Interestingly, according to the published papers of Dr Cheddi Jagan, a memo from him to Mrs Janet Jagan, Minister of Home Affairs prior to her resignation on June 2, 1964, reads as follows: “I have received information that dynamite is being stolen from Mackenzie and is being sent to the PNC in Georgetown by a launch owned by someone called Chapman or by a private truck. I understand, also, that certain police constables or officers help in transporting it to Georgetown.
I understand that a set of four boxes came down on Monday, 1st July 1963 by Chapman’s launch. Please take necessary action.”

Mr Burnham became Head of the Government after the December 1964 General elections, merely six months after the Sun Chapman bombing. The logical question is: Why did he not appoint a Commission of Inquiry (COI) as was done by Jagan on the Wismar atrocity? While there is speculation that the PPP bombed the Sun Chapman, an unanswered question is: Was the Sun Chapman transporting dynamite for the PNC when it exploded? The PNC remained in office for the next twenty-eight years, yet no COI was ever done. More recently, prior to the 2015 elections, Mr Granger promised a COI into the post-2002 jailbreak killings during the Jagdeo presidency. After he became President in 2015, this was forgotten, allowing spurious claims to be made. In both these cases, were PNC governments disinclined to hold a COI because, as in the case of the Rodney COI, they were unable to handle the truth?

Based on the preceding, I believe there can be no definite pronouncement on who was responsible for the Sun Chapman explosion. Mr Harripaul’s statements are opinions and should be treated as such. Since he is a disgruntled former PPP member, his opinions cannot be considered as unbiased.

Harry Hergash

Facebook Comments Box
Tags: GuyanaGuyaneseHarry Hergashindo-caribbeanIndo-GuyaneseTrinidadTrinidad and Tobago
Share31Tweet19Share8
ADVERTISEMENT
Staff Reporter

Staff Reporter

  • Trending
  • Comments
  • Latest
The Vilification Versus the Vindication of Narendra Modi

The Vilification Versus the Vindication of Narendra Modi

September 19, 2023
Baseless Allegations against Guyana Govt in Race Focused Washington Conference

Baseless Allegations against Guyana Govt in Race Focused Washington Conference

September 28, 2023
Ravi Balgobin Maharaj

Who Should be allowed to represent Trinidad and Tobago; Critique of Miss Grand Int’l Competition

September 25, 2023
PNCR’s Grandstanding in Washington at Afro-Guyanese Meet

PNCR’s Grandstanding in Washington at Afro-Guyanese Meet

September 28, 2023
Presentations after Gandhi Peace March

Presentations after Gandhi Peace March

September 29, 2023
Dr Ramkissoon at UN to support Guyana Delegation

Dr Ramkissoon at UN to support Guyana Delegation

September 29, 2023
Anguilla-map

ANGUILLA SHOWCASES LUXURY PRODUCT AT VIRTUOSO TRAVEL WEEK IN LAS VEGAS

September 29, 2023
Trinidad’s MP Rodney Charles

Trinidad’s MP Rodney Charles

September 29, 2023

The most important world news and events of the day.

Get ICDN daily newsletter on your inbox.

ADVERTISEMENT
Indo Caribbean Diaspora News

© 2022 Indo-Caribbean Diaspora News. All rights Reserved

Navigate Site

  • About
  • Advertise
  • Privacy Policy
  • Contact Us
  • Terms and Condition

Follow Us

No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • Columns
  • Letters
  • Community News
  • Opinions
  • Videos
  • Features
  • Editorials

© 2022 Indo-Caribbean Diaspora News. All rights Reserved

Welcome Back!

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password?

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In