Georgetown: Two Calcutta Memorial replicas will be unveiled on May 5, marking the 175th anniversary of the arrival of East Indians to then British Guiana and an achievement for Ashook Ramsaran, and the Global Organisation of People of Indian Origin (GOPIO).
The United States based Guyanese who is President of the organisation that was established to reunite Indian nationals who migrated generations ago or recently, paid a courtesy call on President Donald Ramotar Thursday in the company of a team that included Mr. Yesu Persaud of the Indian Commemoration Trust.
GOPIO monitors and addresses issues of interest and concern among People of Indian Origin (PIOs) and Non-Resident Indians (NRIs) living outside of India.
The two replicas, one at Highbury, Berbice and the other at the Indian Monument Gardens were fashioned after the original that was unveiled in Calcutta two years ago to honour those who departed India during the period 1834 to 1920 to work as indentured labourers.
On the eve of the anniversary, is a conference at the Guyana International Conference Centre (GICC) focusing attention on the four groups of immigrants that arrived in Guyana; African slaves, Portuguese, East Indians and Chinese.
“We want the public to realise that we are all in the same boat. If we’re going to sink, we sink together, or we move together,” Persaud explained.
May, marks the month of arrival, not only for East Indians who came as indentured labourers, but also the other ethnic groups who would later make their mark in the annals of Guyana’s cultural heritage.
President Donald Ramotar in talks with a team that included President of the Global Organisation of People of Indian Origin (GOPIO) Ashook Ramsaran (right)
Guyana prides itself as a multi ethnic multi-cultural society where the right to expression and freedom to propagate one’s faith is respected and enshrined in the country’s laws. The Amerindians were the first inhabitants.
This year is also one of historic and cultural significance for Guyana with the 250th anniversary of the 1763 Berbice Slave Rebellion, the 190th anniversary of the 1823 Slave Rebellion, the 175th anniversary of the abolition of slavery and emancipation of enslaved Africans, and simultaneously the arrival of East Indian immigrants and the 160th anniversary of the arrival of Chinese indentured labourers.
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