On the occasion of the 75th anniversary of the Enmore Martyrs shooting, the People’s Progressive Party (PPP) wishes to remind of the selfless sacrifices of the five slain sugar workers, Rambarran, Pooran, Lallabagee, Surajballi and Harry and the profound relevance of the incident today.
In 1948, having been strangled by social and economic hardships, the burdensome “cut and load” cane harvesting system and being deprived of having a union of choice to represent them, sugar workers were forced to mount protest actions after their fair demands were continually being ignored by the sugar producers.
Instead of their demands being met, riot police fired on the poor, simple workers killing five in the process. They died in their quest for a better life for all the workers and their struggles and horrific deaths significantly impacted Dr. Cheddi Jagan. On that unforgettable day of their funerals, he silently pledged to dedicate his life to the cause of the Guyanese people and to free them from bondage and exploitation.
Fortified in his belief and determination, he was unrelenting in his struggles for the advancement of Guyana and Guyanese. Having founded the PPP in 1950, Dr. Jagan, despite being incarcerated and deprived of his rights during the decades of his unremitting struggles, never succumbed to the atrocities meted out to him and his followers by the oppressive forces.
The struggles of the Enmore Martyrs and Dr. Jagan were guiding forces during that ominous period when thousands of sugar workers were coldheartedly fired and plunged into economic despair through the politically motivated closure of estates by the APNU+AFC coalition.
It was also a source of inspiration when the APNU+AFC government, through its visionless and inept leadership, strangled our people through harsh and unjustified economic policies and when in full view of the world, they shamelessly tried to steal the March 02, 2020, elections in defiance of the will of the Guyanese people.
Their efforts have imbued in us that profound sense of the value of our freedoms and the need for them to be safeguarded from those with a penchant for totalitarianism and constitutional transgression.
The PPP will continue to honour the memory of those martyrs so as to ensure their sacrifices will not be forgotten.
People’s Progressive Party
