A CHILD'S LIFE

The Evening of July 6, 2025

At his inaugural speech, Mr. Norton chose to summon a ghost — the Son Chapman. A ferry. A symbol. A tragedy. He was only seven years old when it exploded, yet he called upon its memory as if he had lived through every scream, every flame. But whose recollections are these, truly? Which historian whispered them in his ear? What book lent him this version of the past — the one that now serves a present purpose?

It is long speculated that the Son Chapman was ferrying dynamite to Wismar, just as it had once carried men — organizers, agitators — into the forested enclave where the horrors of the Wismar Massacre would soon unfold.

Sixty-one years have passed. The heart of a child, once innocent and impressionable, now beats in the chest of a leader — a man with the nation in his hands.

And so we ask:
Is this the future of our country?
One built not on unity or hope, but on curated rage and selective memory?

Anger. Hate.
Is that all we are to inherit?

To the decent, dignified Black families of Guyana — your ancestors must be turning in their graves. Those still with us, surely, must be shaking their heads in disbelief at what passes for leadership today.

Mr. Norton, was there nothing else — nothing brighter, nobler, more unifying — you could offer the Afro-Guyanese people than the memory of the Son Chapman?
Why not a story of resilience, of triumph, of brotherhood?

Instead, you chose a vessel of sorrow, tethered to a massacre, to define your vision of leadership.

We needed inspiration.
You gave us a haunting.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n1yfrziImks 

This youtube has nothing to do with me. However, the contents of CHAPTER 6 was researched on May29, 2025.

Chapter 6

Wismar

May 29, 2024. Politics 101, Opposition Leader Aubrey Norton speaks. I was talking with some people, and I said to them, “You know, there was no Linden, no Wismar Massacre.” They said, “What do you mean? We witnessed the Wismar Massacre.” I asked, “How many people died?”

They said they thought about 50, of which two or three persons, not all three, were related to the disturbances. But the government and certain entities created a perception that there was a massacre of Indians in Linden, which is not true.”

I contemplated his words for several minutes. How could a leader in Guyanese politics arrive at such a conclusion when he was a resident of Christiansburg? 

The headline read, ‘Mass evacuation of 1,600 refugees from up-river areas.’ The actual count was 2,400 Indians displaced by the incident in Wismar and Christiansburg, where the trauma of rape and arson was like that of a war-torn zone. In this place, tragedies occurred.

Indians who came for a better life met with strife, encouraged by the political elites of the bygone era. It is remembered as the ‘Wismar Massacre.’

Wismar was the place to be, as lucrative jobs attracted those who were willing to relocate. People were doing great, and life was good. Some Indian communities never forgot the incident, as they arranged memorial services and reflected on their lives as employees of the Demerara Bauxite Company—a company that abandoned them in their hour of greatest need. They talked for hours about the lost businesses, houses, and properties left behind in Wismar.

Despite being caught in the middle of the Demerara River and the dense jungle, the company’s security staff never ventured out to quell the riots of looting, burning, rape, and drownings. It never compensated the employees for their businesses and homes, all occupied in no short time by the rioters and looters.

This incident never disappeared from the minds of Indians and is discussed on social media regularly. A Guyanese professor interviewed several of the victims he located from photographs of the incident as the victims were transported by boat downriver from the Mackenzie Stelling to Sproston Wharf in the city.

The international press reported on the mayhem in Wismar as it occurred in May 1964. Recently, an article in the Stabroek News reminded us—New York Times, Wednesday, May 27, 1964: “East Indians flee race violence in British Guiana mining area.” New York Times again: Thursday, May 28, 1964, “Official accuses police in British Guiana.”

Time Magazine: “British Guiana race war.”

Newsweek Magazine, June 5, 1964: “Politics of violence.”

June 8, 1964. Chroniclers of the massacre wrote, “It all began on Sunday, May 24, and concluded on Tuesday, May 26. During the 38 hours of terror, inciting incidents and massacres, a number of Indo-Guyanese homes were set on fire or bombed. The mob of British Guianese of African ancestry armed with cutlasses, paling stave, gas bombs, and guns burnt and destroyed some 230 homes and businesses owned by the Indians. Several Africans offered shelter to people and families, only to be threatened by the large African mob. For the few Africans who matched the mob’s rhetoric, the Indians were safe under their protection. Those who were turned away were confronted and beaten by the frenzied mob yelling “kill the coolies.”

The only escape was the nearby forests. Even in the forest, the Africans hunted the Indians. The Georgetown group, which was leading the mob, was determined to kill the coolies. The rioters knew their leaders by name. The information shared by the professor doing the research on the incident revealed that the chief operative was known as Bangamary. Just a few weeks before the opposition leader expressed his opinion on the Wismar Riots, a commentator on YouTube was boastful about the character Bangamary.

The reason behind the deep resentment of the Afro population toward the Indians is still a mystery to both groups of the regular Guyanese. As the two river ferries approached the wharf in Georgetown, the refugees on board were reluctant to disembark. On the wharf was the police force, some Indians, and a few Afros. They were booing and jeering and while some of them, allegedly Afros, hurled bricks at the ferries on the wharf. The Police Force and the Volunteer Force, under the supervision of the Colonials in Wismar, paid no heed to the atrocities committed against the refugees. Trauma rekindled and awakened the spirit of fear among the children on board the ferries.

Sugar, the cultivation of this New World crop, has been the reason why British Guiana was settled by six different groups or races of people. But now, sugar was manufactured by a much larger workforce. Up to emancipation, 70,000 Africans were in it. By 1917, the British had indentured 239,000 Indians in the industry.

On February 17, 1964, GAWU organized a strike in the sugar industry and demanded recognition from the Guiana Agricultural Workers Union. 

On March 4, 1964, two men—one Indian and an African—were killed in a bus bombing in the predominantly Indian enclave of Tain, Port Mourant, Corentyne. A lone African family that lived in the Indian community was afraid and hurriedly abandoned their house. This became a common occurrence in the neighboring villages as people, both the Indians and Africans, abandoned the homes they had lived in for many years throughout the coastland. At Port Mourant, a prominent African senior staff member with the Sugar Company was hurriedly transferred to another Sugar Factory over rumors that the bomb hurled at the bus, killing the two men, was made by two African men.

The events were like an omen released from Pandora’s Box; once set in motion, they became out of control with demonic consequences. An African strikebreaker accidentally ran over an Indian female from Leonora Sugar Estate on March 6, 1964. 

The new Governor assigned to the colony, Sir Richard Edmonds Luyt, was sworn in on March 7, 1964.

The events kept building up.  

“So far, our strike has been partial,” said Jagan, a union leader, on March 13, 1964. “From now on, it is a general strike.”

On May 20, 1964, a pandit died in a bombing of his home.

The following day, May 21, 1964, an Afro couple was found murdered in the backlands of East Coast, Demerara.

The governor declared a state of emergency on May 22, 1964, and requested British troops to be deployed in British Guiana. The governor, new to the colony, would have had a dossier on the politics prepared by his predecessor. Perhaps the governor received an intelligence report of a planned reprisal for the death of the Afro couple but was unable to act in a timely manner to prevent the riots that followed. He must also be aware of the widespread rumors of the X-13 Plan.  

As 450 British troops were arriving in Georgetown between May 24 and 26, 1964, 65 miles away in the mining town of Mackenzie, carnage was taking place. Later, documented experiences in several publications relayed the horror.

One family was confronted by a large roaming gang. The woman was beaten unconscious, and the man knifed repeatedly while the children watched in horror.

In another incident, a woman was repeatedly raped and subjected to drowning to the point of death. An Afro-women in the mob urged the men to rape the woman again. The men pulled the woman out of the water and raped her again. Only heaven would know how many times that ordeal took place. During those hours in Mackenzie, the demons freed by Lucifer, according to the Book of Enoch, were ecstatic as they indwelled the souls of God’s creation—the rioting mob in Wismar. Their hearts were filled with violence.

Hundreds more were brutally beaten, and many more women and girls were raped, some more than once. Only eight women were documented to have been raped, but it is likely that this number was much higher, and many chose not to come forward due to social repercussions that were associated with rape.

Burnt bodies were found. It was assumed that the poor souls were burnt alive during the mayhem, confusion, and the desire to escape the horror.

Decapitation was also evident from a body recovered from the area. The sounds of groaning were loud as they drifted out of the parapets, drains, and shallow trenches from people injured by gunshots, stabbings, and hammer indents to the skulls and bones. Bodies were mutilated by beatings with paling staves and fire, and female genitals were violated by foreign objects.

Wismar was enough evidence to conclude there had to be a plan of terror. Planned, orchestrated, and executed by the gods of hate from their high places. Inflict pain upon a particular group, the Indians, supporters of the Communist PPP. It was the Cold War. No nation escaped the era of tensions between the United States of America and the Soviet Union. Subversive actions played out among the native peoples of the world in the interests of American values. In 1964, British Guiana was caught in it. There was chaos as people were terrified and fearful. 

Fight Against Communism

At a time when the White Tribes had had their two major wars, they were to be civilized and generous to all the natives, having dominated since 1763 under empires.

In British Guiana, slavery and indentureship had nurtured a nation of people with resentment among themselves and the baccra man. And two of the colony’s sons would ignite the desire to be free of British rule. One is the African, L.F.S. Burnham, and the other is C.B. Jagan, an East Indian. These young men most likely made their ethnic communities proud of them. They were Queens College graduates aiming for higher education in places that dominated the world. After graduating in their respective professions in America and Britain, they returned to British Guiana. Unlike the Coloreds, Negroes, Portuguese, and East Indians who made the same effort decades before and onwards returned as the colonials of British Guiana. 

These two sons of British Guiana were different; they were not colonials. They returned to the colony with foreign ideologies and a whole lot of isms in the endings. Communism was the one they shared; it dealt with class struggles in the colony. Their brief success in 1953 was a fragile one; it had the grouping of moderates and extremists and the possible emergence of a Soviet satellite in the American sphere.

An unpopular trend for the American administration would unleash the Central Intelligence Agency in British Guiana. Their subversive exploits would be the same as those used on Iran’s Mohammad Mossadegh in August 1953. Declassified files revealed the British government requesting the intervention of the CIA in Iran’s politics. The Iranian oil industry was nationalized by the Iranian prime minister. Riots in the streets of Tehran were orchestrated as per the CIA’s Operation Ajax and contributed to Iran's destabilization as per British Intelligence Operation Boot.

For the colony of British Guiana, the communist alarm was raised in 1950 and addressed by mild persuasions. The American administration had sought the approval of the British government to be operatives in the colony. They began with the aerated soft drink bottling company of D'Aguiar Imperial House (DIH). The DIH trucks would arrive in Rosignol in the evening, pull in at the playfield, and set up the film projector. The villagers would assemble and watch the film. It was always the same kind of story—soldiers with guns harassing men, women, and children. They were all white people in the movie. After the film, they would hand out illustrated books with a storyline similar to the children’s. The grown-ups were given pamphlets describing the ills of communism. The CIA had identified a willing partner in DIH, fostering their campaign against the communists in British Guiana.

The election of the PPP in 1953 and its disastrous attempts to govern as a government with limited powers resulted in the suspension of the Constitution. Many of its activists were restricted as political detainees. And the CIA began the work of sowing discontent among the moderates and extremists in the party. The separation was the Burnhamite PPP and the Jaganite PPP, known to the Guianese people as “The Split.” The year 1955 saw the beginning of race politics, racial disturbances in ethnic cleansing and a massacre, rigged elections, and the denial of democracy. These events gradually unfolded in the colony, orchestrated by an authored document, the X-13 Plan—believed to be the CIA code name for its destabilization of communists in British Guiana.

Like Iran, the files detailing British Intelligence Reports of the Jagans-Soviet dialogues were disclosed. Typical of the CIA, bribery was the inducer to divide or separate, as recorded in the declassified files.

Forbes Burnham was the likely candidate with a mass following of Afro-Guianese. Peter D’Aguiar was already on board with the CIA, along with several East Indians and other racialized Guianese. Some Colored people openly cast doubts on the Jagan-Burnham collaborations, expressing their dissatisfaction with Indians entering the politics of the colony quite late. Forbes Burnham did what he could to marginalize the Indians of British Guiana with the help of the CIA and the United Force, Peter D’Aguiar’s political party. Just as in Tehran, Georgetown already had the bribed subversives waiting for the commands of the Guianese operatives working with the CIA.

During British Guiana in the mid-1950s, Afro-Guianese people were educated and held many key positions in society. Their political views were like those of the African people in the Caribbean. They wrote for the newspaper, wrote books on history and novels, and expressed their opinions to the editor. They shared a common point of view—upholding democratic principles, freedom of speech, and a strong allegiance to the Queen of England. They were proud of the African values worldwide and were very much aware of the plight of the American negros. The writings of Marcus Garvey, a long time ago, still influenced many. Contrary to African views, Forbes Burnham embraced American foreign policies, chose the role of a paid dictator, and suppressed freedom of speech with arrogance, which can be seen today on YouTube.

In America and South Africa, the black man was treated with malice, and Forbes Burnham stood with White America's C.I.A. X-13 Plan against the Indians, ignorant of the perils that were embraced by Cheddie Jagan.

There was a plan to remove the PPP from elected office at all costs. Declassified documents stated who was paid and how much. From 1955, it was a concentrated effort to sway the votes of the Indian population in the colony. They never swayed from their support for the PPP. Approximately nine years later, on May 23, 1964, the Wismar Massacre unfolded during the time when the governorship of the colony was in transition, and the Jagan government was incapable of enforcing its authority. And the anti-Indian sentiments delivered its message in the riots, rapes, fire, and carnage. The coverage in the newspapers stated, “Two steamers arrived with the refugees. They disembarked, and about 300 found shelter with relatives in the city and neighboring villages. The remaining refugees were housed in the pier warehouse in the city. Helpers assisted them as they collapsed on the concrete floor, unable to wait for the tarpaulins and rice bags to be spread as bedding. Shocked at the injuries, medical personnel hurriedly took away the children and the injured to makeshift clinics for treatment. A factory in the city was set up as a shelter to relieve the crowding of the warehouse.”

In the book ‘The West on Trial,’ Jagan mentioned the Kurmi caste of his parents. Casteism in Bihar and Uttar Pradesh was enforced for several thousand years and adhered to, with surveillance of the practices of the Shudras and the Dalits. The Dalits were considered outside of the caste system as the Untouchables. The Kurmi caste had always insisted that a long time ago, they were fighters alongside the kings of ancient India, and they protested their Shudra classification. They were Kshatriyas, the warrior caste, generations of strategists for thousands of years.

The British, Americans, and internal forces had declared quiet conflicts between C.B. Jagan and his PPP. Home Affairs Minister Janet Jagan resigned on June 1, 1964. People grew fearful throughout the coastal belt, and propaganda stoked villagers and villages against each other.

In the region of West Berbice, wooden structures rose to the sky, several feet high, and watch towers in Indian villages with manned lookouts. Inciting propaganda inflamed the attitudes of the descendants of Africans and Indians. Skirmishes increased in Indian and African villages. The British Army was dispatched to the region.

Immediately, they searched every Indian home and confiscated any object deemed as a possible weapon. It was a house-to-house search in Bath Settlement and Bush Lot. Indians protested for being unprotected. It was obvious from the conduct of the exercises that the intent was to render the Indians helpless.

African villages were spared the harassment of surrendering their weapons.

Dynamiting was a common form of destruction of property throughout the colony. Yet, the British Army was not concerned about it.

At Blairmont Sugar Factory, we were busy carrying out our tasks when we were instructed to return to the Machine Shop.

When I arrived at the building, British soldiers were everywhere in full battle gear. We were asked to open our toolboxes and locked drawers. All Indian tradesmen’s tools were carefully examined, while Africans’ tools were just glanced over.

Several Indian merchants had a few pieces of pipe among their tools. They suffered interrogation with the greatest fear as they were asked whether they knew how to make a pipe bomb.

It was a time of great suspicion in the colony, and I grew fearful that my father’s name might be called, as he was an accused terrorist among the 1953 political detainees.

At Blairmont, many times, an African and an Indian were assigned to work on a project. In the future, from that day, the African tradespeople never shared knowledge of repairing the sugar machinery, which they learned from their fathers and grandfathers.

There was a deliberate plan to neutralize the PPP from Guianese politics. Then, 32 members of the PPP were detained on the order of Governor Luyt on June 13, 1964.

A request by C.B. Jagan on June 15, 1964, for the UN Secretary-General to intervene was objected to by the British government. There were daily accusations of reprisals. Then, a significant event in comparison to the Wismar Massacre occurred—the Son Chapman tragedy. The Son Chapman was a ferry launched between the City and Mackenzie on the Demerara River, which was blown up. Forty-three Afro-Guianese died in the explosion on July 6, 1964.

Immediately, riots broke out again in Wismar, and Indians were sought as possible sacrifices for the heinous act on the Demerara River. The Indians who had survived the May 26, 1964, mayhem in Wismar and Christiansburg evacuated, but some returned to their jobs at the Demerara Bauxite Company. Unfortunately, five Indians were killed by a grieving mob of Afro-Guyanese.

Many years later, in Linden, a large plaque displayed the names of 43 individuals. The heading read, “Son Chapman Martyrs.” It gives us a message: “Those who forget the past are condemned to repeat it.”

It is the reminder that stirs up the souls of the Indians, “why the ignoring of the Wismar Massacre?”

And every year on July 6, much is revived in words to the editors of Stabroek and Kaieteur News. Letters would detail the incidents that caused the Wismar Massacre. One letter mentioned the Maichony disturbances—“An Afro youth was fished out of the Creek with his private’s cut-off, he was castrated, and his body wrapped in barbed wire.” According to the writer, the news reached Mackenzie a few days later.

Mackenzie had been the place where many people migrated due to the lucrative pay and work, though it was in the heart of the jungle. They had friends and relatives on the coast who were attacked by East Indians.

The words of the messenger stirred the hearts of the men and women of Mackenzie, and they got angry at the non-native people.

Another letter stated, “It was the killing of the Sealeys on the coast that was used by a member of the Wismar Community to enrage the entire region of Mackenzie. There has been a silence on the Wismar Massacre, even though the incident has been queried at high levels.”

An explanation came in the barrage of rhetoric. An activist proudly stated, “Some things are better left unsaid.” Perhaps he was overwhelmed by the accounts of the horrific things that the victims endured.

With the assault on citizens, people being killed, families being displaced, buildings being set on fire, and the possibility of being beaten, traveling through Indian and African villages became a nightmare. On July 17, 1964, one death was notable when the headquarters of the PPP in Georgetown was bombed.

The CIA and British Intelligence were in control of their contractors—the colony’s political agencies, business owners, and subversive activism within the political parties in opposition to the Communist PPP. Determined to demonstrate their might in the colony, the PPP, through its controlled union, GAWU, called for the sugar workers to go on a strike on July 25, 1964.

The disturbances of 1964 took 186 lives, and some 15,000 individuals were displaced between March 4 and August 29, 1964. Parliamentary elections on December 7, 1964, were orchestrated to fulfill the desires of the American administration, with the PNC and the United Force forming a coalition of 29 seats to PPP’s 24 seats. Like all things in life, the Almighty does leave us remnants.

In the case of British Guiana, three men are still living today as elders of their communities, one associated with the PPP, the other with the PNC, and one with the United Force. If they are truthful to the nation, they could help the healing process.

Today, there is much talk of ethnic tensions again.

In the Wismar Massacre, those tensions were created by foreign forces operating in the country, capitalizing on the ethnic divide. Indeed, political parties are still aligned along ethnic lines and continue to influence politics and society.

The Wismar Massacre remains a significant and tragic event in Guyana’s history, symbolizing the destructive potential of ethnic and political conflict. When the Indian women volunteering at the Ruimveldt Industrial Complex saw the children and women exiting the buses, they cried uncontrollably. The refugees were transported by bus from the Sproston Wharf to the Ruimveldt Industrial Complex, where they were housed temporarily.

The rioters had taken the time to cut off the long hair of females. This act was a practice in Europe during their two wars—when a female enemy was caught, her hair would be cut off close to the scalp. Interestingly, the Afro rioters were disciplined enough to carry out this CIA directive. The atmosphere at the Ruimveldt complex was one of great sadness and compassion as the Indians banded together and provided meals and comfort for the victims.

The leadership of the PPP had once again witnessed the tragedies against the Indians. The Enmore Martyrs at least had the tears of Cheddie Jagan and remembered every year as they had shed their blood for the PPP. Wismar was an unfortunate incident, never spoken of or mentioned by Jagan. A worthy sacrifice for the ideals of the Communist PPP, very much aware of the consequences if the party principles adhered to communism.

The CIA dealt with communism using the same playbook wherever it needed to be rooted out. And for nine years, the Jagans ignored the American determination, from 1955 to 1964. In ‘The West on Trial,’ Dr. Jagan said that there was no rebel like him in his family. As is typical of Indians, gods are easily made, and Jagan occupies the same space as their garlanded gods. The Rebel Warrior knew his soldiers. In British Guiana, every indentured servant, his sons, and his daughters were associated with the sugar industry, the most significant labor force in the colony.

The GAWU became necessary for communism to have a foothold in British Guiana. It was Jagan’s army that suffered casualties with the Enmore Martyrs in 1947. In 1953, the PPP government abandoned the ministries of Her Majesty the Queen and called an illegal strike in the sugar industry.

The Constitution was suspended for its recklessness. In 1964, agitation with the GAWU revealed to the C.I.A. that Indians were really Jagan’s army.

Wismar Massacre never dissuaded his communist ideals for British Guiana.

Jagan continued his “Class Struggle” in the colony, encompassing all ethnic groups. He was so determined in his communist aspirations that he failed to recognize the achievements of the Indo group. In the 1950s, Indians were moving out into the villages and settlements neighboring the sugar estates.

Their children were educated and competing for jobs—teaching, health services, and civil services—once held by the Afro group. Indians have been going abroad for education as early as the late 1800s and returning as colonials in the fields of medicine, engineering, and law.

In the colony, Indians entered business ventures in car hire, bus, and truck services. Goods and farm produce were transported throughout the country. Import and export businesses increased among the Indians. Sawmills were set up and provided material for trades. Supply stores were everywhere.

The Portuguese group was exclusive, providing all the amenities to entertain themselves. They expressed their status with discriminating body posture as a language. Jagan should have paid attention to D’Aguiar’s posture whenever they were in the same company.

The Afro-Guianese, who left plantation life for the city, resided in tenements and tenement yards. The Coloreds lived in the well-kept environs of the city; white picket fences separated their yards. Different bougainvillea bracts contrasted the white-painted wooden buildings with glass-paned windows shielded by Demerara shutters. They prided themselves on having white people’s blood regardless of their complexion; they could be as black as a Sudanese but still sought Colored status. They were similar to the Anglo Indians, who had White blood, claiming the bloodline regardless of how much of an Indian they looked. In the rural parts of the colony, the predominantly African and Indian lives were somewhat similar in terms of earning a living. However, in urban areas, making a living was complicated by prejudices and class. This exposure influenced Jagan’s crusade of the “Class Struggle.”

For the pure-blooded Africans, the Coloreds were referred to as Redman, tolerant of their shared African bloodline.

The Coloreds preferred the separation and created institutions to foster the differences in class with the League of Colored People and its political arm, the United Democratic Party, led by John Carter.

In the realignment of the colony’s Afro- and Indo-centric politics, the Coloreds had to choose. The emphasis of joining the PNC encountered some setbacks due to class struggles of the past, as the PNC was reluctant due to the history between the Africans and the Coloreds. With the participation of Black Caribbean intellectuals, the way was paved for the merger of the United Democratic Party and the PNC. On an earlier visit to British Guiana, Marcus Garvey was made aware of the class differences among this group of Guianese. And the seat of political power lay in Georgetown, the cosmopolitan city of class separation. The common Hindi word at the time, “Apaan Jhat” (to each his own), depicts the relationships of the city dwellers.

There was no public outcry on the Wismar Massacre; it happened to a separate group. The Indo-Guianese population of Wismar was effectively driven out and relocated to safer regions by the authorities. The British colonial government declared a state of emergency in response to the massacre. Curfews were imposed, and additional security forces were deployed to restore order. The government organized the evacuation of displaced Indo-Guyanese residents from Wismar. These efforts were aimed at providing immediate relief and preventing further loss of life.

The Son Chapman tragedy reprisal took five Indian lives, even with the British soldiers in control of Mackenzie.

The incident intensified ethnic tensions with long-lasting effects on the community dynamics in the region and the colony. It was a critical period in Guyana’s history, as the country was moving towards independence, achieved on May 26, 1966. Guyanese politics and society in the 58 years of its independence created a community of communities. Never pivoting after the end of communism, the PNC was abandoned, and Jagan won the following election. Guyana never healed from ethnic insecurities, capitalized by the C.I.A. in its crusade against the Indo-PPP.

The Wismar Massacre remains a significant and tragic event in Guyana’s history, symbolizing the destructive potential of ethnic and political conflict with challenges of nation-building and approaches to governance.

Inquiries and reports seeking to understand the causes and consequences of the violence highlighted the role of political manipulation and ethnic animosity in fueling the conflict. Like much of what is taking place today, the rhetoric emanated from the sons of the village of Buxton.

There were significant political ramifications back then for the Wismar Massacre, and now.

Efforts were made to hold those who were responsible for inciting and participating in the violence accountable. However, the effectiveness of these measures and the extent to which justice was achieved remain topics of historical analysis and debate. Survivor stories from the massacre provide personal and emotional insights into the tragic events and their aftermath.

It had been recounted how a young female and her family were forced to flee their home as it was set ablaze by a mob. She described the harrowing experience of escaping through a window and running through the streets amidst the chaos, seeking refuge with friends and neighbors. One individual shared his story of being attacked by a mob while trying to protect his family. He suffered severe injuries but managed to survive. His family was eventually evacuated by the authorities, and they were provided temporary shelter in a safer area. Another female recalled how her family hid in a neighbor’s house for several days before being rescued by the British Army. She described the fear and uncertainty they felt, not knowing if they would survive the ordeal. Her family lost their home and all their belongings in the violence.

A young boy remembered the night his family’s home was attacked. They barely escaped, hiding in the bush until it was safe to come out.

A young mother recounted how her family’s home was attacked late in the evening. She described the chaos as her family scrambled to escape, vividly remembering the fear in her children’s eyes and the smell of smoke as their house was set on fire. She and her family hid in a neighbor’s home until the violence had calmed down. She returned to her home to see that it was burnt to the ground.

A teenager recalled hearing rumors of a planned attack but hoped it wouldn’t reach his neighborhood. On the day of the massacre, he saw a mob approaching and quickly gathered his younger brothers and sisters and ran through backyards and alleyways, narrowly avoiding the mob. The forest was the only refuge for them. They were located and coaxed by the authorities to follow them out of the forest.

Many young women shared the experience of being separated from their families during the attack. They were stranded at the market all alone. They sought shelter among others who were also hiding from the mob. Unaware of the outcome of their families’ reunions, some were reunited with them at the evacuation center. An older man spoke about the sense of community that both helped and hindered during the massacre. He described how neighbors banded together to protect each other, but were overwhelmed by the sheer number of attackers.

He himself was beaten severely but survived due to the intervention of a brave neighbor who sheltered him and his family until they could be safely evacuated.

Fear and trauma audible in the screams, wailings, panting, and the sounds of sobbing echoed in the backyards and alleyways of Wismar, Christiansburg, and Mackenzie. The violence, as sudden and brutal, left lasting psychological scars—a loss of sense of security and community. Homes overlooked by the arsonists were appropriated by rioters, who took up residence in them. Later, they had the audacity to apply for rights to the properties.

The government’s neglect of rightful owners

As with all ethnic wars, the victor is rewarded. The Wismar Massacre of 1964 chased away the Indian community, and BILL NO. 9 OF 1971 was enacted.

GUYANA

TOWN OF CHRISTIANBURG/WISMAR/ MACKENZIE

(CHANGE OF NAME) BILL, 1971

An ACT to effect a change in the name of the Town of Christiansburg/Wismar/ Mackenzie and in the Town Council of the Town.

Enacted by the Parliament of Guyana as of 6^th March 1971.

This Bill seeks to make provision for the renaming of the Town of Christiansburg/Wismar/Mackenzie and of The Mayor and Town Council of the Town as The Town of Linden, and the Mayor and Town Council of Linden, respectively, as decided by the Town Council of the Town.

In honor of Prime Minister Linden Forbes Sampson Burnham.

The once progressive community over its history with the Demerara Bauxite Company endured repeated nationalized rhetoric for its nationalization. And in 1972, it happened.

Hardships for the Town of Linden were associated with political decisions.

Linden began a calm grumble, and the grumble took on the sounds of the groaning of neglect and of discontent. It was like May 25, 1964; everywhere, it was there—the groans of the community of Linden, inaudible but felt and endured.

Time progresses slowly for Linden.

Then, in 2014, the PNC came with the message, telling the people of Linden, “For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.”

It was the political kick-off speech of the 2015 General Elections, which was seen on YouTube the following day.

Interestingly, just the previous month, my Nigerian pastor preached on Ephesians 6:12.

African pastors are really mentors; they are efficient, and the messages they preach, even though heard many times before in other churches, have insights that are missed. And their prayers declare the “Holy Ghost” beseeching Holy Ghost Fire on all requests of the Lord.

Before the sermon, he recounted his Saturday Tract Distribution in the city. He talked of the need to proselytize the community and be prepared for persecution. Then, he said, “I handed a Whiteman a tract, and he slapped my hand away and told me to fuck off.” The mainly African congregation was hushed, as if unaware of what he had said, apart from Brother Bertrand and me. We heard him. I wasn’t stunned or surprised; it was only a word.

As soon as the church service ended, I headed to the parking lot. Followed closely by Brother Bertrand.

Once in the parking lot, he said, “Brother Persaud, you heard the Pastor cuss on the pulpit.”

“Yes,” I said.

Betrand replied, “I was stunned.”

“I wasn’t; it is only a word.”

“Bhai, you are way too liberal, you know,” Bertrand gave a snappy reply.

It was quiet between us as we continued walking toward our vehicles in the parking lot. Then, he asked in an enquiring tone, “Brother Persaud, are you following the elections in Guyana?”

“Yes, I am interested again after a long time. An army chap who believes in Christ is running for the Presidency.”

“Yes, David Granger,” Bertrand added, saying, “I used to follow Dr. Faith Harding when she ran for the leadership of the People’s National Congress. However, she complained about Congress and the elections and resigned from the Executive Committee. Since then, I stopped.”

“Granger is the answer to the generations of prayers,” I commented, adding, “He openly prays … that is a deep commitment to his faith. The country longs for such a leader.”

Bertrand agreed, nodding, “Yes, brother, so many prejudices in that country. I was working at Wismar when that thing happened. It wasn't good. People were in the drains and trenches, groaning from the licks. No one dared to help them.”

“About two years ago, the town remembered the Son Chapman people and completely downplayed the Wismar Massacre in the commemoration events in Linden,” I commented as we headed to our cars.

That Sunday, the Pastor spoke of his recent experience on the street.

“That Whiteman is not to be blamed for his behavior. God did not create man with such a spirit, but in denying the saving blood of Christ in his life, the demonic spirit, which is everywhere, has found a place in him. If you could see what surrounds you, you would see the demons in the principalities. Before the coming of Christ, it was the Archangels that petitioned God for the forgiveness of man’s sins as Lucifer laid accusations against man in the realm of God. An unsatisfied Lucifer then released the demons that were locked away in a distant galaxy. And he brought the demons down to Earth so that mankind would be overwhelmed with sin. But the Blood of Christ is the way out of the reaches of demonic forces, the darkness of the world.”

The famous verse, Ephesians 6:12 describes the spiritual battle that exists in the lives of humankind. First, Paul affirms our battle is indeed spiritual, not physical. The enemies we face, ultimately, are influenced by the wickedness of the demonic spirits. Only regeneration will solve Guyana’s fundamental problems. To educate an evil mind will only make evil more effective. Improving only the environment will not fundamentally change the country because the State is left to its own devices. We remain in the dark, deep despair. This is the essence of the Guyanese dilemma. We cannot deal with the problems of society without addressing the nature of the Guyanese citizens, quite unlike today, where every Afro-Guyanese commentator is of the opinion that the oil revenues should be distributed to their community for unpaid work done during the days of African slavery. Getting this money will resolve all the issues in Guyanese society. It is the wrong thinking.

The only time there was hope for Guyana was when the one-seat swing voters gave the APNU+AFC the elected government in 2015.

In the campaign coming up to the 2015 General Elections, I felt the adrenaline in me to be involved in a change in Guyana. I had been, in a small way, involved in the country’s independence movement in 1953. Immigrating to Canada in 1967, my interests were ignited as I watched on television the debates in the Canadian House of Commons, the fiery leadership of Real Caouette of the Socreds, and the National Social Credit Party. Powerful speeches by Tommy Douglas on Social and Welfare Reforms. Out in Newfoundland, Joey Smallwood would write his articles, walk down to the local post office, and tack up the page on the pamphlet board for Newfoundlanders to read.

Motivated, I was of Canadian ideals and freedom of speech. And I wrote to Stabroek News on the Alternative, The Third Force, and a Better Guyana. And when Kaiteur News became a publication, I wrote there too. My words failed to move the nations. And I became quiet.

But with the coalition of the APNU+AFC, I began to write again. Published on timehritoday.blogspot.com. Guyana’s Future … Starts Now.

Sunday, October 5, 2014, I published again.

The campaign of the APNU+AFC in Toronto just before the 2015 election was full of enthusiasm as the mainly Indian group made speeches in support of the coalition. Both party representatives sat quietly and listened.

The question was asked, “What happens if the PNC behaves as in the past and ignores the coalition partner?”

A senior member of the AFC stood up and answered, “We will take our members out and leave the coalition.”

And the APNU+AFC won the General Elections.

All the pomp and ceremonies of the inauguration demonstrated the assurances of a just and inclusive government.

That all changed quickly after the swearing-in rituals and the years that followed.

As feared, the PNC dominated the coalition and openly humiliated its coalition partner. The AFC never attempted to rein in the PNC leadership; instead of packing it up and opting out of the alliance, they remained quiet and endured the humiliation.

During the campaign in Toronto for the 2015 elections, Granger went around the room shaking hands with everyone. I attempted to tell him of the prayers that were said for Guyana over the decades. The moment slipped away as Nagamootoo and his entourage entered the room. There was a great commotion when the two men greeted each other with a handshake.

During the meeting, Granger smiled with a cordial demeanor. The entire room saw a bright future for Guyana.

But it wasn’t to be.

Ephesians 6:12, “For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.”

The blood of ethnicity was thicker than the Blood of Christ. Every spirit of unrighteousness came forth in the five-year mandate of the APNU+AFC government. The spirit of racism, the spirit of contempt, the spirit of election fraud, and countless other evils stacked up against the PNC, the main faction of the coalition.

“For we wrestle not against flesh and blood.”

There is a personal devil who governs a system to undermine the Christian life with his stratagems. What we deem political issues are often satanic and demonic problems. It is a question of the source of evil.

The armor in Psalm 91 was neglected.