Georgetown, GINA, May 6, 2007

President Bharrat Jagdeo joined thousands at the Indian Arrival Committee’s (IAC) annual Mela at Albion Sports Complex in Berbice on May 5, where he urged Indo-Guyanese to ensure that the struggle of their ancestors was not in vain.
            “They were here under terrible circumstances. We have to ensure that the struggle and sacrifices that they made to retain this beautiful culture and Islam and Hinduism doesn’t go in vain… We have to celebrate Indian culture more but what is more important is that we should celebrate the legacy of our ancestors and what we enjoy today”, President Jagdeo said.

            Reminding them of the hardships and successes of their ancestors, the President pointed to the 1850s when life for an East Indian was much harder than it is today, where freedom is evident in each religion.
            “We must work to maintain that freedom for our children because if we don’t take it seriously, it can be snatched away from us. It happened in the colonial days and it happened under the 30 yrs of PNC. So we have to ensure that it doesn’t happen again,” President Jagdeo asserted.
 Guyanese were urged to respect other people’s culture through tolerance. 

            “We have to ensure that the people of Guyana are free, regardless of their religion or race…We must live in a society where tolerance is the order of the day,” the Head of State said.
Arrival Day was first celebrated in Guyana in 2004 and it is being celebrated to honour the arrival of Chinese, Portuguese and East Indians, to Guyana’s foreshores, all during the month of May.
May is the month when most immigrants came to Guyana as Indentured labourers. The East Indians came on May 5, 1838 and was the largest group.

Government Information Agency (GINA)