Tomorrow marks the first anniversary of the killing of three innocent Guyanese and the injuring of many more by our government. Tomorrow brings to our recollection a dark day in Guyana’s history; a day which is sure to invite a thunderstorm of emotions from many. Sadly, for many tomorrow will arouse nothing more than their indifference. July 18, 2012 should remain indelible in the memory of all Guyanese wherever in the world we are. Our government did not just kill three people, or three Black people; our government killed three Guyanese. Innocent Guyanese!
We commemorate the Enmore Martyrs yearly. The loss of their lives under circumstances not too dissimilar is viewed as a national loss- a collective loss. We invest no idle consideration of race and other superficiality when we celebrate their lives and immortalize the cause they stood and fell for. Why should we act differently in honour of the Lindeners?
The faces of the victims of the Linden Massacre should be masked by our own faces as any of us who are convicted about our rights and stand by our convictions can find ourselves their neighbours in that darkened place. They are us and can only live through us. Unless they remain alive through us their deaths would have been in vain.
The Commission of Inquiry has said to us that the lives of slain Guyanese- slain for the assertion of their rights, slain because they stood up in the interest of preserving their existence- are collectively worth the mere equivalent of the President’s Pension. How sad. How tragic. How inhuman. How can we remain divided on such a fundamental breach of our humanity, our continuity, our sense of community and the expectations of our nationality?
Tomorrow wherever we are, whatever our personal problems are, whatever our moods are, whatever our tasks are, please take at least a moment to lend yourselves to silence in remembrance of our brothers who have been made to lie permanently because they chose to stand. Take a moment to drop a prayer for those who have survived that horrendous ordeal with permanent physical scars and emotional wounds incapable of healing. Take a moment to assess your own lives and renew your gratitude that you have escaped their fates.
The slain are:
- Shemroy Bouyea of Silvertown
- Allen Lewis of Wismar Hill
- Ron Somerset of Wisroc
The injured are:
1. Alice Shaw Barker- 34 years old of Half Mile, Wismar, gunshot wounds to both thighs.
2. Michael Roberts- 47 years old, of 45 Independence Avenue, patient of the Intensive Care Unit nursing gunshot wounds to the right side of face.
3. Hector Solomon- 23 years old, of 22 Alley Wismar, hospitalized with gunshot wound to the chest.
4. Ulric Michael- 33 years old, of 23 Canvas City, admitted to the Intensive Care Unit nursing gunshot wounds to the chest.
5. Reuben Bowen- 56 years old, of 27 Silver City, hospitalized at the GPHC with a fractured femur and gunshot wound to the left leg.
6. Dexter Scotland- 38 years old, of 104 Victory Valley, hospitalized with trauma to the nose.
7. Janice Burgan- 52 years old, of Industrial Area Linden, hospitalized with gunshot wounds to the back.
8. Yolanda Hinds- 35 years old, of 150 South Road Silverton, kept under observation with gunshot wounds to the right leg.
9. Brian Charles- 45 years old, of 30 Half Mile, Wismar treated and sent away for trauma to the right hand.
10. Collis Duke- 26 years old, of 768 South Amelia’s Ward, treated and sent away for gunshot wound to the left side of face.
11. Cleveland Barker- 35 years old, of 114 Wisroc Housing Scheme, treated and sent away for gunshot wound to the back.
12. Dwight Yaw- 25 years old, of 23 Victory Valley, hospitalized with gunshot wounds to the left side of face.
13. Marlon Hartman- 39 years old, of Central Amelia’s Ward, treated for injuries sustained by rubber pellets and a gunshot wound under the left armpit.
14. Troy Nestor- 24 years old, of 23 Third Alley, treated for injuries sustained by rubber pellets on his left foot.
15. Jermaine Allicock- 35 years old, of 195 One Mile, Wismar, treated for gunshot wound to buttocks.
16. Malim Spencer- 39 years old, of West Watooka, treated for gunshot wound to the left shoulder.
17. Shandra Lyte- 29 years old, of John Alley, Christianburg, treated for blunt trauma to the head.
18. Andy Bobb Semple- 34 years old of 207 Cedar Street McKenzie, treated for injuries sustained by rubber pellets to his back, side and elbow.
19. Collin Adams- 24 years old of 22 Danjou Hill, treated for injuries sustained by rubber pellets to the neck and ankle.
20. Trelon Piggot- 21 years old of 2338 Central Amelia’s Ward, treated for injuries sustained by rubber pellets to his elbows and abrasions to his left arm and under the neck.
First Published
17th July, 2013
1:26 PM
