My deepest condolences to the Shaw and Robinson families.

You can see photos from the Shaw funeral at:
Bryan Mackintosh's website

This is indeed a sad time for Guyana...

May they Rest in Peace

I have a penchant for telling it like it is so I will not hesitat to say that I Am very very surprised that predominantly only one Sector of the Guyanese Population attended this GREAT HERO's Funeral. What a Bloody Damn Shame!!!!

A letter written by a friend of Sash in Caribbean news net

Wednesday, April 26, 2006

Dear Sir:


This story goes back to 1981 when we were all at York University – a lot of us from Guyana. In the line up of students were people like Jerome Khan, Walter Persaud, Paul Tennassee, Supryia Singh, Rishee Thakur, Nazim Baksh, Mohammed Yosuf, myself, and of course Sash Sawh. We had a little corner in the south western corner of the cafeteria of the Ross Building. We would go to classes and then dutifully return to the Cafe. There was only one topic – politics.

It was a time ripe for political discussion and engagement. Neoliberalism was already cutting its path through Chile; had commenced restructuring United Kingdom under Thatcher, and the United States under Reagan. The Soviets were in Afghanistan, and the Iranian Revolution was still in its convulsive stage. Southern Africa was still reeling under that disease called apartheid. In Angola and Mozambique, people were attempting to pick up their lives after decades of punishment at the hands of foreign marauders.

In our own backyard the Sandinistas had just come to power in Nicaragua, and the New Jewel Movement in Grenada. The killing fields of El Salvador and Guatemala were already being soaked with the blood of peasants, the working classes, and intellectuals. Manley had just been “taken out” from Jamaica, and Haiti was, quite fantastically, finding room for further implosions.

And then, of course, there was Guyana. Just the mention of the name of that country, our country, would throw ‘the comrades’ into debates, arguments, and a thousand proposals of how to bring about change. We were often spoken to by various Cafe personnel to “keep it down”.

One man stood out, and he stood out for one conviction. That man was Satyadeow Sawh, and the conviction was uncompromising support for the People’s Progressive Party. Sash was harangued by many who wanted him to join this emerging party, and that other interesting group. He would have none of it. He was sure that Dr. Jagan and the PPP would lead Guyana to a better day than the one where you needed a party card to get half a pound of garlic, a pint of cooking oil, or your child’s birth certificate.

And now back to York University. Paul Tennassee was teaching a class on Latin American and Caribbean politics one fine evening. The rumor spread that the day’s topic was Guyana. There was no option; a bunch of us decided to “invade” the class, with the indefatigable Sash Sawh right up front. Word had gone around that Prof. Tennassee would critique the PPP. We went in and took up the back row. Paul greeted us – “Hi fellas – you’ll participate but don’t misbehave.” Professor Tennassee was pacing around, moving elegantly among a long list of Caribbean writers. He eventually happened upon one C.B. Jagan and the work in question was the West on Trial. The critique began with some measure of doubt and circumspection, but before long, started to gather momentum. Before Tennassee could find his mark, however, Sash got up and said something to effect of “Hold it right deh.” He then delivered a sustained defense of “The Leader” ( the only word Sash used when referring to Dr. Jagan). Sash’s rhetorical flourish was deployed with such conviction that the Tennassee said something like “man you’ll fellas come to cause trouble or what.”

That was the man; a man of informed convictions. A man who occupied buildings in Toronto to protest apartheid in Southern Africa; who marched in solidarity with Central American friends and classmates protesting murderers like Napoleon Duarte and Roberto Dubisson. A man who at different times braved snow storms, blinding Toronto winds, and hammering rain, to hold up a placard drawing attention to the miasma that Guyana had become.

He knew what he loved and was prepared to fight for it. He fought for a peaceful, prosperous, and just Guyana. I know he would have never settled for less. He died in action for that cause. You were a good and kind man Satyadeow Sawh, and history will absolve you too. Rest, rest gently, rest gently my friend.

Dr Randy Persaud

quote:

I have a penchant for telling it like it is so I will not hesitat to say that I Am very very surprised that predominantly only one Sector of the Guyanese Population attended this GREAT HERO's Funeral. What a Bloody Damn Shame!!!!

I mean no disrespect to you sir, but this is neither the time nor place for race baiting....

From the pictures I see linked here, I see Blacks and Indians standing shoulder to shoulder and mourning..........

From Chicago:

Condolences to the Shaw and Robinson families. My heart bleeds for you and for Guyana. May you rest in peace.

It is NOT Race baiting but hard, Cold Facts. Guyana will never able to lift itself unless it's People are able to be Frank and Constructive.!

you r so right we need to be constructive, man
tell it like it is. Guyana does have an ethnic problem & lots of us like to sweep it under the carpet. We have to confront it, talk about it and stand up for what we beleive in, our constitutional right. we belong there why we have to run. For over 40 years we have been mismanaged. We all can't run brother and sisters even if we are willing.what will happen to those who can't get out. My hearth bleeds like so many, Sash Sawh was a dedicated Minister, he walked and worked for the people.Those who worked for him will know and those who lives he touched Condolences to his Family.