THE WISMAR
MASSACRE
By Fazil. Ali
(Source: East Indians in
the New World: 155 Anniversary (1838-1993). A publication of the
Indo-Caribbean Federation of North, May 15, 1993).
In the early 1960s Wismar and Christianburg were two mixed
villages where Indo-Guyanese resided in the predominantly Afro-Guyanese
(90 per cent) mining town of Mackenzie, located some 65 miles up
the Demarara river from the capital of Georgetown.
But after independence from Britain, the name of the bauxite
town was changed from Mackenzie to Linden. The PNC leader Linden
Forbes Sampson Burnham named it after himself. It had been the
scene of his greatest political triumph.
Did Burnham really change the name of the town from Mackenzie
to Linden because he wanted to remove the colonial legacy and
substitute a local name for a foreign or colonial one? If this was
truly Burnham’s intention, then could have renamed Georgetown,
which was of course named after King George of England.
Instead Burnham’s real motive for
naming the town after himself was to symbolically establish his
stamp and mark over a massacre where he had reigned supreme over
Indo-Guyanese.
In short, "Linden" was a
message to Indo-Guyanese that if they challenged him (Burnham)
they could expect the same fate as the Indo-Guyanese community
experienced on the 24th, 25th, and 26th
of Mat 1964 in Mackenzie.
However, Burnham’s move to change the name from Mackenzie to
Linden was only of his many acts to show his supremacy and
superiority over the Indo-Guyanese community. He had earlier
humiliated the same community by recommending the 26th
of May 1966 as Guyana’s Independence Day to the British. The PPP
was had fought so hard for the freedom of Guyana welcomed the end
of British rule but did not participate in the independence
celebrations with the same enthusiasm with which if fought to free
Guyana. This was the same exact date and month that Indo-Guyanese
in Mackenzie were murdered, raped, and burnt alive Blacks in the
country’s worst racial violence.
The intensity of the racial violence perpetrated countrywide by
Forbes Burnham’s People’s National Congress (PNC) and Peter
D’Aguiar’s United Force (UF) was instrumental in bringing down
Dr. Jagan’s PPP government after reaching its apex in Mackenzie.
The massacre of Indo-Guyanese began at Wismar and lasted for
over 38 hours, beginning from Sunday May 24th and
ending on Tuesday May 26, 1964. In the 38 hours of brutality,
barbarism, and savagery on some 2000 Indo-Guyanese living in
villages of Wismar and Christianburg, some 18000 Afro-Guyanese
armed with cutlasses, wooden poles, gasoline bombs and guns burnt
and destroyed over 230 Indo-Guyanese homes and businesses. Indo-Guyanese
who thought they could find shelter in their own homes were
confronted and beaten by large mobs of Afro-Guyanese screaming
"kill de coolies" as their homes were burnt to the
ground. One family whose home was burnt was confronted by a large
mob who beat the wife unconscious, repeatedly stabbing the husband
and then continuing to kick and molest two smaller children. This
occurrence was by no means isolated. Some families who managed to
escape from the villages into the nearby forest were also hunted
down like animals.
However, their chances of survival were much better in the
forest than in the villages. In addition to the mass burning and
looting which resulted in over 1500 Indo-Guyanese becoming
homeless, and the indiscriminate beating of Indo-Guyanese men,
women, and children, 8 women were raped including two girls. Some
of the women were repeatedly raped as the marauding band took
turns on Indo-Guyanese women victims. This figure may even be
higher since Guyanese women who were victims of rape seldom come
forward and admit to such a heinous crime due to the shame
associated with it. Once man was also burnt
alive. Another, Mr. Ramjattan, a
supporter of the PPP was found decapitated.
Injuries were in the hundreds, ranging from gunshot wounds,
knife wounds, burns, broken bones, and mutilated bodies. One Indo-Guyanese
man had both his legs and feet broken. An employee from the
Demarara Bauxite Company said: "The Indians never had a
chance". A Black woman showing no remorse said: "De ga
wa dem deserve" (They coolies get what
they deserved).
The evacuation of Indo-Guyanese from the massacre sites at
Wismar and Christainburg did not take place until the evening of
May 25th.
Two river steamers were commissioned to take the first batch of
1300 Indo-Guyanese refugees to Georgetown where they were booed,
jeered, and pelted with bricks by Blacks as they arrived. A Red
Cross worker said of the survivors: "Few wept, but the
hundreds of children appeared terrified and frightened."
Out of the 1300 that arrived, 300 found shelter with
relatives while the rest slept on the concrete floor of the pier
warehouse in Georgetown huddling in fear while covered with
tarpaulins and rice bags.
Temporary shelter was soon set up at a factory outside
Georgetown with many other refugees later being put up in
predominantly Indo-Guyanese areas.
For the rest of the 26th, 27th, and 28th
about 500 Indo-Guyanese who had been hiding in the forest
surrounding Wismar and Christainburg came out and were taken to
the refugee camps outside Georgetown.
It is quite clear that the results of the massacres could have
been significantly reduced or even avoided altogether, if the 75
members of the Mackenzie Police and Volunteer Force had not been
all Blacks. The entire armed forces detachment at Mackenzie, which
was heavily armed, took no offensive action while many friends,
family and neighbors were carrying out the atrocities. Many
members of the Police and Volunteer Forces took part in the
looting, beating and killing of Indo-Guyanese as they had
specialized military training as a profession.
In one incident two armed Black Volunteers refused to intervene
when two Indo-Guyanese women were being raped. Instead, the women
had to be rescued by employees from DEMBA. In another case, the Volunteer
Force shot a young Indo-Guyanese man to death because he refused
to stop at their command.
In those 38 hours of the massacre no Afro-Guyanese was arrested
and only two wounded by bullets.
Janet Jagan, then Minister
of Home Affairs on June 1st in a speech to the
Guyana Parliament equated the suffering at Wismar to genocide
since the police had done nothing to prevent the massacre.
She said, "It is possible for anyone to believe that,
with the widespread violence, arson, rape, and murder, there could
have been no show of force by the armed police and armed
volunteers. Since this is impossible to accept, one can only come
to the conclusion that planned genocide of a village was carried
out with the connivance of all concerned."
She then resigned to protest the British Police Commissioner
not responding to her orders.
However, it was not until after 24 hours of the violent
massacre that British troops eventually arrived in the mining
town. Their only suggestion was to evacuate the area.
The British troops they were powerless to stop the violence and
the most that they (the troops) could do was to impose a curfew.
The curfew did manage to quiet the situation but most of the
killing, rapes, burning and beatings had already taken place.
The massacre of Indo-Guyanese in Wismar and Christianburg has
remained a well-hidden and well-guarded secret.
Not only have Guyanese failed to record and seriously document
this important part of our history but also the older generations
of Indo-Guyanese have not passed on this information even orally.
Up to today these is no accurate figures on the number of Indo-Guyanese
that have died during the Wismar massacre.
When Guyana’s Independence Day is
celebrated on May 26th, Indo-Guyanese should
also take time off to acknowledge those who suffered and died in
the Wismar-Christianburg massacre. It may
be necessary some atrocities orchestrated against them by the PNC,
but we must not forget how and why it occurred.
All Guyanese must ensure it does not happen again. How
can this be done? Obviously the International Commission of
Jurists (ICJ) recommendations which the PNC government agreed to
implement must now be reflected in the Guyanese armed forces. Then
any "ethnic cleansing" of other communities like
Mackenzie will not reoccur again. Never again!
Note: This article was written with research from:
New York Times: "East Indians flee race violence
in British Guiana mining area." Wednesday, May 27th,
1964.
New York Times: "Official accuse Police in
British Guiana." Thursday, May 28th, 1964.
Time Magazine: "British Guiana race war."
June 5th, 1964.
Newsweek Magazine: "Politics of violence."
June 8th, 1964.
Facts on File, Volume XXIV: "British
Guiana." June 4, 1964.
Editor’s Note: The
writer, Mr. Raymond Ali is a 1992 graduate of Brooklyn College
with a BA in Economics. He served as Vice President of the
Indo-West Indian Movement at Brooklyn College (1990-1991).
