Guiana becomes Guyana

 

‘Guyana lies on the north-east coast of the South American continent, between Venezuela on the west, Surinam on the east, with the Atlantic Ocean facing it on the north. It is as large as the combined areas of England, Scotland and Wales. It has pleasant climatic conditions for the greater part of the year. It is particularly so on the coastal area where it is sub-tropical. Columbus sailed along the Guyana coast in 1498, and later wrote about the great rivers of Guyana flowing down from an earthly paradise. Sir Walter Raleigh voyaged to the country in 1595. The task of shaping Guyana's history was shared among the Dutch, French and British. Both the Dutch and British made the greatest contribution, each holding the country for well over one hundred years, compared with the short two-year period of the French. As a consequence, the impact of the former had been the stronger. Between 1841 and 1931 some 433,643 immigrants arrived in Guyana on the basis of an indentureship system. The Government of Guyana now proclaims to the world the latest developments in mineral exploration in rapid succession molybdenum, copper, gold, nickel and zinc prospects have appeared. Wherever shouts of "Gold! Gold!" were raised, history provides evidence of men flocking thither. Guyana has not been the exceptional case’ (Guyana Diocesan Magazine) 

A brief sketch of the transition from British Guiana to the Republic of Guyana, not shy of the politics, is provided on Britannica.com: ‘From 1953 to 1966 the political history of the colony was stormy. The first elected government, formed by the People’s Progressive Party (PPP) and led by Cheddi Jagan, seemed so pro-communist that the British suspended the constitution in October 1953 and dispatched troops. The constitution was not restored until 1957. The PPP split along ethnic lines, Jagan leading a predominately Indo-Guyanese party and Forbes Burnham leading a party of African descendants, the People’s National Congress (PNC). The elections of 1957 and 1961 returned the PPP with working majorities. From 1961 to 1964 severe rioting, involving bloodshed between rival Afro-Guyanese and Indo-Guyanese groups, and a long general strike led to the return of British troops. To answer the PNC allegation that the existing electoral system unduly favoured the Indo-Guyanese community, the British government introduced for the elections of December 1964 a new system of proportional representation. Thereafter the PNC and a smaller, more conservative party formed a coalition government, led by Burnham, which took the colony into independence under its new name, Guyana, on May 26, 1966. The PNC gained full power in the general election of 1968, which was characterized by questionable rolls of overseas voters and widespread claims of electoral impropriety. On February 23, 1970, Guyana was proclaimed a cooperative republic within the Commonwealth’.

The evolution of the Cooperative Republic of Guyana out of the colony of British Guiana was something of a roller coaster with Britain not deferring from intervention in the colonial democracy at the behest of the United States. Archbishop Alan Knight was unexceptional as a cleric of his day in teaching Communism as a form of godless materialism to be countered. In 1953 Knight wrote critically of the left-leaning PPP government suspended by Britain. As a teaching bishop Alan Knight did not refrain from instructing the Anglican faithful about moral principles, the need for voters to form their consciences and clergy to refrain from involvement in party politics. Though he never commended a particular party his justification of the suspension of the Constitution was seen as inflammatory by some. He wrote of the PPP government being a ‘sorry story of one disgraceful episode after another, the failure of the Ministers to do anything constructive, the fomentation of unjustifiable strikes, the stimulated growth of class consciousness and racial hatred and the deliberate use of threats and organised intimidation by the Party to overcome all opposition and even to silence the voice of fair criticism.’ Though Knight justified Britain suspending the Constitution and taking emergency measures in 1953 he emphasised ‘the need to plan a stable economy and to accelerate development to provide employment and to raise the lamentably poor standard of living.’ There was a need to restore democracy and to bring healing and national unity in place of racial strife.

In 1976 Archbishop Knight ordained Guyanese Cathedral Dean Randolph George as his Suffragan. This paved the way for leadership of the Diocese of Guyana to be local parallel to the national leadership of Guyana born out of British Guiana. In 1980 Randolph George was enthroned as Bishop of Guyana. On that occasion he said: "Today's ceremony of Enthronement marks the beginning of a new phase in the life of the Anglican Church in this Country. We remember with gratitude today the labours of my predecessors in office especially William Piercy Austin and Alan John Knight of revered memory who between them guided the Anglican Church in Guyana with distinction for ninety-two out of one hundred and thirty-seven years' existence as a separate diocese’. In many ways, including devout Anglocatholicism forged in Church of England curacies, Randolph George built on the legacy of Alan Knight establishing the Alan Knight Training Centre for Amerindian priests, raising up honorary (non stipendiary) priests and speaking truth to power at a difficult season in national life. George’s commitment to social justice led him to work with his brother Roman Catholic Bishop Singh for ‘free and fair elections’ which occurred in 1992 and he was asked to head a national Commission on Race Relations (1993). Bishop George with his Church of England service was an enthusiastic supporter of Guyana Diocesan Association regularly visiting the UK especially Company of Mission Priests (CMP) parishes so that I trace my own calling to be a missionary in Guyana to his invitation following that of Canon John Dorman CMP.