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U.S.A IN SOUTH AMERICA JAGAN fix a date for independence and changed our electoral system. He charged the 'racialism was the curse to British Guiana today' and attributed blame for the turmoil to the development of Party politics along racial lines. In the present acute form, this (racialism) can be traced to the split in the country's main political party in 1955. It was then that the People's Progressive Party, which had previously drawn its support from both the main races, broke into two bitterly opposed political groups, the one predominantly Indian led by Dr. Jagan, and the other, predominantly African, led by Mr. Burnham." What Sandys failed to mention was that the split of the PPP in 1955 was engineered by the Churschill-led British government. This is what succeeded in destroying the unity of the major ethnic groups and the united front against colonialism. Evem the Robertson Commission, appointed to whitewash the suspension of the constitution, admitted this unity. In its report in 1954, it said: "It was largely by the efforts of Dr. and Mrs. Jagan that the PPP was built up and kept united .... In this way racial dissension between African and East Indian elements was minimized and by the time of the election campaign in 1953 a useful political instrument was forger." Until recently, "race: was not a serious problem. Indo-Guyanese and Afro-Guyanese for many years had plated, worked and lived together amicably. The Commonwealth Commission which looked into the CIA-fomented disturbances of 1962 remarked: "We found little evidence of any racial segregation in the social life of the country, and in Georgetown. East Indians and Africans seemed to mix and associate with one another on terms of the greatest cordiality, though it was clear that the recent disturbances and the racial twist given to them by some of the unprincipled and self-seeking politicians had introduced slight, but it is hoped transient over-tones of doubt and reserve. But economic and vocational differences were there to be exploited by unscrupulous politicians. The imperialist Roberstons Commission
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Reopened for Editing 2024-02-12 15:46:59