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The Real Martyrs of Guyana



They were ordinary women

Wives and daughters

And hard working men

Sons and fathers

Too scared to take a day off

Too scared to face the sardars

Too scared to get flogged

They gave their loyalty

The bakrah always wanted more

They had the upperhand for sure

For they had the whip

And the greedy sardars

To do their dirty work

The crooked magistrates

And corrupt police

To carry it out

The Indians had only Lord Rama

Their culture and strong dharma

Until brave Beechu came



They crossed the calla pani

For betterment

They came to Guyana

And got maltreatment

Betrayed by arkatis in the North

And maistris in the South

The indentured Immigrant

Was in for a long hard ride



In1839 James Crosby tried

To help the wretched Indians

But Gov. Hincks silenced him

And also Beaumont and William Des Voeux



In 1870 at Pln. Devonshire Castle

On the Essequibo coast

When they stood up for better wages

Police shot down

Maxidally, Kaulica, Baccaroo,

Baldeo and Ackloo









In 1896 five died with buckshot

Cause they protested

When Manager Gerad van Nooten molested

An Indian married woman

As the husband Jungli stoodby helpless

And got killed in the broil



In 1903 six died when they refused

To work for reduced wages

To do the burdensome half banking

And Cut and load  for 59 cents a ton

Then got shot down

With the police gun



In 1913 at Rose Hall Plantation

Fifteen workers were shot

Including Gobindei

When workers were deprived

Of their legal 4 days’ holidays

Long hours without extra pay

High rents for rice beds

And the bullying attitude

Of head driver Jugmohan



In 1948 five got killed at Enmore

The martyrs here were Rambarran,

Lalla Baggee, Pooran, Harry

And Surujballie declaring

“Its better to sit down and starve

Than to work and starve.”

All in their prime of life



Then in 1964 the famous

Only 44 years old quiet Kowsilla

Hard working mother of four

Was mowed down by a tractor



Maybe starving in India

Was better than starving in Guyana

Oh Ram you are our only hope!

This plantation life has no scope

From the onset the ex-slaves hated them

Thought they were a threat







The sardars whipped them

They were denied passes

So they can’t move

From one estate to another

If caught without a pass

They were fined or jailed

Or their wages were reduced

It was a lonely uphill battle

From the very get go

They gave their sweat and loyalty

To save the bakrah’s sugar industry

And what they got for this?

In return over 50 workers got bullets

Just for demanding justice



The immigrants

Who served their time

Are the real Martyrs of Guyana

The soils are mixed

With their blood, sweat and tears

They were poorly treated

Poverty was their crime

Although they were knocked down

Many times by the Bakrah

But they were never knocked out.

The generations alive today

Should always pay homage

To these fallen martyrs.