By Ralph SeeramI read and reread the article to be sure I understood what PNC Presidential candidate Brig. David Granger was quoted as saying in an interview with Kaieteur News? Neil Marks in last Sunday’s edition. The quote that got my attention was Mr. Granger saying “I don’t have evidence that the elections were rigged”.He was referring to those infamous 1973 elections when three PPP supporters were killed. The writer further stated that Mr. Granger was not ready to admit the elections were rigged under Burnham.Now come on Mr. Granger, are you for real, are you the only adult from that era that didn’t know the elections were a farce? Really,Cheap NFL Football Jerseys, why this evidence escapes you is a little difficult to understand. After all, the rigging was done in the GDF compound. It took nearly a week but they got the job done and the PNC came out as expected, the winner. Either the PNC presidential candidate is in denial, or he thinks that the last thirty eight years might have erased Guyanese memory of that sordid piece of history.Referring to the deaths (some at the time felt it was murder) of the three PPP supporters on the Corentyne that Election Day, the article stated that Mr. Granger places their deaths squarely at the feet of the PPP, owing to the antagonistic tactics pursued by the PPP founder, Cheddi Jagan.Assigning further blame on the PPP, Granger said it was Jagan who instructed the PPP supporters to prevent the removal of ballot boxes from the polling stations,Cheap NBA Jerseys China, and as a result of this they engaged in a tussle with the soldiers who were instructed by the Army to protect the ballot box.Protect the ballot box? They were there to seize the ballot boxes; they were there to enable the PNC to steal the election, but more on this later.After reading the article I waited a few days to see if Mr. Granger would refute some of the statements attributed to him in the article,Cheap NFL Jerseys, I waited to see if anyone would challenge this revision of Guyanese history,Authentic NFL Jerseys Wholesale, apparently neither of the two materialised. Now as a journalist who covered that election, and as an eye witness to some of the events that day, I cannot allow Mr. Granger to distort history.The young voters of today need to understand the struggle for the free elections they are enjoying today. When they go to vote they should have information on the candidate and the party they are going for. I am not an advocate for bringing up the past; the challenge for Guyana is in its future, not the past.I have said before in these columns that the PPP cannot dwell of the sins of past PNC governments to win the next elections, never the less, statements like those of the PNC presidential candidate cannot go unchallenged.The fact of the 1973 elections were that Burnham and the PNC Government gave the assurance that PPP polling agents or observers will accompany the ballot boxes to the destination where the ballot would be counted openly in front of the various political parties’ representatives.What in fact happened was that the PPP observers were prevented by the police and army from accompanying the ballot boxes at the close of the polling. That is what infuriated the PPP supporters who then saw their votes being stolen by the army. Those are the facts. I was at the Albion Sports Complex that night when the ballots boxes were being moved. There were thousands gathered on the road waiting to see what would happen to their votes.The PPP representatives were thrown out of the vehicle carrying the ballot boxes. The army/police seized the vehicles and took them to the Albion Police Station, the crowds were surging on the station and only some gunshots in the air by the army/police prevented a complete riot.Further up the Corentyne some PPP supporters were not so lucky. Of those shot by the army three died. Later that night the Number19 Village Road was closed for a plane to land. The ballot boxes were secretly loaded onto the plane and taken to the Army Compound in Georgetown to complete the rigging of the elections.The death of those three persons, Mr. Granger lies squarely on the GDF of the time. They invaded Skeldon and seized the injured, took them out of the hospital despite the protests of the medical staffs there. Two of them bled to death for lack of medical care. The army allowed them to bleed for hours in their truck.The soldiers drove into the New Amsterdam hospital compound and threw the bodies out of the truck without stopping; this I must state was witnessed by another journalist who was checking for the injured. This had nothing to do with the “antagonistic attitude of Dr. Jagan” or whatever that means.Earlier in the day busloads of PNC supporters were go

The lifeless body of a seizure victim,Cheap Jerseys From China, who went on another of many of his fishing expeditions,Wholesale Cheap Jerseys, was discovered floating on Monday in the Johanna Cecilia Tap area.His Uncle Pooran Hieralall spotted the body of the victim identified as Sookraij Singh,, several miles from his home.Singh was a 23-year-old,Wholesale Jerseys, guard attached to the Essequibo mortuary.At Singh’s residence at Johanna Cecilia, his mother,Cheap NFL Jerseys Wholesale, Dewattie Ragnauth, had to be consoled.According to the grieving mother,NFL Jerseys Wholesale, despite her many strong warning to Singh not to visit the canal where he usually fished,Jerseys NFL Cheap, he persisted in his pastime. She said that her son would usually get frequent attacks of fits.She said that the he left home early Monday morning to check up on his catch after setting his seine the previous night.Lolita Hieralall, the dead man’s aunt said that about 19:00 hours Monday she last saw Singh after he returned from setting his seine.She said that she was shocked to learn about his sudden death.

David B. Ramroop, Keianna T. Simon,Wholesale Jerseys 2018, and Dale D. De Mendonca were the top three awardees when the Guyana Defence Force shared out 29 bursaries to children who successfully completed the National Grade Six Examinations and gained places at secondary schools, this year.Valued at $25,000 each, the bursaries are usually awarded each year to the children of officers and other ranks of the army, but this year for the first time,Cheap Jerseys Wholesale, the children of civilian employees of the army also received awards.Base Commander, Base Camp Stephenson,Cheap Jeseys NFL, Lt. Colonel Claude Fraser, congratulated the awardees and their parents for the hard work and dedication which resulted in success.He told the awardees that this was just the beginning and he encouraged them to continue to be disciplined, focused and determined to succeed.“Continue to be dedicated and you shall continue to succeed,” he said. “Parents,Cheap NFL Jerseys, continue to show interest. Check their books and ensure that they complete homework assignments.Persevere with them and they shall make you proud!” he added.Top awardee, Ramroop,Wholesale Jerseys, in a vote of thanks to the GDF for recognising his achievement and that of his fellow awardees said, “We are grateful to the GDF for this recognition.Be sure that we will work hard and make you proud” he said.Further he noted that “with so many bad influences around us, it is easy to become distracted but we will stay focused!”This batch of awardees brings the total number of GDF beneficiaries to 643. The GDF began awarding Bursaries in 1974 with five awards.Since then, a number of awardees have done exceedingly well and went beyond secondary school to a university education and others who also excelled,Wholesale Jerseys, became serving members of the Force.