After almost 11 years of revellers disrupting their Deepavali celebrations, terrorizing their old folk and children, Alexander Village residents are beseeching law enforcement bodies to render assistance this year and they are determined to reclaim the peace they previously enjoyed.
Doris Narine
On Saturday the Hindu Festival of Lights, Deepavali, will be celebrated countrywide. It is one of the most significant occasions for Hindus; a time when they believe the Goddess of Wealth Laxmi blesses their homes with wealth and lights up their lives. This day also signifies the triumph of good over evil for Hindus but for more than a decade Alexander Village residents said they have seen the opposite of this.
While it is customary for many mandirs to conduct prayer ceremonies on Deepa-vali night the Ruimveldt/ Alexander Village Mandir, located at the corner of Third and Cross streets, has not been able to do so for years. Constant attacks from people throwing squibs and more recently revellers gathering outside the mandir to “have a good time” is slowly killing this tradition.
Last year, residents had reported that thousands of revellers gathered in the village on Deepavali night. Vendors selling alcoholic beverages, barbequed chicken and other things invaded people’s yards. Firecrackers were being thrown into yards and some made their way into homes destroying diyas and household items.
A group of residents, upset about the years of “torture” they have been forced to endure, told Stabroek News yesterday that they were doing all they could, before Saturday, to ensure that some form of security would be available that night. Despite letters being sent to Office of the President, Minister of Home Affairs Clement Rohee and Commissioner of Police Henry Greene last year no security was provided for the mandir.
Cross Street, Alexander Village which runs just in front of the Ruimveldt/Alexander Village Vishnu Mandir was crowded with thousands of revellers on the night of Deepavali last year.
Danny Ramdeen, a member of the mandir, said that so far this year they have sent a letter to the Ethnic Relations Commission (ERC). Letters, he said, will also be dispatched to the Home Affairs Ministry and Police Commis-sioner again this year. Hindus are not the only ones affected by the Deepavali night chaos and Ramdeen stressed that if security is not provided for Alexander Village on Satur-day then residents will be forced to exercise their democratic right by picketing outside Rohee’s office.
“If they don’t do anything to help us,” one resident said supporting Ramdeen’s comment, “we will be in front of the Ministry of Home Affairs the first working day after Deepavali and we will chant ‘Rohee must go’.”
Alexander Village is a small community. It has four streets which run from east to west and a cross street which runs from north to south intersecting them. Residents said that because of its size the community is easy to secure and they related the “terrible experience” they had with police last year.
It was only after several hours of making repeated calls to the police that four officers finally showed up last year, Ramdeen recalled, and 19 persons were arrested. However, those persons were subsequently released on bail and they were never charged.
“The police didn’t do anything at all last year and they use indecent language when we spoke to them. They asked us what we wanted them to do,” Ramdeen explained.
Terror
Doris Narine, 79, today, lives opposite the mandir. Last year, the woman said, becoming increasingly upset as she spoke, was sheer terror for her and there was nothing that she could do but pick up her phone and call people who lived nearby hoping to get some sort of support.
She was forced to place spikes on her front fence in previous years to keep the revellers out but this didn’t work last year. Narine spent her holiday too afraid to even look out the window as strangers who came from as far as Bee Hive broke into her yard, sat on her front steps and set stalls up in her front yard to sell food and drinks.
“Something got to be done about this,” the woman said. “I am an old woman and I live alone and what these people are doing to us is terrifying…I am a sick woman and if anything had happen to me there would be no one there to do anything.
Ramdeen explained that the streets are so crowded on Deepavali night that residents who drive are forced to park their vehicles that night. The only way to get out of the village that night is to push through the thick crowd of strangers and in many cases, he said, this is not a wise decision since many people have been robbed this way.
Meanwhile, another woman who lives next door to the mandir said that her fence was destroyed last year after hundreds of revellers climbed on it to get on the mandir’s shed. This year, she said, she had erected a high concrete fence in the hope of keeping the strangers out.
“I put up a big concrete structure this year to keep those people out because I tired of all this nonsense we does got to put up with,” Savitree Alfred said.
Another resident who lives in First Street recalled that three years ago a chair was ignited after someone threw squibs into his home. Had it not been for quick thinking and action, he said, his entire house might have gone up in flames.
Gerhard Ramsaroop, a mandir member who lives in Third Street, said last year was a testing time for him and his wife. Their first child, not yet a year at the time, was subjected to the constant blasts as squibs were lit and a stream of noise made by revellers as they talked, laughed, argued and used foul language.
He was one of many who were forced to leave with their children for a short period of time while things “settled down” in Alexander Village. However, while Ramsaroop is willing to stay another year and fight, some residents have been talking about selling and moving to a more “peaceful” location”.
“Many people,” one woman pointed out, “can’t even come out on their verandahs for fear of being pelted with squibs and other devices.
War zone
Many described Alexander Village as a “war zone” on Deepavali night. The problem, Ramsaroop pointed out, has reached such a state because it was allowed to grow by authorities.
The only possible solution, he explained, would be to have steady police patrols in the village this Saturday. However, he noted that if the police feel they are unable to deal with the problem then the army should be called in to help.
There has been talk that some of the bomb throwers live right in the village. Residents yesterday admitted that it was villagers, non-Hindus in most cases, who began encouraging the strangers in the community on Deepavali night. They further said that residents have also been “fighting fire with fire”.
A resident of First Street related that one year things got so out of hand there they were forced to use squibs and firecrackers of their own to clear their street of the strangers who’d ganged up there.
“Although we don’t want to do it the braver ones amongst us are sometimes forced to take action into their own hands,” one man explained. “If they come in our yard and throw a bomb at us what’s stopping us from throwing a bomb at them while they’re on our property?”
Ramsaroop stressed that this was not the way to handle the situation and if some intervention is not afforded soon then the issue could quickly develop into something more dangerous.
Alexander Village, as many residents reminisced, was once one of the most beautifully decorated communities in Guyana. It has long since lost that reputation because of the revellers but residents are determined to reclaim the title.
“On Good Friday we respect the Christians on their holiday and likewise for Ramadan the Muslims receive due respect from us,” several mandir members pointed out. “We know these are religious days for them and we try to give them the peace they need to observe it…all we are asking for is the same respect.”
Several residents also pointed out that there have been no other reports about other Hindu communities facing similar fates on Deepavali. Their frustration was evident as they questioned why Alexander Village seemed to be “the target”.
“We are limited in our ability to pass on our culture to our children on Deepavali and it is sad to know that we cannot share with them what we experienced here in the old days,” one woman said shaking her head. “We only hope that this time the police will listen to our call for help.”
the trouble started in the Village,because it was the place that had the most fun on those holidays,and the news spread that Alexander village was the place to be,so it has become nasty!Pagwah is also very wild in there,I remember one year,I was visiting relatives,and no one wanted to go to the shop for fear of someone throwing water on them,so I said I’d go,when I saw the crowd with drums of water at the corner of First and Cross streets,I made my face very serious,held my head high,still I felt the cold water hit me I looked around to see a little boy about 6 years old wide eyed looking up at me with a bucket in his hand and the crowd who had remained silent,burst out into roars of laughter,all I could do was laugh myself!It is sad about the Village,it used to be so beautiful when lit up in the past,but this situation happens when good things go bad,I hope the police will do something for the residents this year!
in the late 90’s i use to live at the corner of third and cross street in alexander villagr just opposite the mandir. and it was a joy to sit at my window and look over at the mandir..how those people dress,and enjoy them selves evey sundays and on hindu holidays..i remember those who know me use to come over by me and give me sweet meats and foods..it was the good days…now it seems the youths are destroying there culture..supported with other elements…i hope some drastic action will be taking this year to restore respect..peace..love and harmony..so every one can have a incident free diwali…hindus,,,muslim…and christian…HAPPY DIWALI…
This is total hooliganism and there has got to be a driving force behind all this lawless behaviour,people who see it in their interest to disrupt this peaceful event in Alexander Village specifically. I just can’t believe that this is happening so long without the the forces of order making any real attempt to bring it under control especially under the PPP’s watch or is the Village paying for voting in large numbers for the AFC in the last election or is it because a lot of young AFC members are from there.I could well remember when there were PPP meetings the overwhelming support they got from the people of Alexander Village where boys as young as 10 tears old would be made to hold placards with a big cup hanging on it by their parents even the protection of Jagan’s Press was bieng done by residents of this village.Its so hypocritical to see this government not protecting the very people that proctected them in their times of tribulations,OH how its so easy to forget.Long live Deepavali the festival of lights and may the lights of this auspicious night shine on the residents of the beautiful Alexander Village.
Marc said in part “or is the Village paying for voting in large numbers for the AFC in the last election or is it because a lot of young AFC members are from there.” I think you hit the nail on the head. It is mind boggling that since 1998 these people have been having problems and the PPP government failed to protect them. It’s telling what this Jagdeo government stands for… protecting it’s own narrow interest even at the peril and discomfort of others who maybe viewed as non-supporters.
what happen to the one at woolford ave. the best spot to hang out with the tasa drums.
freespeech
The old traditions are becoming obsolete because the Gov’t has always allowed Foreign religious groups to try to cleanse Guyanese of all of their ancestral practices. Such tradition are now being called devil worship by those who seek to transform Guyana into a country of one dominant religion.
Its no longer “civilized” to beat the Tasa or Congo or practice many of the other traditions that were brought by the Ships a long time ago. People have been stripped of their pride, dignity and heritage through out history and it still continues…and the same force is still behind it all.
Bring in the coast guardsmen to help if necessary….
Best here is another opportunity for you
TERROR
Is this what Guyana has come to when a female pensioner living alone is forced to place spikes on her front fence in to keep invaders out and still they brake into her yard, sit on her front steps and SET UP VENDING STALLS THERIN TO SELL CHICKEN AND ALCOHOL ON DIWALI NIGHT!
The throwing of sqibs, I thought was illegal and yet the police having arrested 19 persons last year, they allowed them all to go free later without charge!!!
Diwali signifies the triumph of good over evil for Hindus but the Alexander Village residents are being shown the opposite principle by the Guyana Police Force.
HOW CAN THIS DERILICTION OF DUTY BY THE GPF BE ALLOWED TO GO ON UNPUNISHED, YEAR AFTER YEAR?
WARNING: To the residents who promise: “If they don’t do anything to help us, we will be in front of the Ministry of Home Affairs the first working day after Deepavali and we will chant ‘Rohee must go’.”
The citizens of Lusignan were teargassed and beaten up by the Government soldiers and they may do the same to you. Please keep all protest LAWFUL and PEACEFUL.
NOTE: I do not know the geography of Alexander Village, however if that road next to the temple is blocked by worshippers on Diwali night and it traps folk from entering or leaving the village, then that may be some inconvenience to non-Hindus. Looking at the photo, there appears scope for temporary road widening and barricades on the night to allow ONE WAY TRAFFIC operated by the traffic police.
Bhai Satish, please rush some of your pepper spray to Bhai Gerhard via UPS courier service.
Simple explanation for all this craziness. The PPP are communists budday dem nah gat none gawd in any of em this is why the whole country is a mess and they cannot provide basic security services to the nation wid dem 2 bit mall security dem a call foolice.
What is the President doing about this lawlessness and total disrespect for a culture that he supposedly “came from”?
This atrocious behaviour from the lowest of miscreants who desecrate the sacredness of Diwali has been targeted at the peaceful residents of Alexander Village for over a decade! Seems with each passing year it’s getting even worse. This is a festival that signifies the triumph of good over evil. Is it the opposite for those people who observe the festival in fear even for their lives? What happen to democracy? How can a government be comfortable knowing its people are not protected.
I pray may peace prevail and all Guyanese enjoy a blessed Diwali.
Remind me again…who do these people usually vote for?
Is that all that you can see? What makes you think that ANYONE votes for a particular party because their of physical appearance?
I have the evidence of history and statistics on my side.
GPL giving yall so much light and yall still want fuh lite up de place mo bright..wha wrang wid yall eh?
is notin yall ent gat fuh do?
i gon talk wid gpl peepol an tell dem yall could generate mo light dan dem and to stap givin yaal light..
lite up two agar-backside and celebrate….yuh dont need any mo lights….dats ow i celebrate dwali…..
pagwa is de best time of year fuh me…bring out de hoze an sap down de good lookin girls only…a lil sprinkle of sweet smelling powda and roughe up dem face lil bit red and they look mo Gorgeous..dem happy after…hulka night teck all dem peepol market stand and some peepol bridges and bun um ehehehehehehehehehe…best time of me life…dem guyanese get smart now…dem a build steel stand and cancrete bridge…happie dwali to all…..
meh belly hutting …owwwww ehhh
KAMO, it is people like you,that create the impression that jagdeo does nothing right! how wrong you are!! HE is a man for all! Vandals and others celebrating will always offend some, no doubt about that. True guyanese celebrate and respect all religous holidays! So does president Jagdeo! My grandmother lived past the age of 100! and she participated and respected every religion,It must have been a wonderful life!! Anyway, to make a long story short, KAMO, not because the PRESO came from “that culture” he is bound to people of that culture! Jagdeo is a man for all!
hehehheehe go Jagdoe! Go away that is…..