Dear Editor,
The departure of Ralph Ramkarran from the PPP severs the last personal link the party had with its formation in 1950, or even further back, to 1947 with the Political Affairs Committee (PAC). His father, Boysie Ramkarran, an executive member of the Transport Workers Union in 1947, of which Joseph Pollydore was Secretary, joined the PAC in the year of its formation and was chair of the Kitty branch, according to Ashton Chase, a founding member of the PAC.
While his father was still a member of the party’s Executive Committee, Ralph Ramkarran was elected to that body in 1975. ‘Comrade Ram’ retired in 1985 so that father and son were colleagues and served together for ten years in the highest forum in the PPP. The Ramkarran family had an unbroken link of service with the PAC/ PPP from 1947 up to Saturday last.
Boysie Ramkarran’s name is now a venerable one in the political history of Guyana. Outside of Cheddi and Janet Jagan he is the greatest political stalwart to have served the PPP. He had two young children, Ralph and his sister, when he was sentenced to six months in prison for breaking the emergency regulations in 1954. It’s a sacrifice he willingly made because it was a decision of the party. He defied the British and embraced this sacrifice even though by then, with the suspension of the constitution, he was out of a job. The family suffered great privation during this period and for many years afterwards when he was restricted to Bel Air. He served as General Secretary of GAWU, in one of the most critical periods of its history, 1975 to 1985, when he successfully led the decades long struggle for recognition.
He never once complained about the sacrifices he had to make, or deviated from his commitment to Guyana, its people or the PPP, despite his turbulent and frank relations with the Jagans, who never insulted him, not even once. He was modest, humble, unassuming but an enormously knowledgeable, fiercely independent, popular and engaging personality across the political spectrum, popularly known as ‘Ram’ or ‘Comrade Ram’ for those of us of the younger generation. He served Guyana with distinction in two PPP governments from 1957 to 1964 as Minister. He was a Member of Parliament, first elected in the famous elections of 1953. He served as Deputy Speaker and Chair of the Public Accounts Committee for many years.
This is the background from which Ralph Ramkarran came. It is not possible to define a time when he entered politics. He was always there, from childhood with his father, during his teenage years in the turbulent early 1960s, as a student activist in London, and immediately upon his return to Guyana. He delved into politics with gusto while raising a family and building a law practice. He was the party’s only source of legal support for almost twenty years against the worst forms of oppression and harassment. He worked closely with others like Feroze Mohamed, Narbada Persaud, Harry Nawbatt, Donald Ramotar, Clement Rohee, Reepu Daman Persaud, Clinton Collymore, Shirley Edwards, Cyril Belgrave and many others whose names are not as well known.
Being the only professional among them did not in any way deter an enduring camaderie, until the jealousies engendered by political power since the death of Dr Jagan shattered it all. To this day Ralph Ramkarran holds steadfastly to an enlightened commitment to progressive and liberal ideas. Still a student of Marxism, his vision is nonetheless broad and all embracing. His vast and endless capacity for work has seen him climb to the top of the legal profession and of Guyana’s oldest and most prestigious law firm, Cameron & Shepherd, ironically a business law firm where he has spent most of his career, while maintaining his passionate commitment to the PPP, in spite of the humiliations that he endured in 1997 during the selection of a presidential candidate and from 2006 onwards. He was determined to fight to stay in the PPP. But the years of attacks took their toll and he had been planning to retire from politics in the not too distant future. He had hoped to do so with dignity and was working on reconciling with everyone, up to the morning of the ill-fated meeting, when he initiated a conversation with a comrade with whom he had not spoken for a year, even though he had been their victim. He was not allowed even this dignified exit, so sharp were the knives at his back.
I got to know the Ramkarran family in the early 1980s. I spent many hours with them. Neither father nor son has ever outlined or paraded any personal philosophy. They never spoke about themselves, what they did or what they endured. They lived modestly. The example of their lives and work demonstrated their qualities – integrity, loyalty, commitment to country, party and family, concern for the disadvantaged, modesty, humility.
The PPP may survive this loss, in or out of office, but it will never recover from it, or be the same. Mr Ramkarran’s departure brings to a formal and symbolic end the Jagan era of the PPP as a place where free and fearless expression of views is accommodated, where intellects of high calibre are respected, where a Ralph Ramkarran can feel comfortable and at home. Finally, the exit of Mr Ramkarran means the last vestige of intellect has departed from the PPP.
Yours faithfully,
(Name and address provided)
