Dear Editor,
They were two peas in a pod. Though they were generations apart; one a dedicated public servant, the other a catholic priest who held strong beliefs in liberation theology.
I knew both of them. Rampersaud Tiwarie was introduced to me in the later 1980’s by Janet Jagan. And although he was not a party man, whenever he return-ed to visit Guyana from Canada where he had migrated, he would pay visits to the Jagans at Freedom House, headquarters of the PPP.
Always neatly dressed and well spoken. It could easily be discerned that Mr. Tiwarie was a consummate public servant although he had retired from the service many years ago.
Moreover, because he was a civil servant in the tradition of an independent civil service, I recognized that he must have been unsupportive of the doctrine of ‘paramountcy of the party’ when it became a dominant feature of the public service under the Burnham administration.
Mr. Tiwarie came to offer his service to the newly elected Cheddi Jagan administration considering his years of experience in public service. The issue at hand at the time was public service reform. Mr. Tiwarie was encouraged to meet with Robin Sivanand, the then Permanent Secretary at the Public Service Ministry. Sivanand along with Dr. Roger Luncheon were key players in the push for public service reform in Guyana. Public service reform was initiated under the Hoyte Administration and continued by the Jagan administration.
Based on conversations which I happened to be part of, it was clear to me that Mr. Tiwarie was a dedicated civil servant who applied his knowledge and experience to what he was doing at the time. He had a long distinguished career in the Civil Service under British colonialism.
Mr. Tiwarie served as Clerk of Courts in the East Demerara Judicial District and later, as Assistant Secretary to Premier Cheddi Jagan’s Council of Ministers in the 1957 to 1964 period. For a short while, he served under the Burnham administration in 1964 and briefly in the post- independence period either at the Public Service Ministry or Ministry of Education in the 1970’s. As a professional public servant, Mr. Tiwarie made his contribution to nation building.
May his soul Rest In Peace!
Fr. Malcolm Rodrigues was a radical but a pragmatic one. He came to prominence in the throes of the Guyanese people’s struggle for social and economic justice. He played a prominent role in
supporting racial and working class unity especially between and amongst Guya-nese sugar and bauxite workers. He was capable of balancing his ecumenical with his political and social activism.
As a human rights activist, Fr. Rodrigues helped form the Arnold Rampersaud Defence Committee. He was present at court hearings, and without jeopardizing the proceedings, did not hesitate in making his views public through the Catholic Standard.
Fr. Rodrigues who was once a teacher, played a leading role in supporting a major strike in 1977, at the Corentyne High School where teachers and students were demanding the right to establish a Student’s Council. The strike was follow-ed by a wave of sympathy strikes across the country lasting for more than one month.
Fr. Rodrigues was prominent in a number of protest actions including picketing exercises. On one occasion, in 1979, I recall he was part of a picketing exercise, where he along with others were hauled from the picket line, thrown into a mini-bus which took them to Mocha village on the East Bank. There, Fr. Rodrigues and the others were thrown onto the road again and forced to walk back to the city.
He was instrumental in the formation of the Ratoon group at the University of Guyana and the Guyana Institute for Research and Development (GISRA).
As an academic, he served as lecturer in physics at UG, then in the Department of Natural Sciences and Environment Studies.
Father Rodrigues was a key player in the establishment in 1991 of the Electoral Assistance Bureau (EAB) along with Clairmont Lye, Dr. Makepeace Richmond, Ms Eileen Cox and Clarence Hughes.
He along with others on the political left, worked with Cheddi Jagan in the Committee for Defence of Democracy (CDD) for a successful boycott of the 1978 fraudulent referendum. From that period be became known as Comrade Malcolm Rodrigues.
Fr. Rodrigues was a fighter for unity and solidarity, he worked with other like-minded Guyanese in the Committee of Concerned Citizens opposing the rigging of elections up to 1992 which saw the return of free and fair elections to Guyana and election of the PPP/C to office.
Father Rodrigues’ left leaning politics brought him in close contact with Dr Walter Rodney and the WPA. In the wake of Rodney’s assassination, he along with Father Andrew Morrison SJ, and Jesuit Priest, Mike James kept the public informed through The Catholic Standard about new developments that had emerged following Rodney’s assassination.
During the Burnham dictatorship, a crackdown on Catholic priests was launched. Fr. Malcolm Rodrigues, was searched on departure and arrival to and from Guyana several times. The police kept an eye on him and searched locations where they assumed he would be found. According to reports, his name along with Fr. Morrison’ and Mike James’ were known to be recorded in a Black Book kept at the airport by Immigration which listed persons to be searched.’
Fr. Rodrigues will be remembered for his enduring contribution to the struggle of the working people of Guyana for bread and justice.
Guyanese from all walks of life owe this outstanding Jesuit and liberation theologian a debt of gratitude.
May His Soul Rest In Peace.
Yours faithfully,
Clement J. Rohee
