By Jay Jaggessur
This is the second year in a row that the Ontario Hindu Cultural Association has organised a Holi Sammelan to celebrate the festival of colours. Last year’s Sammelan was held at the Hindu Heritage Mandir in Mississauga, and this year the Devi Mandir in Pickering was the chosen venue.
The event was held on Saturday March 2nd 2019. There were five Chowtal singing groups representing mandirs and cultural associations which infused an electric ambiance in the Devi Mandir’s recreation hall. One after another the sound of the drums, which is an integral component of dhamaar in chowtal singing, reverberated in the hall. The audience could not resist the rhythmic beats of the multitude of drumming styles, let alone the vibrating crescendo.
The participants on the chowtal singing front were: Devi Mandir Chowtal Group, Debe Penal Chowtal Group, Sanatan Dharma Sangeet Mala, Shiv Milan Group and Saraswati Prakash Gol. There could not be a better tribute paid to our forefathers who maintained the age-old Hindu tradition of Holi.
All the groups were very enthusiastic in their renditions, many of them quoting Kabir as has traditionally been done. The Masters of Ceremony Rob Ramnarine and Soorajnie Jaundoo covered the event with a stunning introduction and wonderful interactions with the audience.
To have a still more stimulating event, solo songs were also performed by Vidya Chatterpaul, Jewan Persaud and others.
The programme ended with award of recognition plaques given to all the participating groups. The audience was also treated with snacks, sweets and prasad. This event will remain a memorable one for all those who attended.
The Ontario Hindu Cultural Association is a not-for-profit organisation engaged in fostering Hindu culture by bringing together everyone in the community to celebrate festivals such as Holi and Divali. Many groups have shown support for the Association’s initiative led by the President, Shaw Jaundoo. More events of this kind are in the planning stages.
The coalition, headed by its senior partner APNU – a creature of the former Peoples National Congress (PNC) – seems bent on replaying a familiar role in the country first enacted by the PNC founder-leader, the notorious dictator Forbes Burnham, who rigged his way into power and ruled the hapless nation with an iron hand from 1964 to his death in 1985.
By hanging on to power without the requisite constitutional authority, Burnham’s protégés are about to enter the realm of a dictatorship...once again.
This scenario started unfolding on December 21, 2018 after a no-confidence motion in the government, moved by the opposition PPP/C, was carried in the 65-member National Assembly by a majority of 33-32. In that motion, a member of the coalition – Charrandass Persaud – voted alongside the opposition thus turning the table on the coalition which had the slimmest possible majority of just one vote, i.e. a lead of 33-32.
Speaker of the House Dr Barton Scotland declared the motion carried. The government subsequently attempted to have the Speaker reverse his decision on the basis that the 33 votes in favour of the motion did not constitute a majority but Dr Scotland was unmoved. So the government took the matter to the High Court which confirmed the motion as “lawful and valid.” The Court further rejected an application by Attorney General Basil Williams for a Conservatory Order preserving the “status quo ante”. In spite of the Speaker’s and the Court’s rulings, the government has refused to resign and set an election date within the 90 days period specified by the Constitution, or alternatively, join with the opposition and obtain a two-thirds majority to extend it’s life in Parliament.
By Thursday, Guyana would be entering an area of darkness.
