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Na(m)an
Member
| Joined: | Sun Feb 13th, 2005 |
| Location: | Thailand |
| Posts: | 225 |
| Mana: |    |
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Posted: Mon Apr 24th, 2006 04:27 am |
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The images of Minister Satyadeow 'Sash' Sawh, my assisinated ex-colleague and comrade in arms at many political rallies and meetings in Toronto in the 1980s, are still racing through my mind. That Minister Sawh was assisinated along with several members of his family is hard to imagine and will be near impossible to accept.
The last time I distinctly recall meeting Sash, as Minister Sawh was known to his colleagues and friends, was in Ottawa in 1989 demonstrating against the Canadian government's aid program to Guyana. Led by Cde. Janet Jagan, Sash and Geoff DaSilva (now of GoInvest), some 40-50 of us boarded a chartered bus on a cold winter day and took our case all the way to Parliment Hill in Ottawa. We were there to publicly ask the Canadian government to suspend financial aid to the Hoyte Guyana until that government could institutionalize a democartic system of government and a system of free-and-fair elections.
Struggling for a free, democratic, multiracial and prosperous Guyana was Sash's life. In the early 1980s, Sash, along with Paul Tennessee with whom he had cordial relations, cultivated a care and interest for Guyana among young Guyanese students at York University in Toronto, and in the wider Toronto community. He could always be seen with the Guyana Current, a newsmagazine which he, Geoff and other key members of the "Association of Concerned Guyanese" labored tirelessly to produce and distribute all over North America. Guyana was their life.
When not working at these forums, Sash was out doing other political work in the name of a better Guyana, Caribbean and even the wider world . In 1988(?), for example, in -20 degree tempreature and gusting wind, he was at the front of the picket line at the Ramada Inn behind Toronto City Hall for over two hours protesting the feast thrown for PNC supporters by the newly appointed Guyana High Commissioner to Canada, Mr. D. Karan.
Another year, he served as an executive member of the Caribbean Student's Association, providing a role model for younger colleagues like me with his unflinching committment to Guyana as a multiracial and multicultural society. At other times, Sash could be seen in the main canteen at York enjoying a cup of coffee with his Greek friend and comrade, Slavo. When time allowed, he even found his way to one or another of the cafes in the Greek community on Bloor Street East where progressive politics was the main feature on the menu.
What I will miss most of all is Sash's calming yet powerful voice, his inviting smile on his intense face, and his courage and determination to continue to work for the good of his country, our country, even in the face of despair. More than anyone else I know, Sash learned from and followed his Comrade Leader's (Dr Jagan) struggle for a better world.
On behalf of all the Guyanese, Caribbean, Greek and other students and friends at York University and in Toronto community whose life he touched and made so meaningful in the 1980s, I say a final 'thank you' to my friend, colleague and comrade, Minister Satyadeow Sawh.
May his soul rest peacefully and may his memory be cherished.
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Ravindra
CFR
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Posted: Mon Apr 24th, 2006 01:18 pm |
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| Sorry to hear of this tragedy. I knew that you guys all worked hard in Toronto for a better Guyana.
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Current time is 01:11 pm | |
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