…says colour could never be the reason for division in Guyana

Phagwah or Holi is one of the religious celebrations in Guyana that hold deep cultural significance, bringing together citizens from all backgrounds to revel in colourful merriment.
This is according to President Dr Irfaan Ali during the national Holi celebrations hosted at the State House in New Amsterdam, Region Six (East Berbice-Corentyne) on Sunday.
The Hindu festival of Phagwah is also called Holi or the Festival of Colours, and celebrates the arrival of Spring. It also signifies the triumph of good over evil. In Guyana, it is viewed as a unifying festival as it brings together people from all walks of life who participate in smearing abrack (coloured powder) and sprinkling abeer (coloured or stained water) on each other.
According to the Head of State, the Phagwah celebrations is a reflection of Guyanese embracing their shared humanity with the use of colours.
“Holi brings us together under the colourful banner of humanity, celebrating life, celebrating happiness and celebrating, importantly, goodness over evil,” he noted.
President Ali noted that colour is used as the foundational element in celebrating art, life, culture, and history.
“If colour is the foundational requirement through which history can be celebrated, culture can celebrated then colour cannot be the reason we’re divided. Colour can never be the reason we’re divided,” he posited.
The true reason for division, the Guyanese Leader noted, is one’s mindset and ability to be selfish. He noted that his Government has one message in private and in public, that is, the message of love and unity, and of prosperity for all. This, he added, is not a political philosophy but a necessary philosophy of life for everyone to love, uplift and celebrate each other.
“At this time when we celebrate Holi, it’s a point of reflection [of all that we have that others might not], and the demonstration of colours is not only for the festivities. The demonstration of colours embodies the lessons of Holi. If we can come together and colour each other with such love, humility and embrace [on Holi], why can’t we colour each other every day with grace, love and happiness. What does it take from us to express the oneness of humanity?
“Let the power of Holi, let the power of the oneness of colour, let the power of spirituality – during this beautiful moment in our country when we celebrate Holi, when we celebrate Ramadan, when we celebrate Lent – let this powerful spiritual period uplift our physical self, rebuild our conscience,” the President stated.
A key part of this shared oneness is ensuring that Guyanese from across the country partake in major cultural events such as Phagwah. To this end, President Ali was praised for taking this annual Holi celebrations to Region Six.
Finance and Public Service Minister, Dr Ashni Singh, pointed out that for many years, Georgetown has been the epicentre for major events and celebrations – something which the Ali-led Government has changed after taking office. Since then, major national events have been hosted in other regions across the country.
“Today’s celebration of Holi on this scale [in Region Six]… is yet another instalment in our delivery, in our President’s delivery, of this commitment,” the Minister noted.
According to Dr Singh, this important move by the People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) Administration is a manifestation of its mantra of bringing ‘government to the people’ – something that can be seen almost daily with the presence of President Ali and/or his Cabinet members in communities across the country.

“While this might appear to be just another Holi celebration, for us in Region Six, it represents a tangible demonstration of your commitment to bring Government to the people. It represents a tangible demonstration that every region is important. When we speak of One Guyana, we don’t only speak about our remarkably beautiful and rich ethnic and spiritual and religious diversity but we speak also of One Guyana from a geographical sense,” Minister Singh posited.
Sunday’s Holi celebration in New Amsterdam was attended by Cabinet members, senior Government officials, Members of Parliament, civil society stakeholders, members of the diplomatic corps and representatives from the Region Six Administration – all of whom were serenaded by cultural music and delighted by entertaining performances before partaking in colour-smearing celebrations.
Only on Friday, the Region Six Regional Democratic Council (RDC) hosted its own Phagwah celebrations during which its Chairman, David Armogan, noted that the festival was a time to bring people together as he calls on all to observe the festival with clean play.

“It is recorded that the greatest celebration of Phagwah in Guyana takes place in the village of Buxton and that gives you an indication that it is truly a national holiday, and not a partition holiday… We in Guyana are fortunate that we live in a country where we have religious tolerance and a country where we are free to practise our religion and to promote our culture.
“Holi is a time in which the Hindus prepare sweetmeats and share them not only with Hindu brothers and sisters, but also with different races, their neighbours, their friends. It is also a time of the year in which we forget our differences and we embrace each other in love and harmony,” Armogan stated.
The Region Six Chairman added that as Guyanese partake in the traditional smearing of abeer and playing with water, they must ensure that they do not denigrate the sacredness of Holi. He urged that they have clean fun.

He noted that as we observe the festival of Phagwah, it is important that we look introspectively into ourselves and destroy any evil thoughts that are within us.
“Sometimes, people tend to denigrate the sacredness of Holi by throwing mud water at other people. This is something that we must resist, because some of these drain water has diseases. And when you throw it at people and you throw it into their faces, you can make them suffer from some kind of disease or the other. So, I ask you on this occasion to make sure that we play clean. Phagwah is a clean celebration.
“It is important that we stick to our culture. This culture has been handed down by our foreparents and we must not denigrate or desecrate what was handed down to us. We must cultivate it and ensure that our children, our relatives, our friends, our neighbours continue to ensure that we keep this tradition going, because, without tradition, we are all dead people,” he noted. (G8)