Posted October 2nd. 2001

On Tuesday, September 11, 2001, several thousand persons, including a number of Guyanese nationals, lost their lives suddenly. On them, death rained from the skies, or so it seemed. And we are left to mourn their loss…our loss. In the face of a tragedy of such proportions silence seems to be the only appropriate response. But I am reminded of the wise words of William Shakespeare:

"Live sorrow words; the grief that does not speak,
Whispers the o're fraught heart, and bids it break."

Death is almost always a painful thing. When it comes to people in their youth, or in the prime of their lives; and when it comes so tragically and in such an unexpected fashion as it did to our Guyanese brothers and sisters on September 11, in that disaster of such mind-boggling dimensions, the wrenching pain is unbearable and the grief unsupportable. And the mind uncomprehending, asks: Why? And again, Why?

I have this image of my Guyanese fellows sneeringly burnt on my mind and savagely tattooed on my soul: There they lie, struck down in full bloom. Death lies on them like some blight on my country's fairest flowers.

Maybe Thomas Gray has it right:

"The boast of heraldry, the pomp of power
And all that beauty, all that wealth e'er gave
Await alike th' inevitable hour
The paths of glory lead but to the grave"

But why so unexpectedly, so tragically and so soon? And why these sisters and brothers, these fathers and mothers? Why?

To die is always sad. But sadder still to die without realizing one's potential. And saddest yet to die a death so meaningless and avoidable like that, that struck so disastrously on September 11.

As to the whys and wherefores of this tragedy, my friends, there will never be a satisfactory answer, not now, not ever. But this I know: This is our grief and we must bear it calmly, heroically and with dignity. And, if it is any consolation to you who have lost loved ones, let me say to you with every sincerity: I, and your fellow Guyanese, feel in our hearts the pain that has been breaking yours since this tragedy.

As we meet here today to mourn the loss of our people and celebrate their lives, fate and faith remind us of the norms of civilized society with its attendant fragilities. To provide comfort to grieving family members, and to garner some understanding of the tragedy, we must pause and reflect at this memorial gathering. For us Guyanese, the memorial has a special meaning in the context of dual citizenship which many of our foreign nationals enjoy. Many of the deceased shared this duality of status proudly, recognised as they were, as both Guyanese and American citizens. As Guyanese, and as Americans, they were hardworking, productive citizens. They had strong family ties and values. They worked hard for a living to support relatives in the US and back in the land of their birth, Guyana. They worshipped through different faiths and prayed daily for guidance, understanding that fate might have its own design, agenda or prescription of how things will turn out. This humbling ever-presence of the unknown serves, usually, to anchor us more deeply to and to cherish the joys and gifts of daily living. And we can say accurately that our departed nationals lived such lives. More than that, they were good citizens.

And yet we also meet to celebrate. We celebrate the gifts that the lives of the slain produced. We celebrate, too, that collective spirit of courage that has produced, in the aftermath of the catastrophe, so many heroes and precious, endearing memories of the best in human values that have been so apparent.

I implore you to dig deep into your several faiths - Hinduism, Christianity, Islam - to find that consolation and hope, that your faith offers. In ordinary times you may have faith; in extraordinary times you must have faith. May our common grief and sense of loss, remind us of our common humanity and draw us closer to one another. And let us resolve so to live and serve in our time and generation that in the words of our national poet, Martin Carter: "Death must not find us thinking that we die".

I urge you as you struggle to accept and integrate this great loss in your lives, and as you seek to honour the fond memories of the dear departed that you pledge that their dying would not be in vain.

You and I must eschew violence and the things that make for violence and set people against people in death-dealing hate. We must seek the peace that our several faiths teach, for ourselves; we must promote it assiduously; we must teach it to our children; that ours may be a better world and country in which people will not live in fear or die at the hand of violence.

Guyana supports the efforts to rein in terror and, though a small country with few resources, we pledge our full cooperation in the global determination to root out terrorism.

So will we give meaning and significance to the meaningless and senseless deaths of our countrymen and women. And, rising from the ashes of that baneful disaster, will be a new and triumphant day of hope for Guyana and the world.

To those of you who grieve, I offer my heartfelt condolences. And I say to you: "All will be well; and all manner of things will be well." We will mourn our loss, but we will have hope.

The pilgrims have dipped beyond the horizon, in the dying twilight, you are gone friends. We love you. Good-bye!