More than two centuries after thousands of enslaved Africans rose against the brutal plantation system in Demerara, the legacy of the 1823 Demerara Revolt remains one of the defining chapters in Guyana’s struggle for freedom.

But as Guyana marks the anniversary of that historic uprising, A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) Member of Parliament K. Sharma Solomon is blasting the Government for failing to give the revolt the recognition he says it deserves, warning that the lessons of the struggle are especially important at a time when concerns are growing about the protection of freedoms in contemporary Guyana.

The Demerara Revolt began on August 18, 1823, when thousands of enslaved Africans across more than 30 plantations rose against a system that denied them basic human rights and treated them as property.