Judaman Seecoomar

Judaman Seecoomar (15 July 1932 – 26 March 2006) was a Guyanese writer. He was born in Lusignan, Guyana.

In 1962 Judaman left for England, fearful of the effects of the growing racial violence in Guyana.

He settled in England with his wife and children and worked as a teacher in an inner city school in North West London. Widespread racism and limited funds made life difficult. He separated from his first wife in 1967.

In his 30’s Judaman completed a BA in International Relations and later an MA in Urban Education, both from the University of London. He became deputy head of South Kilburn High School in the early 1980s.

After the premature deaths of his son Rohan in 1988 and his second wife, Judith in 1990 Judaman focused on his passion for his homeland and his desire to search for methods of resolving the legacy of racial conflict left by colonialismwhich had caused him and many others to leave.

He began work on his PHD and throughout the 1990s he made many trips to Guyana both to undertake research and to work on teacher training projects as a volunteer. His study was interrupted by coronary heart disease and he often worked on chapters of his thesis while in hospital. He received his doctorate from the University of London in 2002 at the age of 70.

His book, "Contributions Towards the Resolution of Conflict in Guyana" (2002), offers an analysis of how Guyana has arrived at an impasse and suggests a process that could lead out of it. He identifies a history of authoritarian government where those who control the state (whether colonial governments in the past, those who seized power through rigged elections, or those who gained it by virtue of having the support of the ethnic majority), have responded to Guyana’s cultural pluralism by suppressing or ignoring the interests of the minority.