Prime Minister Portia Simpson Miller yesterday called on Jamaicans to honour the memory of their ancestors by simply being good to each other and refusing to behave like enslavers in their treatment of each other, as that was disrespectful to those who fought for our freedom.

“My request for honouring them is that for every child that is raped and is left to soak in the rapist’s semen and her own blood, you are perpetuating, Mr Rapist, the action of the slave master,” said Simpson Miller in a tribute at the burial rites of Africans who died in the Middle Passage during the Transatlantic Trade in Africans.

The event, which was held on the day that the world commemorated the 200th anniversary of the abolition of the slave trade, was a mixture of faiths with one aim – honouring the ancestors.

“To all Jamaicans, whether we are Christians or Muslims, Jews or Rastafarians… we can stop the quarrelling and fighting and unite as a people, we can start working together for growth, development and prosperity of this country,” Simpson Miller said, to rousing applause.

Simpson Miller touched briefly on the topic of reparations, which is currently being debated in the Jamaican Parliament.

“Somebody said ‘reparation’, and I hope everyone will take part in the discussion on reparation…where we can have a consensus, not just as a country but as a region,” Simpson Miller said.

The actual burial rites, carried out by a few persons, took place at sea out in the Kingston Harbour, but there was a series of prayers and reading of holy texts from various religions, including Hinduism, Islam, Christianity, Rastafari, the United Congregation Israelites and Israelites. A burial of the scroll of names of hundreds of Africans, which was read aloud, was also buried toward the end of the ceremony.

Professor Verene Shepherd, head of the Bicentenary Committee, which was responsible for staging the event, gave the remembrance with what she said were “mixed feelings of untold sadness and profound pride”.

Her split emotions were echoed by Ghana’s minister of culture and chieftaincy, Samson K Boafo in his tribute.

“Perhaps if the ancestors had not suffered, you would not be here today,” he said.

Boafo, who encouraged Africans in the Diaspora to return to the motherland, said a similar burial ceremony was being held in Ghana.

“As I speak, the same ceremony is taking place at home in Ghana to link up with people in Britain and the Caribbean,” Boafo said to loud applause from the audience.

Minister Aloun Assamba also encouraged Jamaicans to keep in touch with the motherland, saying they now had no excuse as technology, especially the Internet, is at its peak.

Her charge was seconded by leader of the opposition, Bruce Golding, who encouraged Africans in the Diaspora not to dwell in the shame and anger of slavery, but to use the strength of the freedom fighters to help build a better future.

“We gather today, not as mourners in the traditional sense, but we gather as the proud descendants of a proud people,” Golding said.