A group of Rastafarians from the Pitfour Nyabinghi Centre in St James will lead the charge for an apology from the People’s National Party (PNP) Government and the Opposition Jamaica Labour Party for what has been dubbed the “Coral Gardens Incident” of 1963.

“We want an apology in words and actions. we have some living ancestors who demand some respect,” said the centre’s event director Ras Junior Manning at a press conference on Friday.

Manning called the press conference at the Native restaurant on Gloucester Avenue in Montego Bay to outline plans for the commemoration of the 44th anniversary of the incident, which saw a widespread attempt on the part of the ruling classes to wipe out the concept of Rastafari following the murder of five people, among them two policemen and the owner of a gas station in Coral Gardens.

The murders, which were reported in the press as having been committed by two Rastafarians from the communities of Salt Spring and Flower Hill in St James, triggered an intensive campaign against the concept of the Rastafari religion.

In the ensuing melee, the Rastafarians, who sport long locks in keeping with their religious mandate, were hunted down, trimmed, imprisoned and brutalised.

On Friday, Manning said that the commemoration – scheduled to take place at the Dump-Up Beach on Howard Cooke Boulevard on April 6, starting at 10:00 am – will be used as an opportunity to celebrate the progress of the movement since 1963 and address a number of critical issues.

“We don’t intend to just make up some noise and chant and sing,” he said. “We want to set the record straight about what really happened in 1963 and present the facts in black and white to the press, as well as accounts from people who actually experienced the persecution.”

High on the agenda of the celebrations, which are being sponsored by the Jamaica National Bicentenary Committee, will be a thorough ventilation of the Rastafarians’ take on the role that the Government of the day played in their persecution.