Dear Editor,
On January 17, 2007, a rather racist and inflammatory letter appeared in Stabroek News’s letters column titled “Our relations with India should not be at the expense of our core values as a nation”. Why a purportedly responsible newspaper such as Stabroek News would allow such racist views to be ventilated in its columns is a matter of speculation. Whatever Stabroek News’s agenda is – conscious or unconscious – it is important that the views expressed by the writer of that missive be addressed before they pick up a life of their own. Mr. Bascom’s thesis that “our relations with India should not be at the expense of our core values as a nation” is correct but to address his concerns, the short answer is – it does not. Moreover, our relations with every other country in the world including those of Africa, the Caribbean, etc. should also “not be at the expense of our core values as a nation” and I seriously doubt if any government, whether the PPP or the PNC would allow that to happen.
Mr. Bascom then proceeded on a tangent, covering almost everything under the sun as long as it was negative about India and Indians. For example, he charged that the government of India is not “effectively addressing the issue of caste discrimination and child slavery”. How does he know that? And are there no discrimination or social ills in other countries, including the country that he is currently living in? Moreover, Mr. Bascom wondered if “these concerns are ever aired by our government”?
Well sir, I don’t believe it is the business of the government of Guyana to involve itself in such matters any more than it is the government of Guyana’s business to address the issues of tribal discrimination, child slavery, genocide and conflict in Africa.
In addition, the Government of India has made and is continuing to make enormous strides in addressing the social and economic problems it inherited at independence and Guyana can even benefit from the knowledge of that success. I am sure that Mr. Bascom is aware of the fact that the man who drafted the Indian constitution, the immediate past President of India, the current Chief Justice, the three times elected Chief Minister of Utter Pradesh, the former Deputy Prime Minister and Defence Minister (under Indira Gandhi) were all members of the so called Dalit caste. However, this is an inconvenient truth that the Bascoms of this world would probably prefer to ignore.
Mr. Bascom also took Buddy’s Hotel to task for “seeking to employ Indian nationals”. For any Guyanese to object to Buddy’s or any other company hiring Indians or any immigrant for that matter is absolutely mind-boggling. In the first place, Buddy’s is also hiring Chinese and two hundred Guyanese but no mention was made of the Chinese; once again we can speculate as to the reason. Second, there are literally hundreds of thousands of Guyanese who live, work and study overseas, including Mr. Bascom and yet he objects to “Indian Nationals” working and living in Guyana. Companies in North America, Europe and even Asia are going to Indian universities and recruiting Indian students even before they graduate; other companies are transferring entire operations to India. Yet Bascom objects to Buddy’s hiring of Indians. Going by the example of other successful international companies, Buddy’s is clearly on the right track. Furthermore, Guyana is not only under-populated but it has suffered from a massive brain drain since the mid 1970’s when the PNC government introduced National Service. That brain drain has to be reversed. Apart from the fact that some of Buddy’s workers are Indians, I am not sure what Mr. Bascom’s objections are.
Mr. Bascom was also upset that India has offered some scholarships exclusively for the Children of the Indian Diaspora. Mr. Bascom’s objection comes across as pure jealousy because no one in Africa is doing the same for the Africans. However, he needs to take a look at the bigger picture: (1) There are other scholarships, including others offered by India for other Guyanese and (2) if some Guyanese can access the scholarships that are exclusively for the Diaspora, then that frees up the other scholarships for other citizens. The more scholarships there are, the better it is because there will be more to go around.
It should also be pointed out that India has for many years been offering extensive aid programmes to virtually every country in Africa. Many African students have studied and continue to study in institutions of higher learning in India, including in its military and naval academies.
Mr. Bascom also made derisive comments about President Jagdeo’s visit to India for the “fifth annual Pravasi Bharatiya Divas in India”. President Jagdeo attended this conference and came away with a US $27 million world-class sports stadium. That stadium will bring economic benefits to all Guyanese for generations to come. If President Jagdeo is to be criticized, it should be for not going to all of the annual Pravasi Bharatiya Divas since much economic benefits could accrue to Guyana. For example, at the latest Divas, Indian billionaire, Dr. B.R. Shetty pledged to raise US $100 billion (yes billion) for India to invest in “building new townships, roads, railways, integrated housing and metros”. Had President Jagdeo attended this conference, maybe something similar could have been worked out for Guyana.
The Guardian newspaper of Britain made a similar point when it said ‘When you are the rising economic star it matters who comes knocking on your door.’ The paper further noted, “in the past year, the presidents of China and America and the King of Saudi Arabia, have paid official visits to India. Next week the Russian president will join the pilgrimage.”
Mr. Bascom also stated “if we all followed the logical extension of the government’s position then we could, on the basis of being diasporans, forge closer bilateral ties with Nigeria, Ghana, China, Portugal, etc.
Where will it all end?” In the first place Mr. Editor, we already have close relations with all of those countries mentioned and we should be forging even closer relations with them. If we were to do that, then it will in all likelihood “end up” in a more culturally enriched society.
The fundamental reality, which the Bascoms of the world have to come to terms with, is India is a world power that can help Guyana in just about every possible capacity and the Diaspora can help to facilitate that process.
The Times newspaper in England made this point in an editorial commenting on Chancellor Gordon Brown’s visit to India when it said “the links of culture, history and language are priceless”.
Mr. Bascom mentioned Portugal and it is interesting to hear what the President of Portugal, Anibal Silva had to say on this very matter: “Today, India is recognized as a success story, where millions of people have been lifted out of poverty, through the efforts of India national and state governments, as well as efforts of its increasingly assertive companies.”
The Portuguese president further went on to say: “India is today regarded as a place where the future is being shaped: a land of bright people, of new technologies, research, innovation and cutting-edge industries. It is this India that I would like to get interested in a closer cooperation with Portugal.”
Guyana should be taking the Portuguese presidents’ comments very seriously. There is very little that Guyana can offer India but there is a tremendous amount that India can offer Guyana.
Yours faithfully,
Suresh Dookhie
