Dear Editor,
A careful reading of letters in some daily newspapers betrays a primitive motive-envy. This is particularly so when it comes to President Jagdeo and the government he leads.
Some people wish fervently that the government would fail, others boil with the desire to possess the government’s ability to lead the nation to prosperity and even more are hungering for political power. Either way, they all get off on finding fault, making criticisms and indulging a stream of ridicule.
Don’t get me wrong; there are a few writers who skewer the administration with deserved criticism in certain areas of governance. But most are not honest critics; they are political hacks and detractors who simply cannot contain the swell of envy. Engorged with hate, they burst into the letters column and the Stabroek News wastes no time in soaking up this ejaculate of envy.
Now filled with anti-government gunk the Stabroek “newspaper” finds it cannot stomach much else. Its needs are filled and there is no room left in its pages for other kinds of letters. The editors though, in the face of obvious bias in letters selection, slanted news reporting and the clear tone of hostility in its editorials will jump on the high horse of claiming to be the independent press. All I can say is thank goodness they are not the arbiters of the information flow in Guyana.
It has not gone unnoticed also that the paper readily provides lengthy column inches for rants against Indo-Guyanese culture and moderate Hindu religious faith. It’s amusing really, because if the Indian community here decides it has had enough with the disparaging lies, slander and deliberate spreading of misinformation and so withdraws advertising and withholds subscriptions then that paper would be finished.
Anyway, the campaign to discredit the government seems to be losing. The general population apparently knows the motivation of certain writers, and they understand the bourgeois’ efforts at sabotage through the spreading of negative information.
The government’s popularity is continuing to grow among the people and if a general election is held now there is no doubt which party would win. Still, it is interesting to watch them, both winners and losers, play out their game on the national stage.
Yours faithfully,
Justin de Freitas
