Dear Editor,
It is with deep regret that we at the Centre for Communication Studies (CCS) at the University of Guyana learned of the passing of David de Caires. Mr de Caires has been a friend of the CCS for some time. His continuous efforts at ensuring free speech, freedom of expression and freedom of information as cornerstones of a progressive society were often observed as an example of what every good journalist should strive for.
Many times these complex media situations and the way they unfolded provided significant discussions and case studies for our students and faculty. The Stabroek News, itself heralded in the 1980s as the first voice of a free Guyanese press in post-independent Guyana under David’s keen and meticulous eye as Editor- in-Chief provided continuous news and examples of good journalism over the years.
The loss of this beacon of freedom at this time is all the more poignant for the CCS as it follows the tragic deaths of our promising student Dennis Edgehill in February and young journalist Akila Jacobs earlier last month.
We would hope that the legacy of David de Caires and his fight for democracy in Guyana is upheld and advanced by those with whom he worked closely and who have served him and this nation so well.
David de Caires’ life and aspirations are epitomized by the words of the great poet Rabindranauth Tagore in Let My Country Awake:
Where the mind is without fear and the head held high;
Where knowledge is free;
Where the world has not been broken up into fragments by narrow domestic walls;
Where words come out from the depth of truth;
Where tireless striving stretches its arms towards perfection;
Where the clear stream of reason has not lost its way into the dreary desert sand of dead habit;
Where the mind is led forward by Thee
into ever-widening thought and action;
Into that heaven of freedom, my Father, let my country awake.
May David de Caires rest in eternal peace. May his family, colleagues, the Guyana Press Association and his friends find solace in the fact that his was a life spent for something good and noble. We offer them our deepest and most sincere condolences. Guyana has lost a good and fearless son.
Yours faithfully,
Paloma Mohamed
For the Centre for Communication
Studies
University of Guyana