Dear Editor,
I respect the role Freddie Kissoon plays in the debate on the politics of Guyana, and am in agreement with him on several points. However, I take umbrage over his assertions that I have, “pledged to eschew open political condemnation of the Jagdeo Government.” (KN December 4) Although Freddie Kissoon acknowledges this as a rumour, he still had no reservations about using that rumour to cast aspersions on my character and activism.
Kissoon claims that my activism for democratic change and the rule of law in Guyana has gone dormant, or words to that effect. He draws an analogy with Indian rights activist Ravi Dev, insinuating that I skirt away from the politics of reality and confine my activism to meaningless abstractions.
I made several public statements following my release from political captivity that I was not beholden by any promises made to abstain from the political fray. I certainly did not promise to ignore the excesses and wrongdoings of the government. To indicate how utterly ridiculous the rumour is one only has to check out my online newspaper at http://www.guyanaobservernews.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=204&Itemid=1. Perusal of that site will reveal that I have created space for information that is factual, but which you will never find in the pages of the dailies in Guyana.
The debate on politics and quality of life issues in Guyana are still conditioned by editorial censorship and threats of civil litigation. I believed that it was important for there to be a forum where voices from the other side can freely give vent to their perspectives, their perceptions, their analysis and their reality.
Further, I am disappointed that someone like Freddie Kissoon, who is never bashful about emphasizing his concern for the under-privileged, the unemployed and under-employed, the political and social castaways, would describe my activities designed to reverse those conditions as being “absent from the political airwaves.” He goes on to say: “He comes across like Ravi Dev. At one time, Mr. Dev had a weekly television program and his weekly page in Kaieteur News.
But he would only discuss philosophical and theoretical issues in Guyanese politics, never commenting on nasty violations committed by the state.” (Freddie must understand that Ravi Dev has a space to voice his concerns in the Kaieteur News and so does he.
If given the opportunity to have a column, I would certainly expose the ills of the Jagdeo regime and Robert Corbin’s dictatorial attitude.). The fact remains that I recognize that activism on behalf of people in need should not involve the divisiveness of political arguments. The mission statement is to serve all who are in need and can be helped within our limited capacity. The object is to create an organization where giving and receiving is conditioned by altruism and need, and not by the baggage of partisan political cleavage. So the fact that most of my post-captivity public media exposure involves my charitable activities is not a zero sum proposition vis-à-vis my political activism.
Not everyone is as fortunate as Freddie to have a column where he can vent his views, but also escape the heavy hand of a judicial reaction to their outpourings. Although they certainly hate Freddie and oppose what he says, they only go after him verbally and perhaps with the tool of civil litigation. The tools they use to go after me, however, are much more confining.
I believe Freddie is one of the few voices out there that speaks truth to the powers that be on the myriad issues that plague our nation. But he is in the company of a slew of nameless and furtive Zaccheuses, who sling down pro-government and PPP diatribes from a proverbial sycamore tree of obscurity. The fact that there are so many of them and so few of him suggests that balance is still a very skewed perception in the news business. Especially when the government and the PPP has full control of the state media apparatus, and does not practise the sort of fairness and balance they demand from the independent dailies. Has Freddie ever wondered why those independent dailies that respond to the government’s demand do not, as conscientious media freedom advocates, demand reciprocal practices from the state? I know I do.
Finally, I am not absent from the political airwaves because of choice. The presence of people from my side of the aisle giving vent to their views is not popular among the media houses in Guyana, independent or captive, and can elicit devastating economic consequences. The people of Linden have been isolated in an information sense. There are no print media owned and operated by persons who were not involved with getting the PPP into power.
However tumultuous that marriage is nowadays, the fact remains they had and have historical links with one side of the debate in Guyana, and at best a nodding acquaintance with the other. We do what we can to get our voices and positions out, and cannot be held responsible because they do not appear within the establishment system. Freddie Kissoon’s beef should be with those who manufactured this political and information landscape in Guyana, not with Mark Benschop.
Yours faithfully,
Mark Benschop
