Dear Editor,
Former First Lady Varshnie Singh’s nine years of psychological abuse allegedly committed at the hands of her husband, President Bharrat Jagdeo, must make every man, woman and child cringe. How can a man responsible for the total protection of a nation when women and children’s rights are becoming increasingly hot topics, behave like this towards his own wife?
With regard to the work the former First Lady has been engaged in, may state that I have served as a commissioner on the National Commission on the Rights of the Child (NCRC) of which Ms Singh was the chairperson, and that she pursued whatever means were possible to ensure that the commission got additional support and assistance to develop programmes to benefit Guyana’s children even although it was funded by UNICEF. Several programmes and projects were undertaken in schools to educate and sensitize Guyanese children to their rights and responsibilities as citizens. The tasks of the commission were carried out with no attention being paid to colour, class, creed or political affiliation. The current Minister of Human and Social Services, Ms Priya Manickchand, also served as a commissioner representing the government, so maybe she can enlighten the public about Ms Singh’s commitment to the work of this commission and her genuine passion to help our children. And despite the domestic abuse this young Guyanese patriot claims to have experienced over the past nine years, she never let it deter her from doing good for Guyana’s children.
For President Jagdeo to give Ms Singh a million dollars and tell her to buy a middle income house lot and pay rent for a year is unreasonable.
The house lot is $500,000 and any reasonable rent in Guyana is about $45-65,000 per month. This young woman gave up her livelihood in the UK when she chose to come to Guyana to marry Mr Jagdeo, and he appears to have little regard for how her parents would be affected knowing what their daughter is experiencing.
As it relates to Singh benefiting from state resources, the President is aware that his former wife is working for the poor and vulnerable, and that her Kids First Fund has helped many children to receive life-saving medical attention overseas. I believe the President should have been very anxious to aid her in this work, rather that seeing her in the light of someone who opposes him. I am quite sure Guyanese would have been appreciative of any effort supported by the government that brought relief to children suffering a health crisis.
We should like to know why Ms Singh’s name was removed from the list of delegates to a UN meeting, when she had been sponsored by UNICEF to attend same. Was this an act of vindictiveness?
The former First Lady recounted that she had been served with a notice to vacate State House within 48 hours by the President’s lawyer; the question to be asked is whether such an order was legal.
Further, did the President’s action to lock his wife out without notice amount to an illegal eviction?
Editor, I can feel nothing but empathy and deep sympathy for Ms. Singh and I know that it took tremendous courage on her part to recount her sufferings to the Guyanese people, but after nine long years, I guess she said to herself, enough is enough. I wish to urge the Minister of Human Services to look into the Ms Singh’s case and provide the necessary help that she obviously needs.
The voices of every woman’s organization, human rights group, youth organization and civic association should be raised calling for justice to be served in the former First Lady’s case. How can we as a nation stamp out domestic violence given the allegations made against our head of state?
Let me end with the reminder that the President’s business is ours; his personal life is our concern since he belongs to the people. This is an aspect of democracy which we all subscribe to, and nothing is off limits. Or will the President and his legal team claim that President Jagdeo is protected under the constitution, a protection they claim Burnham used and abused?
My thoughts, and prayers go out to the former First Lady, Ms Varshine Singh, a true local patriot.
Yours faithfully,
Lurlene Nestor
