Dear Editor,
Within the last week, we have seen some of the most horrific acts of domestic violence resulting in murder. In addition, there are other reports of injuries sustained as a result of violence and of people being charged.
One of the threads running through the stories is the use of alcohol. The man who killed Rajpattie Jagroop, the other man who killed his mother Ramattie Doodnauth , after drinking with friends who could have known about his abusive behaviour, and then the mother of seven-month old Ganesh who seems to have taken refuge in alcohol to avoid the story of how her son ended up with a chop – alcohol is present in these stories, and we continue to believe that there is some magical mantra of moderation which will be preached to those who are consuming, and that everyone will become civilised drinkers like the masters who encouraged our ancestors to drink.
The anecdotal evidence from the families who witness the drunken behaviour of their relatives, is that the removal of alcohol would help their situations. So at what stage does our culture change? While all of this is happening, Club Iguana advertises a free alcohol party; for $1,000 again it seems that liquor is cheap, and inhibitions must be removed with liquor for a good time.
Are we so disconnected from each other in Guyana that we are not prepared to engage in some simple behaviour changes to shift the culture of alcohol use? Would the liquor companies allow their distributors to sign big petitions and posters that they will not sell to people who become destructive after consuming the liquor?
And there are so many who have cursed me, because they say that they drink and they are okay, they do not behave ‘bad,’ but don’t they understand, that in our interconnectedness which we cannot avoid, their supposedly civilised choices enable the dysfunction of others since we cannot police who does and who does not become destructive when they drink? Who decides what the limits are when different people have different reactions to alcohol? How much savings would there be for our social services, our health sector, our police and justice system?
If we collectively say ‘no’ to liquor, we do not have to ban it, we just have to say no to it, so that we do not have to perpetuate a culture of alcohol consumption of any sort. We can at least remove one of the factors that has caused so much destruction in our society and at least be able to deal with other related issues.
Your faithfully,
Vidyaratha Kissoon
