Dear Editor,
After my letter on the Guyana Police Force, a friend sent me an article from the Guyana Chronicle (GC). I have not read the GC since 2009 since I do not subscribe to its philosophical evolution for the worse since the likes of Dr Randy Persaud dominated their editorial board. Let me be clear, I believe that the GC must publish articles on the state’s activities but what it must not do is become a parrot for professional political propagandists who continue to distort facts.
However, this article was in my inbox, so I read my email.
That article was captioned ‘Murray, Trotman in clandestine meeting with…’ which I found to be a piece of work that had political wickedness written all over it. It is a fair reflection of the mental make-up of those close to the king. They have written so many ghost letters, they are seeing ghosts in every aspect of life these days. What is clandestine about meeting at the Pegasus Hotel? It is a public hotel in a public space. If you want to meet clandestinely you will go to that secret house in Pradoville with the indoor swimming pool behind pulled curtains, or you would meet in Trinidad at a safe house, not in one of the most public spaces in Guyana.
It is clear that the AFC is at a political crossroads with respect to its leadership issues. The AFC also has the important responsibility of leading the formation of a Guyana People’s Partnership against the oppressors. From my analysis, I have not found one African-Guyanese political leader, save and except Dr Roger Luncheon, who has the charisma and the confidence of the Indian-Guyanese masses to invalidate the race-based bottom house campaign of “A vote against the PPP is a vote for the PNC.” If others have found such a person, please name the names since I am struggling in this area.
I respect Raphael Trotman very much and I have publicly stated he is a very honourable man, but 2011 has nothing to do with the AFC exclusively. The year 2011 has everything to do with the formation of the People’s Partnership which shall be led by someone who can influence the working class regardless of race, class, gender and demography. It is time for practical politics to influence the change we would want to see for a better Guyana. It is time to think big.
Let me make it clear, Raphael, because of his past association with the PNC will make him an easy target for the race-based bottom house politics that envelops Guyana at general elections. I have been there. I have seen it and I can give a synopsis of the narrative:
“Yu’all see Raphael, he used to be with the PNC and he gun join with the PNC to bring back Burnham policy… Them ban dhal, them ban flour, yu gan gat to get wan PNC card to get wan wuk in the government… Yu’all betta be careful now, we do so much for yu, we build the Berbice Bridge, we build schools, we build hospitals, we build roads, we give women free money to start their own business, and we still gat more fu do in the next five years so give we the chance… Burnham and Hoyte never do none a this fu yu and Raphael gan operate just like Burnham… He gan give the PNC supporters all them jabs… Well if u don’t want Burnham again, then u know wha you gat fu do, put your X next to the…”
This diatribe will drive the desired fear into the minds of the Indian voters and you know what they will do. They will not even consider that they are worse off today than they were in 1997, and if it was not for the barrel and the small piece from their family in Region 11, things would have been much harder.
The AFC has a role to engage all right-minded players in the political parties, including the PPP and the PNC, civil society, the private sector, the trade unions to lead the way on the People’s Partnership.
However, the presidential candidate of the People’s Partnership has to be someone who is not tainted by the PPP and the PNC, but has the credibility to transcend the bottom-house politics. I keep thinking of name after name, and the only name which keeps crossing my mind is Major General (rtd) Joe Singh.
They can’t use the race argument against him at the
Bottom-house meetings because he is an Indian-Guyanese and he is well respected in the African-Guyanese community from his past service to the GDF. But I welcome any suggestions, since the work for the People’s Partnership has to start yesterday, not tomorrow. If all the opposition parties go to the next poll with their respective leaders – Murray for the PNC, Trotman for the AFC, Dev for ROAR, etc, they will lose the election hands down and would have squandered the only ray of hope for the next generation. Guyana saw this chance in 1979-80 with Dr Rodney; we saw it in 1992 with Dr Jagan and now we can see it again in 2011 with Joe Singh.
From the way the Jagdeo regime is operating (using the police to seize a canter truck which transported peaceful protestors, handing out US$15 million contract to someone who never built a road in the first place, sending the GRA to audit political opponents, reveals that they are way past desperation. Dr Rodney and Dr Jagan transcended race in Guyana, and the time is now to rock the foundation of race-based politics once again in Guyana with the People’s Partnership.
The AFC has the unenviable responsibility to forge that People’s Partnership and they must never allow race-based politics and agent provocateurs from distorting their core purpose, which is to free Guyana from the new ‘Kabaka’ and bring back respect for the rule of law in the land, bring back the focus on reducing the gap between the rich and the poor, bring back the philosophy of Dr Jagan and Dr Rodney of more equitably sharing the economic pie, bring back accountability for taxpayer funds and most importantly bring back hope to the people.
Dr Wazir Mohammed from the WPA stated in his feature in Pambazuka, the Pan-African Journal, stated that, “Walter was committed to a single crime – he had a passion for real change.” I see Raphael Trotman and Khemraj Ramjattan as the catalyst for that change in Guyana today as a combined team.
However, all this distraction about who will be presidential candidate and who will be leader and agreements will not help an already challenging situation, especially with 2011 swiftly approaching. We must rise about the routine politics of Guyana and think big, not for oneself but for the Guyanese society.
What will work best to stop Jagdeo in 2011? That is the focus question.
We must be realistic; it will take decades to re-programme the working class Indian-Guyanese into accepting that it is OK to have an African-Guyanese President. The African-Guyanese population in Guyana on the other hand has demonstrated much more political maturity by voting for the AFC to the detriment of the PNC at the last elections.
As a result of this predicament the only solution I see is an Indian-Guyanese presidential candidate for the People’s Partnership that is acceptable to the African-Guyanese population. Again, the only name I can find is Joe Singh, and if there is any other person better suited, I stand corrected.
All forces against this oppressive regime must re-commit themselves on this 30th anniversary of the death of Dr Walter Rodney to self emancipate themselves, their communities, their country by doing the right things for the right reasons to generate the change they want to see (paraphrasing Dr Mohammed).
In concluding, I want to encourage Raphael Trotman and Khemraj Ramjattan, to actively answer all attempts by the agent provocateurs to sow seeds of racial suspicion and dissent in their camp with their actions of unity. We need the AFC to provide the leadership for the formation of the People’s Partnership to break the racial chains from the working class.
Yours faithfully,
Sasenarine Singh