Dear Editor,
It has been more than two weeks since President Jagdeo made his ethnically charged and provocative remarks at the Babu John cremation site on the Corentyne Coast, and to date the Ethnic Relations Commission (ERC) has not issued a statement. This situation is very unpropitious, as it could be used as a reference point by anyone whom the commission attempts to sanction for the alleged breach of its code of conduct during this election year.
Mr Jagdeo’s comments mark a new low for the President.
His instruction to the older Indian Guyanese was intended to instil fear in the younger generation by telling them about some ‘bloody’ past of David Granger and the PNC. His call strikes at the intelligence and independence of our youth which comprises approximately 62% of the electorate.
The ERC has indicated that it has begun training media monitors for the upcoming elections, and it would be interesting to find out whether President Jagdeo is to be excluded from the monitoring process. Let me hasten to say that once the commission refuses to denounce Mr Jagdeo’s Babu John comments it will have no moral authority to sanction anyone else for an apparent breach of the code of conduct.
In addition, what about President Jagdeo’s moral responsibility to the nation?
Further, if we were to analyze the real motive behind Mr Jagdeo’s comment, we would only have to compare his Buxton invitation to villagers to his Babu John instructions to the Corentyne residents.
The ethnic mischief lies in the difference between those calls and in the particular group targeted in each case.
I am amazed that those who are aspiring to be the PPP/C presidential candidate have all remained silent on this issue; one can only assume by this silence that they have endorsed Mr Jagdeo’s comments. Is it a case, therefore, of ‘one and the same’?
Yours faithfully,
Lurlene Nestor
