Dear Editor,
Throughout history religion has played a dual role. It can be used for evil as seen with slavery and other forms of oppression; or for good as witnessed in the struggles to end oppression and work towards the creation of societies built on equality, and social and economic justice. The former is premised on a false notion of superiority and maintaining the status quo, the latter is built on liberation theology, embraced by believers of equality and justice. While one’s religious choice is a private matter, when public officials, paid by our tax dollars, use religion as a platform to speak to us then it becomes a matter of national import and deserving of our comment.
Saturday night’s gospel concert where the public saw/read/heard of the shared spiritual moment of President Jagdeo and AFC Leader Raphael Trotman cannot be divorced from the imposed conditions, quality of life of the majority of young people who were in attendance. Our youths look to their leaders for leadership and creating the environment that would unleash their potential to realise their own and the country’s development. For two decades this government has failed to produce any such opportunities, including a job policy which continues to rob this vulnerable group of the opportunity, to use a biblical phrase, that “by the sweat of thy brow thou shall eat bread.” The failure to enjoy the right to work is of concern to Labour since it is a fundamental right protected in the constitution
It is said 85 per cent of university graduates leave these shores. This is made worse when combined with the droves of teachers and nurses and other skilled professionals who leave because no system is put in place to make them feel valued. In addition to the forced exodus there are many school drop-outs, the qualified who cannot find a job, and those who are discriminated against by virtue of who they are. Today the job of a brilliant young magistrate is threatened and it has nothing to do with her performance or job specification. Recently a mother wrote a heartrending letter, on behalf of her daughter, a university valedictorian, who was fervently looking for work. At the educational level the University of Guyana is being starved of funding and the subvention has been taken away from the Critchlow Labour College. This government refuses to see the correlation between an educated, healthy, stable and employed workforce, and development. A few days ago a teary-eyed 27-year-old university graduate met me on the street expressing his sadness at being unable to find a job and his uncertainty about the future. Life has not been easier for those who chose self-employment, as they are either uprooted at another behest, discriminated against, encountering difficulties accessing loans, unable to pay the draconian taxes, utilities bills, etc.
These are not stories rarely heard; they are heard every day. This is the audience the politicians were looking down on as they asked each other forgiveness, uncaring of the abrogation of their responsibility to society, and more importantly this valued segment of our population. Those today who are failing to implement and execute a productive policy for the youths forget when they were of similar age they were exposed to opportunities which played a significant role in shaping and influencing their choices and opportunities later in life.
This was clearly a moment of political gimmick as they apologized for perceived wrongs committed against each other but failed to acknowledge that the taxpayers pay them to do better than they are doing, but not one word of acceptance and apology to the gathering and this nation. This failure impresses upon observers that what matters to them is their political survival and the use of religion to engage in political manoeuvring and maintaining the status quo.
On the other hand, Saturday night’s event presented opportunities for encounters so that they could now clearly see the hopelessness, deprivation, discrimination and degradation of our youths, and that would have encouraged them to walk the talk. For the nation their religious belief becomes relevant in so far that they transform or fail to transform such thought into public policies consistent with liberation theology.
Yours faithfully,
Lincoln Lewis
