Dear Editor,
The constant bickering between Vishnu Bisram and those who think that he is a fraud when it comes to polling in Guyana is getting boring and taking up important space in your letter columns, and indeed, needs closure in more ways than one. In his latest missive, Mr Bisram talks about “proof” that he is a biased “pollster” and with Mike Persaud’s help in a previous letter, he wishes away all the attacks on his employment references and his “connections” to questionable relationships he claims he has cemented. Mr Persaud has no credibility as his letters always suggest ethnic answers to our serious political problems, and his defence of Mr Bisram opens our eyes to both of their political machinations. Mr Bisram should remember the quote, the proof of the pudding is in the eating.
Editor, your letters are not harvested in any way through a court of law but nevertheless should contain elements of truth and objectivity in order to be accepted by the Guyanese public and to be stimulating to their minds and to bring further discussion among themselves. Over the years, Mr Bisram has obviously decided that he is much more interested in writing commentaries than in conducting polls which can reflect the political reality on the ground in Guyana, and that is his personal decision; but let us, the public, look at his writings in general and see his central themes and his “truth” Editor, Mr Bisram is definitely an Indocentric commentator, trying to create the impression that his connections with India and the Indian diaspora in New York is cemented in stone and mortar. His subtle bias is apparent when one reads through the lines of his letters and, as he tries to become the chief spokesman for the apologists of this administration, we see his true nature. The very fact that the Chronicle, a newspaper which only spouts government and PPP propaganda, prints his letters on a regular basis, is an indication of where Mr Bisram’s sympathies lie.
Where he is employed or where he gets his finances in relation to his controversial polling is really irrelevant and is of no importance, unless he gets financed by certain local political entities, which is a strong possibility.
What is important to the citizens of our country is his mindset before he conducts his “polls,” and he has made it clear, over the last few years, that he is for ‘Indian-ness’ and the propagation of his Hindu connections, both here and abroad. That is his right, and nothing at all is wrong with his love of Hinduism, but there are Christians, Muslims and other religious entities here in Guyana who probably have lost trust in his polling.
Since he is such a trooper for the Indians and our rights (because I am a born Hindu), then let him do a poll on only two questions, but only to Indians living here in Guyana and involving Freddie Kissoon and a UG team: 1. How the Indians feel about their beloved sugar industry under this government’s management? and 2. Is this government following the vision of President Cheddi who always fought for and who was always the maximum leader of all the sugar workers and first President of GAWU? Maybe Mr Bisram would never agree to such a poll because he probably already knows the result, but he says he believes in truth so let him prove it forthwith.
Editor, Mr Bisram should take me up on my suggestion for again, the proof of the pudding… and if he chooses not to, then he will put himself in the position where his comments have to be taken with a grain of salt.
Yours faithfully,
Cheddi (Joey) Jagan
(Jr)