Dear Editor,
Having read Mr Vishnu Bisram’s letter in Stabroek News of November 7 (‘I attended the India Day Parade as a reporter’), I would like to point out an obvious omission. When the Indo-Caribbean Federation of North America was formed (a break-away faction) led by Mr Ramesh Kallicharan, Poopnaraine Peresaud and others, Vishnu Bisram played a pheriphical role, as he was then studying to be a pundit.
At its first public convention held in the Bronx, New York, I was asked to represent the Guyanese Muslims in the New York area. I did so willingly because I felt that in the melting-pot of American society the cultural identity of the Indo-Guyanese in the States was (and still is) something to be cherished and preserved. However, what I found disturbing was the position Vishnu Bisram took vis-à-vis the racial and ethnic composition in Guyana.
In the part “the struggle for free and fair elections in Guyana,“ Mr Bisram mentioned Vassan Ramracha, Dr Baytoram Rambarack, Dr Ravi Dev, Dr Latchman Narine, Arjune Kashan and Ramesh Kallicharan, and concluded with “etc.“ I found this offensive because it was I who played a central part in the exposure of rigged elections in Guyana and it was I who officiated at the conclusion of the five-day fast outside the United Nations building, obliquely opposite the Guyana consulate. In my capacity as Political Liaison Officer of the World Union Of Guyanese For Democracy I have written inter-alia to many interested people to expose the fraudulently conducted elections in Guyana, not least to Lord Avebury, Chairman of the Parliamentary Human Rights Group, urging him to help facilitate free and fair elections in Guyana.
I was part of the delegation which had audiences with US senators and congressmen of the tri-state NY, NJ and Connecticut, urging them to make strong and cogent appeals to the American government to guarantee that elections in Guyana were transparent, fair and free. Need I say our efforts have been fruitful. And now our people can exercise their franchise through secret ballot which is a vindication of our work.
Editor, may I say that to omit my name is indicative of the bias which Mr Bisram displays.
Yours faithfully,
Albert Khan
