Dear Editor,
Mr Moses Bhagwan, one-time leader of the Indian Political Revolutionary Associates (IPRA) who now resides in the USA which with his Marxist beliefs he once sought to denigrate, cannot be faulted for springing to the aid of Mr Frederick Kissoon, especially if he is motivated by altruism and all that is excellent in the land of American opportunity and capitalism.
This is the same man who joined up with Mr Eusi Kwayana’s ASCRIA to form the WPA. But while Mr Kwayana has been a lifelong advocate of African security and economic interests Mr Bhagwan (a former PYO chairman) has seemingly been asleep. So when Mr Bhagwan writes in SN on February 8 that he stands “in solidarity“ with Mr Frederick Kissoon and that “the University of Guyana is a very important place, where the seeds for a flourishing of the intellect and ideas, are being sown,” he must be commended for championing the flourishing of intellectual ideas (even if opposed to his own).
Indeed one can feel Mr Bhagwan’s anguish when he informs us that “as great as is the issue of unfairness and injustice to Mr Kissoon [which he feels] personally, there is also the protection of the right to stand up and speak out, the freedom to publish ideas widely and in all forms, and the freedom of our teachers not merely to teach students and to consolidate the greatness and effectiveness of institutions of learning, but also to become part of the dynamic of social progress and advancement of all people.”
Can anyone find out if Mr Bhagwan will now champion similar freedom of the press including publishing letters in the WPA administered Caribbean Daylight newspaper in New York? Why has there been a reluctance for similar press freedom in Caribbean Daylight since the newspaper’s founder left?
After all charity begins at home. Mr Bhagwan and the new owners of Caribbean Daylight should not find it repulsive to allow freedom of the press in the great bastion of capitalism/imperialism in Richmond Hill, Queens, USA “to become part of the dynamic of social progress and advancement of all people.” I believe he means all those people in Queens, NYC as well, otherwise he can hardly expect his comments on anything at UG, Mr Kissoon or even freedom of the press which he enjoys in Guyana, to be treated with any seriousness.
Yours faithfully,
Sultan Mohamed
