The governing party PPP has sounded its concern about opposition supporters using the unrest in Linden to spread race hate messages, while blaming social media sites and some senior members of the private media for aiding such a campaign.
But the Guyana Press Association (GPA) has condemned the party for trying to intimidate private and independent journalists and media workers, while saying that government and the PPP would be held accountable for any harm that should come to any journalists either in the state or private media as a result.
In a statement issued on Saturday, the PPP said it was alarmed by the increasing frequency with which “a few supporters and even officials” linked to APNU and the AFC to spread race hate and calls for violence against particular groups in Guyana.
“This racist campaign which has now been brought to a head with person’s openly advocating violence against a particular ethnic group has also been aided and prodded along by the racially insensitive comments and apparent advocacy by some senior members in the private media,” it said, while pointing to the comments section of the Demerara Waves news site and Facebook posts of current GPA President Gordon Moseley.
The PPP also charged that the ground for “the current racist offensive” was being laid in the weeks leading up to the start of the Linden protests by AFC supporter and WICB Corporate Communications Officer Imran Khan and AFC member Dr. Tarron Khemraj, whom it accused of using a “derogatory and racist term” to describe the ethnicity of a government minister and persons who attended an overseas engagement involving members of the PPP/C government.
“It is against this backdrop that the PPP calls on all Guyanese to condemn the actions of these individuals who are seeking to destroy all our hard work as a people, all our achievements to bridge what has served to divide us in the past, every single perception which we have worked to dispel and all the gains we have made in racial harmony is now at stake because of the misguided and reckless actions of a few,” the party said in its statement, adding that despite the efforts of “a group of extremists” hell-bent on always coming up with a racial dimension to each and every single aspect of decisions undertaken by the PPP/C government, it remains proud of its record.
But in a statement issued the same day, the GPA pointed to “a troubling trend” by the governing party of issuing threats and making baseless allegations against members of the private media and to try to intimidate private and independent journalists and media workers.
The GPA condemned what it dubbed “this most cowardly rhetoric” by the ruling party, noting that there was no “shred of supporting evidence” for the accusations. “We put the Guyana Government and the ruling Peoples Progressive Party Civic and any other party that may be thinking of making threats, on notice that they will be held accountable should any harm come to any journalist whether in the state or private media, because of this latest threat and other threats made by government and party functionaries,” the GPA stated, while noting that the personal attack against journalists is “a well-known and detestable” way to build an enemy that does not exist and may expose those persons to reprisals.
The GPA called on President Donald Ramotar and the PPP to take note that the organisation “takes this dubious ploy of yours seriously” and would accordingly inform regional and international press groups of the development.
“The ruling party and by extension the government must know that the media will not cower to this latest attempt at scare-mongering, intimidation and harassment of the media that has come to characterise the last decade and a half of its time in office,” it added.
Meanwhile, Khan also responded to the PPP statement, while saying that it was the latest attack by the party on him, while pointing out that “the attempt to malign” his reputation came within hours of his exposure via his website and social media of the Office of the President’s recent “web of lies.”
“It would appear as though my writings have had such impact in raising awareness of the injustices pervasive in Guyana that the regime has developed an obsession with attempting to silence my voice,” he said, noting that the situation was not isolated.
Khan pointed to Minister of Culture, Youth and Sports Dr. Frank Anthony, whom he said wrote to his employers during the lead up to the last elections, on his ministry’s letterhead, seeking for them to take “action” against him. “I view this as a politically motivated attack and an attempt to bully and intimidate,” he said.
“The ruling party’s campaign to intimidate me following my known association with the Alliance For Change and in speaking out against their unjust rule is now a matter of public record,” Khan noted, while adding that it ought to be a personal honour for him to now join the ranks of “esteemed leaders” as Nigel Hughes, Moses Nagamootoo, Khemraj Ramjattan, Raphael Trotman, Ralph Ramkarran and numerous others that have been victims of the party’s assaults.
