Dear Editor,
I refer to a letter by Mr Vidyaratha Kissoon (no relation) in the Jan 3 edition of the Kaieteur News captioned, ‘Let’s hope viewpoints aren’t expressed incognito anymore.‘ With the rise of the blog, social networking and Facebook, one would have thought that the newspapers would now do away with persons writing letters and deliberately omitting their names.
Throughout my career as a newspaper columnist, I have lamented this injustice and macabre invention. I have argued ad nauseam that it should only be allowed when loss of employment, victimization or injury can result. An example hardly matters, but here is one. If a banking institution is facilitating money-laundering then an anonymous letter from an employee is in perfect order.
What the two independent dailies are condoning is the perpetuation of attacks on people in government, the opposition and civil society by nameless writers who laugh at the society. I can imagine that each time they set about to attack Robert Corbin or Khemraj Ramjattan or Donald Ramotar or whoever, they must laugh before they go on the keyboard. Because they do their nonsense and they then walk into society and no one knows the cowards they are. It is the same with web pages.
Imagine what goes through the mind of someone who runs a web site attacking viciously all kinds of persons and hides under their mom’s dress. These people laugh at the world.
They go on the world wide web, accuse real, living persons of all sorts of things and they hide when they do that. Why do they do that – because they have deep-seated personality/character problems in life and with life. They have issues. You cannot stop such persons from going on the internet but the newspapers can.
I do not believe ‘M Maxwell,‘ ‘Sultan Mohammed,‘ etc, are the real names. I don’t care how much letter-writers criticize the PPP government that this columnist wants to see go. Their pursuits have no justification in the use of hiding under an opaque veil. There are principles involved that must be upheld. The KN and SN should not allow it.
There is no onerous task in ascertaining the names of these writers. Just send back an e-mail requesting address, phone number, place of employment, and the names of two persons with similar details who can verify the information. This will not take five minutes. If Sultan Mohamed exists, send him an e-mail, ask for his local address. Contact him, let him provide his ID and if he is real he can write how much he wants because the papers have an obligation to ventilate his views.
If KN and SN do not insist on proof that can be tested, these persons will go on. I insisted that ‘M Maxwell‘ publish his factual existence and he did not reply. Yet this man or woman is in the KN and SN almost daily asking questions of opposition leaders and governmental leaders but he/she refuses to answer a simple question.
About ten years ago on this issue, I got a public response saying why bother with the messenger, look at the message. That is fair enough. But when the messenger comes as often as M Maxwell and Sultan Mohammed do, then it is human nature to ask them to take off their mask and come in for a cup of coffee. But more importantly, why does the messenger want to become a messenger but is so afraid to be seen? Why take on a job when you know what it involves but you are prepared to shirk your obligations to those you are delivering the notes to? Interestingly, why should we tolerate messengers who come to deposit a note and each time put a bag on his/her face? I hope KN and SN bring this to an end in 2013. As for me I will never, I repeat never, reply to someone who chooses to attack me and hides. That person is getting the better of you and laughing at you.
Yours faithfully,
Frederick Kissoon
