Dear Editor,
A casual glance of the Guyana press these days portrays a dismal landscape beset with all manner of unbelievable scenarios. I am beginning to liken the big picture of Guyana to the wild west of the American cowboys of yesteryear, shooting from both hips without asking any questions.
It is a sad land where anything goes, and the current administration (PPP/C) behaves as though they are operating is a small clannish cocoon and not in the global village where virtually every household is inter-connected to the information superhighway.
From the recent diabolical experience of life under the PNC to the current existence of daily life under the unashamed Stalinist practices of the PPP/C, Guyanese have not been given the opportunity to live the normal life they would enjoy through migration, which continues unabated. Previously, for twenty-eight years the government (PNC) conducted its affairs with disdain for the entire population, as though they were not answerable to Guyanese, and now for the last twenty years the present administration has been conducting its business as though they are not accountable to Guyanese either at home or in the diaspora.
The history of any country must be recorded by its statesmen, politicians, businessmen, clergymen, journalists, etc, etc. A library of books has come to be published on Guyana from a variety of Guyanese writers. Included among these are fantastic works by the following:
Clem Seecharan, Sweetening Bitter Sugar: Jock Campbell: The Booker Reformer In British Guiana 1934-1966
Baytoram Rambarack, Against The Grain: Balram Singh Rai And The Politics Of Guyana
Dr Mohan Ragbeer, The Indelible Red Stain: Destruction Of A Tropical Paradise: A Cold War Story
Walter Rodney, How Europe Under-developed Africa and Groundings With My Brothers
Ashton Chase, A History of Trade Unionism In British Guiana
Paul Nehru Tennsessee, A Nation In Ruins
Stephen G Rabe, US Intervention In British Guiana: A Cold War Story
This writer understands that there are other eagerly anticipated works in the making, among which are one by Robert Corbin and another by Moses Bhagwan, among others. The book by Robert Corbin hopefully will analyse what transpired in the more recent experiences of the Guyanese homeland reality.
Previously, we had the world famous work by Dr Cheddi Jagan, The West On Trial: My Fight For Guyana’s Freedom, The New Global Human Order and The Caribbean, Whose Backyard; Forbes Burnham’s A Destiny to Mould: A collection of Speeches; and Father Andrew Morrison’s, My Fight For Guyana’s Freedom. There might be others not known to me.
There are several films, ie Granada’s ‘The Making of a Prime Minister,’ and works by Dr Rupert Roopnaraine
They all attempt, except for Rodney’s book, to portray the travails of their homeland growing up in Guyana, and they are replete with accounts of the life and work of one woman, Janet Jagan and her famous husband Dr Cheddi Jagan. All these works unveil the Cold War between the superpowers and its tentacles on Guyana as it emerged as a nation state, and describe Guyanese attempts to survive during events over which, for the most part, they had no control, such as rigged elections (PNC) or ethnic insecurity voting (PPP/C).
It is fervently hoped that other much anticipated works would emerge by Mr Yesu Persaud on his interpretation of events in Guyana from his position as an outstanding businessman and statesman and Professor Clive Thomas, politician and economist.
It is a pity that political works have not yet come to the fore from such prominent persons as Mr Eusi Kwayana, teacher and politician, Dr Rupert Roopnaraine, lecturer and politician and Mr Moses Nagamootoo, journalist, author and politician.
Such a collection would enhance the tapestry of Guyana and everything Guyanese. It would enhance the Guyanese melting pot!
Yours faithfully,
Lionel Peters
