Dear Editor,
The dignity of Guyanese and the destiny of a democratic Guyana are in peril. At times, history and fate meet at a single time in a single place to shape a turning point in man’s unending search for freedom. In Linden longsuffering men and women peacefully protested the denial of their human rights, and freedom to seek happiness as Guyanese. Many of them were brutally assaulted. Three good men were killed.
There is no cause for pride in what has happened in Linden. There is no cause for self-satisfaction in the long denial of the equal rights of thousands of Guyanese. But there is cause for hope and for faith in a democratic Guyana with freedom for every Guyanese. The Government of Guyana’s mission is at once the oldest and the most basic − to right wrong, to do justice, to serve humanity. In our time we have come to live with moments of great crises. Our lives have been marked with debate about great issues − issues of justice, issues of prosperity, humanity and dignity.
But rarely in any time does an issue lay bare the secret heart of Guyana itself. We have met with challenges to the values and the purpose and the meaning of our beloved nation. The issue is equal rights for all Guyanese. And should we as a nation achieve the greatest of wealth and still be incapable of transforming our country into a democracy, then we will have failed as a people and as a nation. For, with a country as with a person, “For what is a man profited if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?”
There is no people problem. There is no PNC, APNU or AFC problem. There is only a Guyana problem. And if we can resolve this problem then we have found a purpose for Guyana.
“All men are created equal”; “Government by consent of the governed”; “Give me liberty or give me death.” These are not just clever words, or empty theories. In their name Guyanese from 1763, 1823 to 2013 have fought for these ideals. Those words promise every citizen that he shall share in the dignity of man. This dignity cannot be found in a man’s possessions. It cannot be found in his power or in his position. It really rests on his right to be treated as a man with equal opportunities to all others. It says that he shall share in freedom. He shall choose his leaders, educate his children, provide for his family according to his ability and his merits as a human being.
To apply any other test, to deny a man his hopes because of his colour or race or religion or the place of his birth is not only to do injustice, it is to deny Guyanese and to dishonour the dead who gave their lives for Guyana’s freedom. Our fathers believed that if this noble view of the rights of man was to flourish it must be rooted in democracy. The most basic right of all was the right to choose your own leaders. The history of this country in large measure must be the history of the extension of rights to all of our people.
Every device of which human ingenuity is capable, has been used to deny equal rights to all Guyanese. There is only the struggle for human rights. What happened in Linden is part of a far larger movement which reaches into every community of Guyana. It is the effort of Guyanese trying to secure for themselves the full blessings of the riches of Guyana. Their cause must be every Guyanese cause, because it’s not just Lindeners, but really it’s all of us, who must overcome the crippling legacy of bigotry and injustice. And we shall overcome.
The time of justice has now come, and when it does, I think that day will brighten the lives of every Guyanese. For Lindeners are not the only victims. How many Indian children have gone uneducated and hungry? How many Amerindian families have lived in stark poverty? How many Guyanese lives have been scarred by fear, because we wasted energy and our substance to maintain the barriers of hatred, bigotry and terror?
Holding on to the past is done at the cost of denying Guyanese their future. This great rich, restless country can offer opportunity and education and hope to all—all Guyanese. These are the enemies: poverty, ignorance, disease, hatred, crime and bigotry. They are our enemies, not our fellow Guyanese.
And these enemies too − poverty, disease and ignorance − we shall overcome.
Let none of us in any section look with prideful righteousness on the troubles in another section of Guyana. There is really no part of Guyana where the promise of equality has been fully kept. Guyanese are struggling for the fruits of freedom and their nation’s treasures. Guyana is one nation. What happens in Linden is a matter of legitimate concern to every Guyanese. But let each of us look within our own hearts and our own communities and let each of us put our shoulder to the wheel to root out injustice wherever it exists.
The real hero of this struggle is Guyanese people. Their actions and protests, their courage to risk safety, and even to risk their lives, have awakened the conscience of Guyana. Their demonstrations have been designed to call attention to injustice, to provoke change, to stir reform. They have been called upon to make good the promise of Guyana − One People, One Nation, One Destiny.
For at the real heart of the battle for equality is a deep-seated belief in the democratic process. Equality depends not on the force of arms or tear gas, but on the force of moral right; not on recourse to violence, but on respect for the peoples of Guyana.
Thus let this Commission of Inquiry report be a beacon for change and a better Guyana.
Yours faithfully,
Colin Westmoreland
