Attorney and member of the Alliance For Change (AFC) Charrandass Persaud is facing severe criticism over the disparaging remarks he made about the weight of Medical Superintendent of the New Amsterdam Hospital Dr Vishayla Sharma during a recent public meeting in Berbice.
The Berbice Regional Health Authority, in a strongly-worded statement on Thursday, condemned Persaud, stating that his remarks were not just an attack on Dr Sharma but on all women. Women rights’ activists have also taken the AFC’s member to task on social media site Facebook and called on the party to condemn his utterances and distance itself from the comment, which AFC Chairman Nigel Hughes has done.
“…Sharma is trying to control her own body weight. And she can’t do that. She has to control the whole operations of the New Amsterdam Hospital. The girl is so fat, she could probably not fit in the front seat of our jeep. She can’t control her own body weight. She is controlling our lives at New Amsterdam Hospital. She is the medical superintendent. She is in charge of the hospital. That is Dr Sharma, Vishali Sharma,” Persaud could be heard saying in a recording that has been uploaded onto YouTube.
Contacted yesterday, Persaud declined to comment.
However, Hughes, in a statement on his Facebook page apologised to Dr Sharma for the comments and said they do not represent the views of the party.
“I wish to offer the unreserved apologies of the Alliance for Change for the comments contained in the video clip,” Hughes said minutes after he had listened to the recording.
He said the party apologises to Dr Sharma, “for the pain and hurt which the statements must have caused her. The statements in no way reflect the position of the AFC and we repeat our apologies to Dr Sharma, in particular, and to our sisters.”
Founder of Stella’s Sisterhood of Support & Services (S4) Stella Ramsaroop on her Facebook page questioned whether that was the manner AFC officials speak about overweight women. “Is there anyone in leadership who plans to condemn this statement? To correct this wrong?” Ramsaroop questioned.
Member of the Caribbean American Domestic Violence Awareness (CADVA) Dianne Madray on her Facebook page also condemned the remarks made by Persaud stating that it was a disappointment to AFC men.
“I have just seen this and am outraged and I certainly hope that the AFC executives apologise… as it is an attack on all women. All U ‘bais’ jut messed with the wrong group of women now. I am losing my respect fellas… Do something… seriously,” she said.
In its statement, the Berbice Regional Health Authority pointed out that in a week when Guyana was joining the world to in observing International Women’s Day (yesterday) Persaud, a practicing attorney, was attacking a female professional whom he publicly denigrated because in his mind she is “overweight.”
“His verbal assault on Dr Vishayla Sharma is not an attack on one person; it is an attack on all women! It shows that he has absolutely no respect for women and it shows that in his mind ‘big women’ cannot be managers and should not be leaders. This blatant sexist approach has to be condemned by all,” the statement said.
The statement called on all women to stand up against this attack on womanhood and that female lawyers in particular should be offended by the remarks of a practicing lawyer.
“Women of Guyana, we have to stand together! Today our Dr Sharma is under attack, just because she is a female manager. If we allow this to go by without taking a stand, tomorrow it will be another female! We must unite against this assault on women,” the statement said.
