Dear Editor,
I have a handful of simple, straightforward questions for those prominent citizens who participated in the recent investment seminar. These questions are especially directed at the President and the Minister of Finance.
How do either of these two leaders see, explain, and rationalize the murder of Alicia Foster and the disappearance of Levoy Taljit? What do Mr Ramotar and Dr Singh offer to the families and the public since crimes of passion and opportunity are ruled out? What is left for them to tell? They don’t need it, but I move to help them with the telling.
It is that these two fine, uncorrupted public servants got in the way of powerful men, and paid a terrible price. Men endorsed and protected by a nefarious political culture, which should be very familiar to all political players in this country, and none more so than those of the ruling party. There is blood on the lips of those who deny; there is blood on the heads of those who distort the realities; and there is blood on the hands of those dilute the truth. We can pretend that corruption is minimal, it is negligible, it is an aberration and a political concoction. We can do all of this with the express intention of protecting the brigade of the wicked, and to keep the underground cash flow coming. But none of this will disguise and diminish the depths to which this society has sunk, and to where it has been deliberately led.
I say here and now (and before) that the corruption that has diseased and savaged this land at all levels ‒ repeat, at all levels ‒ started with rigging and bribing, continued with covering up and deceiving, and culminated in dying and disappearing. And this is but one line in the lengthy saga of corruption and perversity in this place. The President and Minister can manufacture their own truth, and engage in their flaccid pontifications, but no one is fooled, particularly the foreigners. Still, the pretences and games go on. Rather sadly, the President and Minister are not alone in their pretences; they have company and from surprising sources. For there are those who cared for the two absent citizens, and worshipped with them, but who would be uncomfortable with the contents and thrust of this writing. They prefer silence. This is an indication of the extent to which corruption has contaminated the conscience and the spirit. Yes, there is a premium on ignoring the quest for social justice, on forgetting the martyrs in the midst; and on undermining those who point to the now immeasurable criminalities of the days. And just like the politicos, these spiritual brothers say they have the nation’s interests first. For those who revel in the world of hypocrisy, please refrain from asking others to do the same. To the Foster and Taljit families, I regret any pain I may have caused.
Yours faithfully,
GHK Lall
