Dear Editor,
“No more silence, no to violence” is the loud slogan that I heard on the streets of Georgetown on Sunday, February 9.
Violence is on the rise here in Guyana, and in recent years it is really taking over the society at large. We walked for equality to show our solidarity with the victims of the myriad types of violence, namely, domestic, women, child sexual abuse and so on. I don’t have to give statistical details on the topic, because our newspapers show that every day.
It has become routine for the news to talk about it and forget about it. Violence is both the cause and the result of inequality in society. Violence destroys the dignity of both victim and perpetrator.
What is happening to our country, which was a haven for peace and harmony? I was deeply moved by some of the relatives of the victims of violence who shared their sorrows during the walk for equality. I don’t want to mention it because we are all aware of it and witness to it.
But my main concern is, how audible was our cry? Was it just another walk that the common people generally do? I was browsing the newspaper on Monday to at least find a tiny column on our march for equality, but there was not a single sentence on it. Is it because it was Sunday that our cry was not heard? Or was it that our cry was heard and concerned people have tuned into the matter?
I would like to extend my thanks to all the organisers and the participants who did this walk for equality. It has created some impact on the people concerned and we hope that they would do something about it.
I am not trying to take any particular case but the concerned people know about it and are rightly investigating it. If not, our cry for equality has gone unheard. If it has gone unheard, then the voice of a common person is being brushed aside. I am writing this in an attempt to make everyone and particularly the concerned aware that the common voice is powerful.
Yours faithfully,
(Name and address provided)
