Dear Editor,
Politics will never be the same without gentle politicians like Navin Chandarpal. I always remember his words, “we have to work overtime to get all our people working together again to make the dawn of the new era a reality.” However, his dream remains unfulfilled since Guyana is even more divided today than it was in 1992 thanks to the oppressive style of governance from the Jagdeo/Ramotar cabal. His dream of a One Guyana was never realized because of the unchecked greediness of the Jagdeo/Ramotar cabal.
Navin was a thoroughbred politician from Berbice and is a true grassroots fighter who has stood with the masses more often than not. For his work in the struggle against the tyrannical rule of Burnham, he shall stand tall among all revolutionaries who fought for the restoration of democracy.
He brought this commitment to equal opportunity for all Guyanese into Government in 1992 but was brutally attacked by the petit bourgeoisie within the PPP since he represented their conscience as they raided the Treasury. These attacks culminated in a series of wild and baseless accusations in 2011 and then he was fired from his job as a brutal technique to “starve him into silence”.
Today, in an environment where justice and fairness needs to return to the political process, people like Navin would have been valuable assets in healing the nation. But he is no more and this is a great loss to Guyana.
He was a teacher first before he was a politician and anyone who was in his presence always left the room with two things, a political joke and some wisdom.
It is primarily to his credit and that of Lionel Peters and Khemraj Ramjattan that the PYO survived post 1992 since almost every Tom, Dick and Harry abandoned party politics for Perks and Privileges in Government. It was men like Navin, who found the time to contribute to the youths in the PYO during those difficult days, even though he was busy as Minister of the Government.
So even though we are on different sides of the political divide in 2014, I will always hold the memories I shared with him, in high esteem. He was a good soldier for the cause of emancipating the masses from mental slavery but that project remains incomplete thanks to the poor governance of the Jagdeo/Ramotar cabal.
May god bless his soul and may these few words comfort Indra and his children. Farewell Comrade Navin!
Yours faithfully,
Sase Singh
