Dear Editor,
I attended the APNU+AFC community meeting in South Ozone Park, Queens on Sunday, March 22. Being away from Guyana, and feeling excited about the election tempo, I wanted to hear what David Granger and Moses Nagamootoo had to say about their newfound coalition and to learn about the national programme that they had in store for Guyana should their coalition become victorious at the May 11 election. I walked past the line of angry protesters outside the Naresa Palace who said they were uneasy about Moses’ alliance with the APNU and they were very suspicious about Granger’s questionable past. Inside, there was a mixed crowd of the usual political suspects from the Queens area, the hearth of the Indo-Guyanese community. I reminisced a bit with some old friends, including Paul Tennassee of the former DLM who was once arrested and jailed by Burnham.
After being led through the American and Guyana national anthems, followed by a round of cultural performances, including a treat from a tassa group, the meeting finally got under way. Moses spoke first, followed by a shorter presentation by Granger. Granger kept the focus on the need to restore ownership of the resources of Guyana rather than allowing foreigners like the Russians and Chinese to take away what rightfully belonged to Guyanese. He said the voters’ list was “dirty”, claiming that the list has suddenly gone up by “100, 000 to 567,000” and he urged voters to “be vigilant.”
However, it was Moses who stole the show. In a presentation running for about 30 minutes, mixing metaphors and humour, Guyanese style, about growing up in Guyana, Moses castigated the current PPP regime and his former comrades in the PPP. He spoke about his childbirth delivery by an Afro-Guyanese village midwife and of being schooled by Afro-Guyanese teachers and growing up with APNU’s leader in his village of Whim in the ancient county. He shared some information, some of which he said will not appear in the press, about being charged as an “ambassador” by the late Cheddi Jagan to conduct discussions of shared governance with Burnham during the 1980s. Moses justified the AFC’s alliance with APNU by arguing that it was the “right time”, given the reality on the ground. He reiterated his pledge to deliver the “11% Indians” to give the coalition its marginal victory over the PPP.
I left the meeting pondering about two things Moses said. Not much was discussed directly about the coalition partner and David Granger that would justify the alliance, given the AFC’s initial adopted position as an independent political entity, nor did Moses frontally address Granger’s questionable association with the Burnhamite era or issues like election rigging and the assassination of Walter Rodney, the questions raised by the protesters. I thought a more direct approach would have sufficed, instead of defending the coalition on the argument that the PPP had no “moral ground” to criticize the PNC about “alleged rigged elections” because the PPP has “not held local elections for 17 years.”
Perhaps the comment that struck me as being a little odd was Moses’ rendition of a story about a trip he made to India under the auspices of the Global Organization of the People of Indian Origin (GOPIO) where he was presented with a community award, generally given to Indians recognized for their work among the diaspora. He made it a point that while receiving the award in India, the land of his ancestors, he told his audience that he was not an “Indian” but a “Guyanese”. This comment brought back memories of another Indian, Dr Winston Mahabir, a founding member and a minister of Trinidad’s People’s National Movement, which was led by Dr Eric Williams. During a meeting with India’s Jawaharlal Nehru in 1957 when asked by Nehru “You’re Indian aren’t you?” a puzzled Dr Mahabir responded by saying “No, Sir, I am West Indian!” Perhaps we can forgive Dr Mahabir for confusing his nationality and geographical location of his birth with that of his ethnicity. Perhaps, too, Moses is a man of a different era. But it was difficult, however, to envision other Guyanese like David Hinds, Walter Rodney, Eusi Kwayana, and of course, David Granger, all of whom can clearly identify with a cultural and conscious historical connection with the Caribbean and African diaspora, making such a faux pas. But then again, maybe Moses is on a greater historical mission. Was he playing politics or was he playing to his audience? Time will tell.
Yours faithfully,
Baytoram Ramharack
