The issues that push activist Sherlina Nageer into action can vary from a boy’s genitals burnt by the police, protestors shot and killed, a woman dying after an illegal abortion, a child being raped or just a woman suffering a mental health breakdown.
Injustice suffered by any human being or even animals are the driving force behind her activism and for her remaining silent it is not an option.
She knows that many might not agree with her style of activism and some even call her crazy but at the end of the day it is not about her but those who are suffering and have no one to stand for them. She cannot remain quiet about injustice.
“Anything that has to do with injustice and violation of people’s rights gets me fired up,” Nageer told the Sunday Stabroek in a recent interview.
And it is that fire in her that would have made her confront Minister of Health Dr Bheri Ramsaran last Monday. His verbally abusive response, she admits, shocked even her who has faced all sorts. But what shocks her more is the support he has since received from men and women alike who just can’t wrap their heads around the fact that what the minister did was wrong—plain and simple.
Such attitudes, coupled with other negatives cause Nageer to sometimes struggle with frustration and depression, but she said the struggle is real and she cannot stop being who she is.
“I have a lot of love for Guyana and I think it was a good thing to come back… There are a lot of positives to living here but there are also a lot of negatives and sometimes it feels like the negatives outweigh the positives and sometimes it feels like you are just banging your head against that wall and just getting a bloody head and the wall is still there,” she said.
Nageer does not “really care” about what people have to