Dear Editor,
There are more than justifiable calls for Minister Ramsaran to step aside. His remarks about stripping a woman, who I believe went overboard in her confrontation with the minister, are unforgiveable and go beyond the misogynist vitriol we have learned to tolerate as a society. I believe he should do the proper thing and remove from the political scene. I would even recommend some kind of counselling.
I do not think that there has been a politician who has been subjected to more provocation and ridicule than Cheddi Jagan. He never lost his cool. He was too intimately connected with the dreams and aspirations of our people to pounce on them in their moments of frustration and indiscretion.
It also seems that our present politicians have lost the great art of humour-in-the-campaign. The late much maligned Forbes Burnham was a genius in disarming his provokers with simple and biting sarcasm and humour that would send them scampering for cover. But I don’t think there was any to beat Boysie Ramkarran. The great LFS himself paid homage to Ramkarran’s skill and humour, as he himself was at the receiving end many a time.
Politicians will seek to exploit the Whim incident to its fullest, but lest we focus too much on Ramsaran for his foolish and disparaging remarks, his attitude is a mere symptom a deeper and malaise of how we in our country relate to women in general.
Many who are now demanding his head are themselves as guilty if not more guilty of gender violence.
While Mr. Ramsaran, like the rest of us, is only too human, people who seek elected office are expected to maintain the highest standard of dignity. But at the same time we have to ensure that the thinking and behaviour such as we have seen is not transmitted to our younger population.
At least, we will save ourselves the indignity of being lectured by foreign diplomats. The local British envoy has weighed in the Ramsaran affair, and has indirectly called for the minister’s removal. This is coming from a man in whose country two women per week, on an average are killed by current or former partners. One cannot forget the infamous George Galloway, a British MP who, not so long ago, remarked that having sex with a sleeping woman was not rape. But worst of all, Galloway was able to retain his Bradford West seat. What does this say of British politics?
Back at home, however, the honourable Minister Ramsaran should do the right thing, not because it might be the politically expedient thing, but simple the right thing: please, step aside.
Yours faithfully,
Swami Aksharananda
