Dear Editor,
It seems a great comfort and ease for Ms Nadia Sagar that she stands only with her citizenship to define her. It is not that most Indians in Guyana could not do the same if we tried but that we do not wish to. And why should we?
We celebrate Amerindian Heritage Month. Africans celebrate their culture and heritage as proud Africans during Black History Month and on Emancipation Day. And as I write this on May 5th, it is for me and most Indians a proud day of commemoration, Indian Arrival Day.
All of our ethnic pride and honour are guaranteed by the UN Human Rights Charter and by the Guyana Constitution. Africans and Amerindians have cultural and ethnic groups and leadership but, unlike Indian groups and leaders, they are never required to account for themselves vis a vis creating division and disunity.
But this thing of being Indian rankles with Guyanese like Ms Sagar who are apparently so proud to have answered the call of self denial that they wish us all to do the same. Indian self denial does appear to be the solution to all of Guyana’s ills.
It is always Indians who are asked to make the sacrifice and those who have done so look down at us primal beings who, like every Amerindian and African, claim ethnic pride and honour.
No one of the two sides in the elections campaign is giving the electorate a clear moral choice. In the absence of this, we will more than likely continue with a racial voting pattern.
Elections in Guyana have always been about race. Africans vote for the PNC no matter what and no one has a problem with that. Even the 1992 en bloc vote by Africans for the PNC after the dark days of the PNC dictatorship is now justified. And even within this context, the idea that Indians would vote for the PPP no matter what creates so much condemnation and censure.
Martin Carter is quite correct to state that there is no separate salvation for us since we share a country. However, he never advocated, nor could anyone else, that a united Guyanese people should be achieved through self denial and self hatred on the part of Indians.
The status quo of the Caribbean is African and Indians are a minority. Is there such racism within the Caribbean region and context that demands that Indians erase or negate all ethnic, cultural and historical ties in order to belong?
Citizenships can change. I can be Guyanese, or American or Canadian, etc., if I cared to be. But how does one deny or change one’s essential being?
I would never negate my Indian self. It is my DNA. It is my history, my legacy, my traditions, my culture. It is my spiritual home. If I ever denied any of it, that would be the real dishonour. And if anyone asked that of me they would be trampling on my guaranteed human, spiritual and constitutional rights.
Yours faithfully,
Ryhaan Shah
