Dear Editor,
Allow me to compliment you and your publisher for making it possible for ordinary citizens to get their views across to the wider population and to the wheelers and dealers in the corridors of power. Sometimes a simple letter to the public can change the course of history.
I am one who witnessed domestic violence as a child, unleashed against someone very close to me. This was someone I loved most dearly, who was savagely beaten by her husband, over and over, in the most inhumane of ways; even an animal would have died with those punches. It was the equivalent of blows intended for an elephant being inflicted on a sheep, in this case a woman. God bless her always. That person is still alive.
I was also exposed to the most inhuman beatings by a man who should have been close and loving to me. The beating was done in the most savage of ways, so that at the age of 60, I still have the marks of violence on my body. Then there was mental torture coupled with constant insults, which are all examples of domestic violence.
But I have seen worse inflicted on other women and children, and in some cases violence committed on men by women. We have cases of the murder of mostly women, the murder of children, and in other cases injuries inflicted on women which maim for life. All this violence was done by people whom the women cared for, and mothered children for, bringing new generations into the world.
Let us try to honour and respect women. Those who are abused need counselling, which we do not have much of in Guyana, and which is a service that can be expensive. Let us train our lay pastors, our Imams, Pandits, civic minded citizens, and general volunteers to listen and counsel. Abused children need much help. Children of abusive homes often become abusers themselves, and the cycle continues. The children of broken homes often have broken homes. It has to do with respect and consideration. So much pain, so much hurt, so much destruction to lives and futures, it pains my heart.
Yours faithfully,
Roshan Khan