Dear Editor,
Social cohesion is the slowly cresting watchword nowadays. If it is not a euphemism for Truth and Reconciliation, then it had better be. For without that, there is no healing, and if there is no healing then there is no cohesion worth mentioning. Also, if it is going to limp along in painful slow motion in air-conditioned boardrooms, then already the radius of its sweep leaves much to be desired.
One thing the last elections reiterated beyond dispute is the frailty of the national psyche, and the unsound character of political leadership. And having whipped citizens to the pitiless fever pitches of fear, hate, and aggressiveness, there remains the challenge on how to defuse effectively, how to reorient peaceably, and how to start all over. Still, quite rightly, the talk is all about social cohesion; it must be given a hearing, afforded credibility, and an opportunity to gain traction, if not go some distance in delivering something, no matter how limited.
The first questions are these: Is this really desired? Genuinely, powerfully desired where it counts? How to attain believability when inerasable memories (old and recent) abound with the carnage of inequities and injustices that flourished? And how to reconcile against the pursuit of untrammelled unbridled access to power? Stated differently, when power comes first, anything and everything else comes out a long second. Are leaders from both government and opposition (and key surrounding power players) ready to invest whatever it takes to introduce sanity, decency, and some scintilla of harmony into the national mentality today, tomorrow, and come election season?
If they are really serious, then some things must be done, become visible, and stand as testimony to the powerful, irresistible force dedicated towards social cohesion. It is neither part-time nor back burner nor soup of the day issue in terms of attention and commitment. It can be through political partnering, or standing alone as the willing, sacrificing trailblazer and difference maker in race relations and unity in this society. It is about unprecedented and likely unparalleled positions in the party, in the community, and in the country. Relentlessly. Implacably. Irrever-sibly. Come what may. This boat cannot pause; it cannot stop in midstream.
Thus it is right back to the basics: Are we ready to go beyond the sound bites and photo ops? Is there willingness to seize every opportunity to proclaim a new day and new way, and then live it by irrefutable example?
There is a long road to travel on this social cohesion journey. It is dark and perilous, and laden with adversaries on the inside and outside. The first real steps have not been taken yet; not even pondered as to the implications and demands embedded. Oh, everybody knows what has to be done, what is required. But none appears ready to take the first authentic groundbreaking forward step. Repeat: authentic groundbreaking step.
So, I say if this is one more going through the motions, then let it cease right here, right now. It is time that we stop titillating ourselves with false promises and through falsified expectations. I think it was Hegel who wrote that the only thing we learn from history is that we don’t learn. Can we as Guyanese keep on not learning an iota in the single most dangerous and potentially most destructive of areas in our freakish folly-filled existence?
If there is true love for this place called home and country, real great compassion for its peoples, then no political sacrifice is too high that can be embarked upon to diminish the raw antagonisms that embitter and divide.
Therefore, there must be the willingness to abjure and abandon, if not expose and exorcise the hate-creators, the hate-maintainers, and the hate-perpetuators in the bosom and farther afield. This can mean brother, sister, and faithful comrade. Are those who speak to social cohesion ready to go this far? Therein resides the proof, the price, and the purpose wrapped in this most fateful of Guyanese hauntings.
Yours faithfully,
GHK Lall
