Dear Editor,
This is in reference to the article captioned, `Nagamootoo says suffered major disqualifications’ (SN Feb 10), which said that while in the PPP he suffered these disqualifications because he is/was “not Hindu” and he was/is “not a communist ideologue or Soviet educated Marxist/Leninist”.
I spoke with several of Nagamootoo’s friends (in PPP) and some who defected (1970s) from PPP and joined PNC, and some who broke with PPP and now in AFC. Not one of them supported Nagamootoo’s claim that he suffered discrimination either as a non-Hindu or not being a hard core Marxist. In fact, they are surprised to now read Nagamootoo is not a Hindu. They all agree Mo, as they fondly call him, has a kind heart. They recognize he did a lot to help the poor and dispossessed. He fought for farmers and sugar workers. And he was ill-treated by some in the PPP out of personal jealousy and their own ego to prevent his rise to the top. But Mo was never ill-treated because he was not a Hindu or a not a Soviet educated Marxist.
Although most have despised the (poor) leadership of the PPP, post Jagan, they all agreed that the PPP never practised racial or religious discrimination. Not surprisingly, they are all shocked to read that Mo makes the (ridiculous charge, as they describe it) charge that he was abused because he was not a Hindu. They all ask rhetorically whether Mo is seeking to divide the population for political gains?
They note how Mo has been known to exaggerate claims in the past without supporting evidence. And in making his latest claim of religious and ideological discrimination, they say Mo is destroying his credibility and the enormous respect PPP supporters historically have for him as well as undermining his chance of being a future Presidential candidate. Some say Mo is “full of hot air” and that he has reached a point in his life where “he is singing for his supper”. They say he is so bitter with the PPP leadership that he would do anything and say anything.
In all of my interactions with Mo when he was in the opposition fighting the dictatorship, when he served as Minister, studying law in Trinidad, and practising law, he never made these claims or hinted about discrimination. So why now after he has
broken rank with his former party? This is hypocrisy. It makes his anti-Hindu and anti-Marxist charges hollow and incredible. And his charge could undermine the religious cohesion of the society.
All of Mo’s friends say he has undermined his credibility with the charges as the PPP is not known as a party to practise ethnic or religious discrimination. The Jagans would not have stood for it. One recalls, Jagan engineered a party vote (in the 1960s) to put Brindley Benn (a Christian) as deputy leader and party Chairman as opposed to Balram Singh Rai (a Hindu). Similar engineered votes took place subsequently. So the party could not be pro-Hindu.
It was/is expected that an Indian would be the Presidential candidate as PPP was/is an Indian dominated party. But a Hindu? No! At any rate, President Donald Ramotar was not a Hindu and neither is Bharrat Jagdeo a practising temple-going Hindu. Janet Jagan was not a Hindu. Cheddi Jagan was not a practising Hindu; he proudly described himself as an atheist and his mother was quite unhappy that Jagan did not want puja conducted in his home for its opening.
Hard core PPP activists or Jaganites during the 1970s and 1980s were mostly atheists, with a few, like Pandit Reepu, practising religion. And Mo had repeatedly declared (up until his break with PPP in 2011) that he was a ‘revolutionary’. So religious discrimination could not be an issue for him. It is noted that the respected Ralph Ramkarran was/is not a practising Hindu and he did not study in the USSR. He did not feel any sense of discrimination while being in the PPP. The same can be said of Clement Rohee, Gail Teixeira, Halim Majeed (who defected to the PNC), and Feroze Mohammed. Ramkarran was outmaneuvered (not because of religion or ideology) for the leadership of the PPP as also happened to Mo.
Mo’s friends charge that he (Mo) has forgotten that it was he who led the opposition to Ramkarran being the Presidential candidate in 1997. They note that had Mo supported Ramkarran as the candidate in 1997, Mo would have become the Presidential candidate in 2002 (in a deal) or definitely in 2007 when Ramkarran might have completed his second term. Guyana would have been a different country today. Mo might have been completing his second Presidential term in office at this time. Instead Mo had to wait eight years (from 2007) to become Prime Minister and is unlikely to ever become President.
Everyone I spoke with, including PPP supporters in NY, thought that Moses was always a Madrassi Hindu. He is married to a beautiful Hindu from a strong Hindu background and community in West Berbice. It has also been pointed out that Moses was not a regular worshipper at a Christian church and that he patronized Hindu functions at Whim and at Number 2 West Berbice where he was a teacher.
Hindus regularly performed aartee on Mo and his wife, a rare honour, when they graced Hindu events. Thus, people can’t make sense of why Mo brought this religious issue up now except to further divide the population.
There is no political advantage in invoking religious division in our already racially estranged country.
Yours faithfully,
Vishnu Bisram
