Dear Editor,
I am forced to reply to an editorial in the Guyana Chronicle (the state newspaper) of April 20 in which I was named. One of the things I have learned in my years of activism is never to complain too much about my personal experiences of discrimination and harassment by the government and the State—and there have been numerous. There are two reasons for that. First, most citizens are frequently discriminated against and harassed by the powers that be; it’s the story of their daily lives. So my experiences should not be more important. Second, whenever you complain the government either dismisses your charge as having no “basis in truth” or label you a troublemaker.
But there comes a time when one has to speak out to draw attention to what is hidden. The recent revelation of censorship of my columns by the Chronicle is a case in point. The Office of the Prime Minister dismissed the charges as baseless and labeled me a troublemaker who wants to “damage the image of the Coalition government.” (Office of the Prime Minister April 18). I find it quite appalling that the PM’s office would make such a pronouncement. Did they mount an investigation? If so, did they speak with me? Did the PM sign off on the statement?
The Chronicle went further. Its editorial of April 20 snidely suggested that I was guilty of sowing racial discord by “litigating a past that readers in this Information Age can access easily and at their convenience engage in comparative content analyses among the different political administration.” (Guyana Chronicle April 20).So one may conclude that the Chronicle has no interest in history and that it used editorial latitude to censor me because “in our historically polarised and fractured society, the state media brings with it a duty of welding the people together in keeping with our motto, ‘One People, One Nation, One Destiny’ and as far as possible eschewing internecine conflicts.” (Guyana Chronicle April 20).
For the record, neither article dealt with race or ethnicity. I suppose opposing the inclusion in the government of those tainted with political degeneracy and expressing disappointment at remarks by the president are tantamount to sowing racial discord. I challenge the Chronicle to send the two articles in question to the police for investigation into whether I violated the Racial Hostility Act.
My personal view is that there is need for a major intervention at the Chronicle by the leaders of the government. The newspaper is fast becoming an embarrassment to the government. At least one Board member has publicly complained that the Board’s hands are tied given the fact that the editors seem to be taking directives from other sources. If you have a Board that is not empowered to serve as an oversight and whose broad policy directives are ignored, then you should not boast about a reformed newspaper. The Chronicle Board of directors must be properly empowered if the newspaper is to progress.
I do not believe that what is happening at the Chronicle is the policy of the Government; it seems to be the policy of a tiny cabal located in the Office of the Prime Minister and maybe elsewhere. And some in leadership positions at the paper appear to be wittingly and unwittingly carrying out directives or are acting based on what they think the bosses would want. Remember just the other day the president had to rebuke another section of the State Media which declared that it was not duty-bound to cover the Opposition. The time has come for the government to come out with that clear media policy which Minister Harmon had promised some time ago. We cannot continue like this.
Let me end with this subjective note. There is something obscene about a scenario whereby those who never lifted a finger or a placard or their voices in the struggle for justice and against injustice in Guyana would be lecturing soldiers of that struggle about damaging the image of the government and about our national motto. Photo shopping, censorship, anti-intellectualism and anti-history do more damage to the image of the government than my critique of the government.
Yours faithfully,
David Hinds
