Dear Editor,
A little over a week ago on Sunday evening (May 29) I was casually browsing the television channels looking for something interesting to relieve my boredom when, by chance, I came upon a programme on TVG Channel 28, titled ‘The Factor’ hosted by Mr Neaz Subhan, who was interviewing Mr Ravi Dev, Mr David Hinds, and Mr Juan Edghill.
Predictably, the exchange of ideas and opinions amongst the discussants was invigorating and thought provoking and had me glued to my television set. However, coming down to the tail end of the programme, what up till then had been an engrossing discussion was spoilt by remarks made by Mr Edghill. In sum, he stated that Afro-Guyanese believe that they have the God-given right to rule and this belief is being fostered by the Christian charismatic churches. I couldn’t believe my ears. I actually pinched myself to ensure I wasn’t having a surreal experience.
I’ve patiently waited a whole week to see if the wider society would have zeroed in on Mr Edghill’s remarks and use the formal media or social media to roundly condemn it, but having not seen any movement in this direction, I decided to pen this missive.
First off, I wish to state that as an evangelical Christian, I take extreme umbrage at Mr Edghill’s unflattering misrepresentation, traducement and denigration of the charismatic community here. Worse still, that he would seek to imply that the church propagates an ethnic agenda is palpably slanderous and mischievous, and should not go unchallenged. I pause to advise that I have not, by any stretch of the imagination, appointed myself as the evangelical representative on this matter; I am just responding as an aggrieved member. Hopefully, my more spiritually-grounded and informed brethren in the evangelical churches will take this issue on board and give it the serious attention it deserves.
Secondly, the callous assertion made by Mr Edghill, though risible, is also inciteful. Every Guyanese knows that race relations in this country, especially between Africans and Indians, is balanced on a knife’s edge.
I take the position that Mr Edghill, the politician, appears to be fanning the flames of bigotry and discord in an attempt to ingratiate himself with the PPP. The public will recall that it was only last year during an event organized by the Indian Arrival Committee to commemorate the anniversary of the Lusignan killings which occurred on January 26, 2008, that he made similar remarks for which he was pilloried in the media. So, this is not the first time that Mr Edghill has publicly espoused ethnic demagoguery.
Where is the Ethnic Relations Commission? Is it still hibernating? Mr Edghill should be summoned before the ERC. The powers-that-be need to get their act together and fast.
Yours faithfully,
Osafo Lynch
