Former President Donald Ramotar has rushed to the defence of his predecessor and current opposition leader Bharrat Jagdeo on his New York statements on discrimination against Indo-Guyanese, which the APNU+AFC government has described as race-baiting.
“Jagdeo is being accused of playing the race card and is being scolded for his use of language; he is also being told that he is trying to divide the people. This is a clear case of blaming the victim,” Ramotar told Stabroek News.
He added, “What Mr Jagdeo told the meeting is the truth of what is taking place in Guyana today.”
During a reception held in Queens, New York last month, Jagdeo contended that there is “an assault” on democracy in Guyana.
“There is an assault on people of Indian origin. There is an assault on supporters of the PPP. What we thought would never return to Guyana, in just one short year, has returned in full force and even worse in some regards than the [Forbes] Burnham era,” he said, while accusing the government of usurping transported lands and implementing new taxes that mainly target the rural poor.
“…And you know who live in the rural areas? It’s mainly our supporters. And so our country has taken a turn for the worse. It’s something we have to live with but I want to say to you, we are going to work hard and whenever the elections come again, we are going to take back Guyana, we are going to take it back from these people,” he added.
The government of Guyana blasted Jagdeo for his comments which they dubbed “irresponsible, hateful, race baiting and malicious fabrications.”
But the former president was not moved by the widespread public criticisms. Instead, he issued a statement saying that he stood by all that he said in New York.
According to Ramotar, the APNU+AFC government “went into overdrive” to attack Jagdeo, and has failed to address the core issue that persons terminated since government changed last year, were mainly of one race.
“It is totally true that far more than 90% of the public servants and contract workers that have been fired, asked to resign, or forced to resign are Indo-Guyanese and Amerindians. Indeed, in one fell swoop more than 2,000 Amerindians were fired. Many African Guyanese supporters of the PPP/C have also been fired and are actively being discriminated against,” Ramotar asserted.
“It is also true that Indo-Guyanese and Amerindians make up less than 5% of those that are being hired by the regime. In passing, let me say that the number of contract workers under this PNC-led APNU+AFC regime has increased greatly. The employment cost is sky-rocketing due to the ‘jobs for the boys and girls’ policy of this regime,” he added.
And although Jagdeo’s PPP is still to produce evidence of its claims of discrimination, Ramotar believes that as figures from supplementary budgets are made public, the extent can then be deciphered.
As he stood up for Jagdeo, Ramotar posited, “It is also a fact that almost all the managers dismissed from GuySuCo and other public corporations have been Indo-Guyanese. The President talked about taking these matters to court. Well, many of these are in the courts already. It is true, too, that close to 100% of the persons who had their core houses taken away by the regime are also Indian-Guyanese,” he stressed.
“The agricultural lands that are being taken from farmers are leased/owned by mostly Indian Guyanese. Another case of blatant racial and political discrimination took place when more than 30 African Guyanese farmers from the West Berbice had their lands re-possessed by this regime. Street lights in Indo-Guyanese populated areas have also been removed by the regime, while lights were installed in areas where African Guyanese predominate. All of these are facts. These are what really matter. Not cheap talk.”
Jagdeo is the victim
Ramotar said that government has a bias depending on the voice that speaks out against racial discrimination.
“It is also apposite to note that when the APNU+AFC leaders and sympathizers speak, mostly falsely, about discrimination against black people, that is not called racism. However, whenever the rights of Indo-Guyanese are violated and anyone speaks out about it, they are dubbed racists,” Ramotar said.
He said that Jagdeo is a victim to the claims of racism adding that he stands by what the opposition leader said, as if the party didn’t feel it was being discriminated against it would have not been vocal.
“Jagdeo is the victim of that claim today. If the regime is serious about social cohesion, it does not need a ministry to promote it. Just stop the racial and political discrimination. Let their actions demonstrate their seriousness. Talk is cheap,” Ramotar said.
