Dear Editor,
I am writing this letter as a representative of all the ordinary Guyanese who hustle and slog away every day in these hard times to barely meet the needs of their families: those who sweat and labour each and every day on farms and in fields; in factories; in logging and mineral industries; in sawmills; in quarries; at markets; in the civil service, as nurses and teachers; in the sugar industry, the employed and unemployed; in the minibuses and taxis; in construction; in the service industries; as grandparent baby sitters, and in all other fields of work and careers that I am unable to mention.
On behalf of their voices, all these ordinary people (because they hardly ever get a chance to “get a word in,” and are often trampled upon, scammed, forgotten and ignored by politicians who are obsessed with greed for power and wealth), I direct this letter to Charrandas Persaud to express our thanks and share our thoughts, and hope this letter will serve as a guide to him as he now tries to figure out what pathway to take in a “lonely” heroic journey as a change-agent, crying out like the voice of a prophet for justice for us ordinary people.
Be encouraged, Mr Charrandas! You are our rock star! You are our voice of hope and relief! We love you and thank you sincerely for having the courage to stand up and bravely shouting out “yes” on our behalf! In that single word, “yes,” we, the thousands of ordinary Guyanese in all regions and in every home, young and old, moms and dads all over Guyana heard only the screeching brakes put on the APNU+AFC plans to bring back paramountcy of the PNC dictatorship that had once terrorised and oppressed Guyanese.
Thank you! In that resounding “yes” we also heard wage and salary increases for civil servants -including police officers, teachers and nurses; employment for all Guyanese regardless of our race, religion or party affiliations; improved streets, roads and bridges in all parts of Guyana; potable drinking water and food for all of us; a great education for our children; all Guyanese freed from the fear of heinous crimes and banditry, and a Guyana that once again will be on the map as a model for peace, progress and prosperity both in the Caribbean and in the world! In that “yes,” we saw a glimpse of our future – a Guyana at peace, and all of us together working as one people for our beloved country.
We urge Mr Charrandas to stay out of the fray of dirty politics and continue to be a mystical voice of hope and inspiration to all of us. His name forever will be etched in our hearts, our stories, and the history books as the man who fearlessly stood up, when no one would, for what is right even though he could have been killed. To get involved in party politics again will only diminish what he stands for, and what the name, “Charrandas,” means to us.
We want him to continue to be a legend of hope, a superstar, our hero. Just when we thought Guyana was lost, one man named Charrandas daringly said “yes” and a whole country rejoiced! His heroism is summarised in the words of an old lady in a little village in Region Four who, when asked, said, “Me hear wan man named Charrandas said he would rather die than fo see Guyana go down. Charrandas?! … sounds almost like Mohandas Karamchand (Gandhi)!” Thank you, our champion Mr Charrandas! For all the ordinary people of Guyana.
Yours faithfully,
Dr Julie K. J. Ramadhin
Educator