Dear Editor,
There have been occasional claims from the restless spirit dungeons of the opposition that I am the government’s roving propagandist. With such a coveted position, I must be getting up in the world. There is one problem: the government has no knowledge of such a situation, and would not be too keen for such questionable company. I wonder if it would even admit familiarity and friendliness with this supposed advocate. In fact, if recognizing and identifying publicly this government as a lesser evil when compared to the PPP agitates, then I bow head in acknowledgement. Like Chuck Jackson sang, “I stand accused.” And Jim Reeves took things further: “I’ve been accused, convicted, and condemned.” Oh, well….
For my efforts and pains, I will do the unthinkable: present the government with an invoice (an inflated one) for my support and expertise. Hopefully, a duty-free concession will follow, a hefty expense allowance, and sweet side deals. Dis li’l David (sorry big David) gwine prime he slinging-shot fuh challenge dem longtime local Goliaths, fuh earn he money. The government will have a bigger problem then. For here is a citizen with the audacity to question, criticize, and offer scorching recommendations as to its conduct. Now he (me) is even more brazen in asking to be compensated for doing things that no propagandist worth his salt would ever do, and venturing into areas that none has before. From any party. As an example, and as is publicly documented, I have called for the firing of more than one minister on more than one occasion; that was very well-received in government circles. As another example, I have repeatedly urged His Excellency, President Granger, to clean house and get rid of corrupt people in his circle, as they are hurting his image, vision, and programme. For one more example, I have written that this government, at times, resembles the old PPP government too much in terms of corrupt practices, with the result of less-than-satisfactory change. This can be said: here is a propagandist of an unknown stripe, one who follows his own mind, and alerting non-listening political parties of their syphilitic states. With an unprecedented propagandist like this, the government does not need critics and doubters and adversaries. It has its own one right in its bosom. This is unreal; unbelievable, too.
In contrast, when I survey the high-performance PPP political propaganda machinery and its agents, I observe one constant: he or she, local or foreign-based, in private or professional capacity, never (repeat: never) had or have a single unfavourable, critical word to articulate in public that goes against the standards, values, and records of the party or its multitudes of malefactors. I ask to be forgiven, but I must make a rare departure and name names: not Hydar, not Prem, not Randy, not Kwame, and not any of the others of that illustrious PR Praetorian Guard, and defenders of the political faith have ever uttered a single word of disagreement; no discomfort. They simply pretended to neither hear, nor see, nor speak of any evil. In their book, there was no wrongdoing at all. Not their role, not their objective; not in the interests of what matters uppermost: the party. From the perspective of the PPP, or any party (or any ecstatic supporter), those stalwarts are the real deals. There is nothing not to like about any of them. In the PNC’s time there were equivalents. Disinformation agents is what I shall call them.
So, what is the problem with this contrarian propagandist, who infuriates some of the people he supposedly represents? Why does he attract so much attention from the dark, secretive side of the PPP? Definitely, it is for saying that the PPP not only does not have any clothes on; but that it has little chastity, less dignity, and no integrity. And those are just for starters. In these regards, I plead guilty and throw myself on the mercy of the truth-seekers, conscientious and patriotic. But the trouble goes deeper than any of these. It goes back to that old, tired, destructive devil in the den: race.
The heart of the problem is that there is deep, heavy rage that someone of my ethnicity (Guyanese) could have the gall and guts to say: yu’all baad, real baad. That is all that is heard from the tribal traitor. The second sin is even worse: it is to tender that the other people (those dreadful PNC people) are not as bad. That is the cardinal unforgivable sin of this self-appointed propagandist. That is the racial betrayal that rankles. I say this in response: clean up act; or get used to it. And since I have been so labeled, be careful. I might begin to like the idea and really flay. Then, all the stops would be pulled out. And that would not be fun for the objects of either wrath or pen. On any side.
Yours faithfully,
GHK Lall
