Outrage erupted yesterday following a post on the Ministry of Public Health’s Facebook page that blatantly referenced Christianity to make almost a dozen “declarations.”
The post spread rapidly on social media, drawing both criticism and support, and resulted in the Guyana Hindu Dharmic Sabha (GHDS) reporting the matter to the Ethnic Relations Commission (ERC). As the outrage grew on social media, the post was removed. However, by then it had been widely shared.
The first declaration “on the basis of the Word of God” was: “We declare the Lordship of Jesus Christ over the health sector, and that in this year, 2020, we will fear God and obey his commandments.” Another read: “We declare that the Minister of Finance, and the Director of Budget, will be inspired by God Almighty and that our programmes and our plans will find favour in the sight of God and in their sight and that we will have an unprecedented release of finances locally and internationally, that will help us to provide the necessary equipment, working tools and good working conditions for the staff in the Public Health Sector, in all 10 Administrative Regions.” Nine other “declarations” were made.
In a statement on its Facebook page, the GHDS said that it views with “disquiet and concern” the post by the Ministry of Public Health.
“We consider the post to be unacceptable in a secular state as ours and deeply insensitive to Guyanese that follow other religions. The post ignores article 1 of our Constitution which provides that Guyana is a secular state,” the religious organisation said. It urged the Minister of Public Health to “let good sense prevail and remove that post or rephrase with more general terminology as befits a government ministry.” The ministry is there to serve all the people of Guyana and is not a place of religious worship, the statement observed.
The GHDS also called on the ERC to take “appropriate” action.
It is not certain when the post was made, but when Stabroek News was notified of the post and checked the ministry’s Facebook page around 2 pm yesterday, it had already been removed. By then it had been widely circulated. What remained on the ministry’s page are photos of a Christian service it usually hosts.
Calls to Minister of Public Health Volda Lawrence for a comment on the matter went unanswered, while calls to the ministry’s Public Relations Officer, Terrence Esseboom, revealed that his phone was either turned off, or out of the service area.
President of the GHDS Dr Vindya Persaud told Stabroek News yesterday that she had reported the ministry’s post to a commissioner of the ERC, and was not sure if it was taken down as a result of her intervention, or for a different reason.
In any case, she said, in light of the election season, she would like to see the ERC be more reactive, and when necessary, pro-active to ensure that posts such as these are not made by public bodies.
“In the current climate… we have to be sensitive to this, and the ERC is tasked to oversee all that is happening,” Persaud stated, while adding that the ERC “should be a little more vigilant and take action,” as “a lot more instances are happening.”
One of the declarations also stated that “…we shall inherit every good thing which God has in store for us in 2020.”
