National sportsmen Leon Johnson and Shemar Britton have used their social media platforms to call for unity among Guyanese as the country faces ethnic tensions stemming from the recent General and Regional Elections.
On his Facebook page, Johnson, who is the captain of Guyana’s national men’s cricket team, wrote: “They say the most unifying thing in Guyana is cricket. As leaders of the most unifying thing in Guyana, I call for peace between everyone.
“Before you act think about the consequences and how it may affect you, your family and the country.” At least one fatality has been recorded due to a number of standoffs between police and civilians following the declarations of votes in Region 4.
Meanwhile, Britton, a former Caribbean under 21 table tennis champion, reminded of a few special sporting moments in the nation’s recent history which captured the inseparability of the Guyanese society void of electoral bliss.
See Britton’s verbatim statement below.
“Dear Guyana, every victory we have achieved as a nation was because we were together as a people 6 races united as one. There’s no independence without Cheddi and Burnham, there is no Stanford T20 championship without Travis Dowlin’s 75 against Jamaica and Deonarine’s ‘6’ in the finals. Who could forget Johnathan Foo’s miraculous innings the second time we won.
“There’s no Gold Cup appearance without European reinforcements, there is no world championship in table tennis teams without Natalie ‘speedy’ Cummings’ Amerindian presence. No Pagwah celebrations without our Indian brothers and sisters, no delicious roti and curry, there is no cook-up rice without our African brothers and sisters, no Golden Pagoda mixed fried rice without our Chinese, no pepper pot without our Amerindians.
“Don’t forsake your Guyanese brothers and sisters because of smooth-talking politicians and ancient stories from the elderly about a time we quite frankly no longer recognize. “Guyana belongs to us all and as history has shown, united we stand, divided we will surely fall. Guyana is the only home I have so I can’t afford to see her fall.
“Stop with the nonsense don’t let politics divide us.
“Ps for all my highly educated colleagues you know yourself, your education is supposed to grant you the wisdom to refuse to be used as mere political pawns, stop ridiculing people who genuinely don’t know and let each one teach one don’t share misguided uneducated posts and information intended to divide instead take a stand and chose to unite.”
