Dear Editor,
The brief repartee between Hamilton Green and Harry Hergash refers. Let me say from the onset that I do not read Hamilton Green’s writings for the simple reason that from my point of view they lack credibility, but had to read a couple to get background. I know Harry Hergash very well – since 1963. We have kept in touch with each other over the years, with periods of lapses. Hergash left not for “greener pasture” in Canada but because the pathway in his chosen field was blocked, and I, after serious deliberations with my family, landed in New York City, but out of fear…. That was “a dark time.”
I do not speak for Hergash; he is quite capable and able to do so. This much I say: he was among the first batch of students enrolled when UG was inaugurated. He was a schoolteacher when he attended UG. He served afterwards with GUYSUCO, and later also as a lecturer at UG. In Canada, he changed course and pursued a career in the public administration and finance in which he worked until his retirement.
Now to Hamilton Green. I know of Hamilton Green, he being a powerful PNC insider. I have seen him close-up a few times when he attended UG Appointments Board meetings. I would sit in at those meetings when it was necessary for me to represent my department. We never spoke to each other. In fact, few members of the Board spoke directly with Green. Those who did speak did so in ingratiating tones. His approach to the meetings was announced by the firm and hard click-clack of his shoes on the floor; supposedly to intimidate. Green was no measure to the academics; nevertheless, he compensated with his display of visible arrogance, his position of power. I recall one occasion when he arrived with a helicopter just outside the admin building! I wondered if he realized that the members scoffed in disdain.
In Hamilton Green’s writings, he assumes an air of one who is morally upright. He admonishes. He offers advice.… I find this absurd, amusing, but mostly obscene. He is a pretender, which may be described as hypocritical. He portrays himself as a benevolent wise elder. In fact, he is trying to sanitize his past, and do a makeover of his present. The fact is Hamilton Green was one of the most dangerous and feared persons in those terrifying times. He was one of Burnham’s strongman. He wielded enormous power during the turbulent days of the “28 years”. Those were inglorious days of ignominy when ‘king kong’ had an offensive connotation, and when the Midas touch was defined as ordure. From his position of power, he was able to command and dictate.
During his period in office in the PNC hierarchy Green multitasked, overseeing many diverse activities of paramountcy of the PNC. Therefore, he must know, as an insider, of many things, things that are still left answered unequivocally. Green appears to have an agile brain; thus, I don’t think he suffers from amnesia, unless deliberately selective. I pose these questions hopefully to wake up his grey cells: 1) Can he say if he is aware of PNC rigging of elections in 1968 onwards till 1992, and of the rigging in 2020? 2) Who was or were the intellectual authors of the House of Israel and Rabbi Washington, and the notorious death squads? 3) Can he explain or elucidate on the demise of Shirley Field-Ridley? 4) Who killed Vincent Teekah? 5) Who shot Joshua Ramsammy? 6) Who shot/murdered/assassinated Ohene Koama and Edward Dublin, Bholanauth and Ramessar? 7) Who ordered the murder/assassination of Walter Rodney?
After many years, there is still no closure on any of those! I hope that Green is aroused from any mental diapause to shed some light. I hope that he experiences an epiphany to bare his soul and tell all, or at least as much as he knows. Who was/were giving orders, and who were obeying orders? Green’s public persona nowadays suggests that he is a man of high moral standing. Mere posturing and utterings are not enough. “Those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it.”
I resonate with Green’s appeal – “… to stimulate our young people to develop a sense of nationalism and quest of harmony.” Laudable indeed, but hollow if not supported with good deeds. Hamilton Green must enlighten the public regarding the questions posed above. Spirituality lies within. To do good, one must first be good. One must truthfully catharsize oneself by introspection and retrospection. First accept the facts as are known, tell them openly, seek help to be forgiven; only then forgiveness is obtained or granted. If these cardinal simple steps are not followed, then one is merely fooling oneself, i.e., being hypocritical. Real truth matters. Without this truth, there is no genuine reconciliation. “To thine own self be true.”
Sincerely,
Gary Girdhari