Dear Editor,
I refer to Mr. Ravi Dev’s letter published in the Stabroek News edition, Sunday, June 20, 2021: captioned, “I believe it was this subterfuge that scuttled the Rodney COI in 2005”. And in the Kaieteur News Monday, June 21st 2021 under the caption, “WPA scuttled 2005 Rodney COL”- respectively. When I read Dev’s letter and his mention of ROAR’s “Center Force” initiative I struggled to recall what he was talking about. After some effort, it all returned “crystal clear”. And I am in a position to contend that Mr. Dev’s narration of the collapse of the Centre Force movement is self-serving and “light years” from the truth. It is for this reason I am dismissing his claim that Rupert Roopnaraine and the WPA were responsible for that failed initiative. It is one of the few occasions that Dev disappointed me by choosing not to be truthful and frank; I have in the past praised him for this aspect of his character. In his letter, we are exposed to Ravi Dev the politician and not the Indian Rights activist: the latter in its progressive form usually holds cultural and moral dimensions.
Dev in his missive cited Desmond Trotman. He wrote “But apart from a very nasty spat with other WPA executives, including Desmond Trotman, over emails around the WPA secretly engaging the PNC, nothing happened. The Third/Centre Force eventually collapsed over the insistence of Roopnaraine and Joe Jagan to engage the PNC with the aim of joining their Big Tent.” I am sure at some convenient time, Brother Trotman may address this matter in some detail. On the contention by Dev of secret meetings between the PNC/WPA and Roopnaraine/Corbin, while I am not contesting the Roopnaraine and Corbin meeting or meetings, as an executive member at the time, I say without fear of contradiction that there was never any “secret” talks/meetings between the PNC and the WPA. How secret was the Roopnaraine/Corbin talks at the time Rupert revealed it to Dev? Dev continues, “Against this background……..Rupert Roopnarine told myself and others that the wife of Walter Rodney did not want the COI at that time since the PPP would use it for political mileage.” Why should I trust the truthfulness of Dev’s claim given his erroneous narrating of the events that led to the collapse of the Third Force/ Centre Force initiative?
In closing, it is my conviction that Ravi Dev and critics like Freddie Kissoon are engaging in hostile polemics as it relates to Dr. Rupert Roopnaraine. Their behaviour is nothing short of mischievous calculation and the act of throwing fictitious scraps into the public domain in the hope something would stick.
Sincerely,
Tacuma Ogunseye