Dear Editor,
I am writing to add my voice to those who have loudly and rightly condemned the disgraceful language of sexual assault used in reference to Education Minister Priya Manickchand during protests by the Guyana Teachers Union (GTU). As a union charged with the stewardship of children, the next generations, it is imperative that they speak up against such attacks. AFC MP Sherod Duncan has spoken up, but his response has been to dig in and amplify the outrageous message that it is okay to sing or chant in ways that promote violence against women.
In an excellent letter to the Stabroek News today (Thursday September 16), Vidyaratha Kissoon bemoans the ongoing “nastiness of Guyana’s politics’ – just a few months ago it was Opposition Mem-ber of Parliament, Tabitha Sarabo-Halley who alleged that an assault had been committed on her by Public Affairs Minister, Kwame McCoy. Kissoon reminds us that ‘There might be condemnation from colleagues and comrades, but very little consequences.’ As far as I can recall, the only public figure in recent years who has accepted any responsibility at all is Clement Rohee, who publicly apologised when criticized for using demeaning language about women at a public meeting during the 2015 elections. The only one. Sadly, this is not an example that has since been repeated.
The message of Vidyaratha Kissoon’s letter to ALL is loud and clear: Demand accountability across all divides, without fear or favour. There is only one side in the face of escalating violence against women and children. And there can be no double standards because it calls into question your sincerity in addressing the issue in its totality – just look at the examples that Minister Teixeira and MP Duncan offer in their condemnation of the ‘other side’. It cannot be wrong only when it happens to someone on ‘your side.’ You cannot be silent when it happens to someone on ‘the other side.’ You cannot respond to a criticism by saying, ‘who are you to speak, when you were silent when the shoe was on the other foot?’ How on earth does that give anyone the right to then repeat the very behaviour they were so quick to condemn when it happened to someone on ‘the other side?’ Why is it alright when you do it, or when one of yours does it? How did we come to have these sharply divided sides, these lines in the sand? And who are the ultimate losers in this game?
I started drafting this letter yesterday, but put my pen down when the news of the fatal shooting of the Dartmouth businessman Orin Boston by members of the Guyana Police Force came in, and their immediate and official story (so swift one could not help but be suspicious) was refuted by the reported statement of his grieving widow that he was shot in his bed while lying next to her. The horror in the face of such violence. I woke up this morning to the unimaginable news that he has left two children, ages six and seven, who were in the house when the devastating attack unfolded. I woke up to the news of the man unsuccessfully trying to escape to the US after setting his wife (even the possessive pronoun does violence here), Sandrama Roma Raju alight. And to the picture of her grieving parents at the gates of the hospital, where she remains in critical condition with over 98% of her body burned. The horror in the face of such violence.
This is Guyana today. It is just awful. The casual violence. The demeaning of women through name calling. The macho behaviour being modelled by our politicians – across party and gender and race – in which no one gives ground, in which only one side is ever right, in which only one side loves the people. The way this behaviour permeates our society, our social media pages, the comments section of newspapers. The arrogance and utter lack of humility. The ad hominem insults. The chucking and the cussing. The blows. The poisoned drink. The match to set alight. The fatal shot. These dots are all connected, and until we recognise that and act on that reckoning, we are just wasting time, bearing useless witness. This is what we have become.
Sincerely,
Alissa Trotz
