Dear Editor,
Just before Phagwah 2022 Dr Vindhya Persaud, the head of the Guyana Hindu Dharmic Sabha and Minister of Human Services, called on people to stop disrespecting Hindu festivals with alcohol and vulgarities. She did not specify who those people were but in this letter I will make the case that it is Hindus who throw Hinduism into the gutter with rum, noise, and other violence as evidenced at Hindu wedding houses.
Many Hindu wedding houses are characterised by rum and noise and chopping up.
Noise causes the soul to descend to the lower body and so induces ignorance rather than enlightenment. All people strive for peace and happiness through enlightenment but Hindus force ignorance unto people with their noise. Compounding matters is the rum drinking which brings more ignorance to those consuming it and who are near the noise canons. They are prone to indulging in other violence such as chopping up. Worse is that such ignorance attracts other lumpen elements to the wedding house and that increases the chances of chopping up. Hindu wedding house have caused non Hindus to conclude that rum and noise are part of Hindu culture. What kind of people would have “social gathering” and “family get together” at 1 am, 2 am, and 3 am? What kind of people would subject their young children and grandchildren to noise and rum at those hours? Even wake houses close off by 9 pm. The Hindu wedding house today reflects how much Hindus have degenerated. Noise is ignorance. Rum is ignorance. Chopping up is ignorance.
The fact of the matter is that Hindus have to live with Christians and Muslims who are offended by their weekly rum and noise weddings. I have a few suggestions for Dr Vindhya Persaud and other Hindu leaders.
1. No permit for “playing music.” It is against the law to make noise but people can apply for a permit to break the law.
2. Stop wedding house activities at 6 pm on Saturdays, Sundays, and Mondays.
3. Make it unlawful to consume rum in the presence of children under age of 21.
4. Make it a criminal offence to consume rum in the presence of children under 10 years of age.
5. Remove all rum shops from residential areas.
6. Remove from public all rum ads.
Rum and noise culture is ignorance and must be actively fought against by all Hindu leaders. In closing some further advice for Dr Vindhya. When issuing public appeals do not use big words such as desist and derogatory. The people who do rum and noise at Hindu wedding houses are largely semi literate or just plain illiterate. Use simple words.
Yours sincerely,
Malcolm Harripaul
