The Government yesterday dismissed allegations by the Alliance For Change (AFC) that disgraced former High Commissioner to India, Charrandass Persaud was still performing his role as the envoy. It made clear that he has already been given his recall letter.
“Mr. Persaud is not performing the functions of the High Commissioner to India… he cannot represent Guyana in the High Commis-sioner capacity,” Minister of Foreign Affairs Hugh Todd yesterday told Stabroek News, as he dismissed the AFC’s allegations.
The Foreign Affairs Minister’s rebuttal came following allegations by the AFC – the party which Persaud represented in Parliament when he voted to defeat the APNU+AFC government in 2018 – that Persaud not only continues to represent Guyana in India, but that President Irfaan Ali and Todd were aware.
“Charandass still functioning as High Commissioner – Nation lied to!” the AFC yesterday thundered in a press release.
“The AFC received reports of this, and was able to confirm, that Persaud is scheduled to be a “guest of honour” at the India Economic Trade Organisation’s (IETO) reception on Friday, November 25, 2022. The IETO is an official organ of the Government of India,” the press release stated.
“Further, information in hand is that both the Minister of Foreign Affairs and the President himself are aware of, and approved Persaud’s continued functioning, and attendance at this state function. The Alliance For Change has communicated with the host to bring to his attention the disgrace the presence of Charandass Persaud at the event can cause. The host from all appearances was unaware,” the release added.
But sources at Takuba Lodge told this newspaper that while Persaud is currently still in India, he was making preparations to leave. “He was communicated to formally [that he was recalled] and a timeline was also included in the letter…,” one source said.
“You have to sign off and all of that…,” the source added while pointing out that Persaud has to make provisions for his personal items to be shipped back to this country and clear up business with banks he had transactions with, among other personal matters.
That the President and the minister were aware, another source said was “a total fabrication by the AFC in in their sensationalist style”.
Late last month, a video circulated of the then High Commissioner verbally abusing and cursing a woman in New Delhi. The video and a criminal complaint filed against Persaud by the woman, Sonya Ghosh, 63, who is an associate professor had only then surfaced, although the incident occurred on August 1, 2021.
On the day the video surfaced, this newspaper contacted Todd who said the ministry would respond. The statement which was later issued, said: “The matter, brought to the attention of the Ministry of External Affairs of India by High Commissioner Persaud, was fully investigated by the relevant authorities and a formal response to the High Commissioner dated September 3rd, 2022 indicates that ‘allegation of sexual abusive words to complainant has [sic] not been substantiated.’” The ministry said that it “therefore considers the matter closed.”
But the next day President Irfaan Ali announced that Persaud had agreed to return home.
He would later explain that the video was the determining factor in his recall since he had believed that the matter had already been settled by the Indian government. “The first time I saw the video is the first time I said I saw the video. That is the first time a video surfaced of anything,” Ali said.
“In my conversation with Mr. Charrandass, he said that was not the full extent of the video. I also made that – full disclosure. I don’t have anything to hide. When the issue was brought to the … Ministry of Foreign Affairs, as you would have seen, they deemed it closed because of what the Indian authorities said – that there was no evidence of anything. We have to rely on the Indian Authority. They said there was no evidence. As soon as this video came which was a visual evidence, you saw the action we took,” he added.
He further pointed out that while there was a perception that he had been misled about the incident, he insisted that he was not.
“No one misled me, absolutely no one misled me. I have made the statement, I have done what was the right thing to do. At the end of the day, the integrity of Guyana and the best representation of Guyana is what matters to me; in a respectful manner to all – women, children, all,” the President emphasised.
The AFC which once embraced Persaud yesterday said that “all right-thinking Guyanese were embarrassed and insulted by Persaud’s behaviour and were relieved that he was being “recalled”. This, we were all led to believe, was with immediate effect. Apparently, and most unfortunately, the nation was hoodwinked, to put it mildly, the AFC said.
But according to a source, while the High Commissioner’s “leaving the post or giving up the portfolio was immediate”, it did not mean he was told to “jump on the first plane back to Guyana”.
