Dear Editor,
This is my position: Tacuma Ogunseye went too far. What he said, insinuated, or tabled distracted from his call. First, a season of resistance has much to recommend it, including underlying energy and circumstances. More than Black Guyanese are troubled; growing fractions of Indian and Amerindian Guyanese (others) have come, and are coming, to the conclusion, that what the PPP Government says is at stark odds to the harsh realities of their experiences. The President loses credibility, other than for diehards, induced cheerleaders, the indebted; they know, but are trapped. The Vice President is recognized for who he really is deep down: too many countless naked memories of LFS Burnham. Should the Joint Services- or a conspicuous section of it-become embroiled in the ugly, nasty, dirty politics of Guyana, then I believe that the downward spiral into open anarchy looms distinctively. Anarchies are endless and uncontrollable. This would leave us in a worse place than today. This should be avoided at all costs; there are no winners, no salvaging pyrrhic victory.
The WPA, of which Brother Tacuma is an inseparable ingredient, contributed significantly in a prior time when dictatorship reigned throughout Guyana. The forces of right and for justice brought us to today, three decades later. Today, there is a more rampant dictatorship in Guyana. Before, we had Burnham, and the WPA did its part. Today, there is the Vice President, a leader with similar cagey, convulsing ambitions towards suspect greatness, but who makes Burnham look like a beginner. The record of Burnham was when he was bad, he was really bad. With the precedent of the Burnham era as context, and the WPA’s invaluable efforts to Guyana’s cause, the group and Mr. Ogunseye must parallel at a higher level their sterling efforts of years before. It is not by the means, or the manner, that he hinted, expounded.
In contrast, the territory of this millennium calls for sophistication and subtlety. Opposing forces in Guyana need to be wise and patient. There is a need for solid traction locally, international recognition for genuine democratic convictions, and domestic inclusion that powers towards a common cause. This common cause is what splits into the disfigured subsets that are so much of the norms of Guyanese life. Leadership deceptions that require eradication. Governance corruptions that demand reduction. Racial, social, and financial exclusions that beg for attention, for relief, more of what remedies. Any force of change, of reason, must possess the wisdom to rise above what lends so much to the clashing noises and reciprocal hates in this country.
The WPA was there before, as an agent of necessary, overdue change. Its people did their part. Now, there are more challenging parts to be addressed, and to be overcome in the keenest way possible. A balancing act, it is. Finally, we all do well to remember that the power of disappointed, disgusted, and disturbed people is what sways the day. That power has a language of its own, and an unconquerable resilience, which even foreign forces come to respect. Thus, they realign themselves to suit their interests, safeguard their long visions. Government and Opposition should both take careful note.
Sincerely,
GHK Lall
