Disgraced former High Commissioner to India, Charrandass Persaud, is still on the payroll of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, as the government says his employment was never terminated and he still holds a valid employment contract.
Sources told the Stabroek News that Persaud’s role at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is unclear as he has not been at Takuba Lodge since his recall but the “accounts department has been instructed to keep sending his money to his account.”
When Minister of Foreign Affairs, Hugh Todd, was contacted by this newspaper and asked why Persaud was still being paid, he told the Sunday Stabroek that while Persaud was recalled to Guyana, his services were not terminated. “He still has a contract with us…it was not that he was let go of.”
Efforts by the Sunday Stabroek to contact Persaud proved futile as calls to his mobile number went unanswered as like messages sent.
Sources said that Persaud, a naturalised Canadian citizen, has been “in and out of Guyana.”
This newspaper also understands that Persaud’s contract as a Foreign Service Officer comes to an end in December of this year.
Persaud had cast the crucial vote in the December 21, 2018 motion of no-confidence which brought down the APNU+AFC government he had represented in Parliament. His posting to New Delhi had been seen as a reward by the PPP/C for his vote. Observers have also pointed out that Persaud not being dismissed from the Foreign Service is also a part of the recognition by government of his decisive vote in support of the PPC/C.
In October of last year, 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 had occurred since August 1, 2021.
On the day the video surfaced, this newspaper had 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 later explained 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 had emphasised.
Persaud remained in India for several months after and had given a farewell speech in New Delhi on Christmas Day where he apologised for his actions, although not to the woman he had verbally abused.
In a Christmas Day farewell, which he said he had asked to be videoed, Persaud described what he was going to say as “a confession, it is an admission and it is an apology.”
Decked out in an Indian-style orange tunic with a sleeveless black coat, Persaud gave his version of the events which had created revulsion in Georgetown and led to calls for his immediate recall.
Speaking in front of a poster with his image, Persaud said that Ghosh, an English professor, had had a licence or court order to feed around 60 stray dogs and one of them had frequently entered his yard, waking him up at night and upturning the contents of his garbage bins. He acknowledged that he had ordered that the dog be strayed away.
Packed the dog
“I had two of the malis [gardeners] with me and my driver. We packed the dog and I told them to take the dog far away. The took the dog to Gurgaon [a city south west of New Delhi] so the dog can’t come back”, he said.
With dozens of persons in the audience including diplomats, Persaud disclosed that the episode was why he was leaving India on short notice or after a short time.
“The lady [Ghosh] came to the security and asked about the dog and the security told her that we took the dog away. She came the next day and the security opened the gate to come in and get me. This lady barged in behind the security right up to my door and banged on the door. The security finally got her back out of the yard and I came out. When I came out, I asked her what she was doing in my yard. She said she is here looking for a dog… I said I don’t have a dog in here…
“You would not believe; I was surprised at the expletives she handed me… I have to admit that I responded in kind. So, I believe women, all of you women here, would love to be deemed equal to men. You have equal facilities and everything… well if you are in a fight and you pick a fight with a man he should say ‘no you are a woman I am not going to fight with you?’ You want equality let’s go to the fight and see what happens,” he related.
“I did what I did out of anger… and I’ll say this now as High Commissioner, I represent a nation… I represent a people. The President of my country Dr Mohamed Irfaan Ali and [Indian] Prime Minister Modi had to approve of my presence… I was granted such approval,” he said.
Against the backdrop of cheering from supporters, Persaud remarked, “What I did as High Commissioner was wrong…. I owe my friends, my colleagues, an apology for behaving in a manner not becoming of a diplomat. I was angry, I did not exercise diplomacy and so I spoke to the President – that video surfaced in October of 2022 just recently in Guyana. And instead of the President taking the flak, I told him, I say. ‘Look don’t worry about this. I will leave India and that will bring an end to the whole story’ …that is why I am leaving”, he told his audience which included Indian cricket great, Kapil Dev. who Persaud described as his friend.
Persaud continued: “I apologize to the people of India, to the Prime Minister [of India], to my colleagues who are all diplomats… to my government and the President in particular. He (Ali) said ‘Are you sure you want to return to Guyana?’ I said ‘Yes, because the people from various walks of life will literally take the hair off of your head’ and if he was bald, it would have been ok but he is not, he has a lot of hair.”
“Again, I would like to offer an apology but as Charrandass Persaud an individual, I strongly stand up equal to any woman… if you want to fight, if you want to curse if you want to dance, I am ready… I did in fact hurl abuses after she abused me because I believe in equality…. But as High Commissioner it should not have happened”, he said.
