Support has been coming in after Pandit Deodat Persaud came under attack for criticizing the old-age pension increase from a Facebook page that strongly supports the ruling PPP/C.
The pension was increased by $3,000 per month in this year’s budget and Persaud had posted a critical comment on his Facebook page on January 15th.
A Facebook page called “Live in Guyana” which has on the top left-hand corner “Here we expose and denounce the racist, corrupt & incompetent APNU+AFC”, has been leading the attack with remarks about Persaud’s body image. This Facebook page has been notorious for its attacks on critics of the governing PPP/C and it is believed to be operated by persons close to senior government officials. The PPP/C government has not criticised this Facebook page though it often complains about social media attacks on it.
Annan Boodram in a letter in yesterday’s Stabroek News pointed out that among all the critical comments about the pension issue made on social media and elsewhere, Persaud’s statement can be ranked at the very bottom of the ladder for “its lack of venom, bite and bias or mischief potential. In fact, it possessed none of those characteristics but was a mere innocuous observation.”
However, the letter writer said, that the responses to Persaud’s comment were full of “venom, bias, bite and mischief, the very epitome of hate speech, character assassination, slander, defamation, and viciousness.”
“In fact this collection of persons supposedly aiming to ‘expose and denounce the racist, corrupt & incompetent APNU+AFC’ seemed to have wandered a universe away from this supposed aim and, instead, exhibited the kind of pack mentality that is decidedly non-human. There can be no doubt that no member of this pack knows anything about Pandit Deodat Persaud and never took time to find out. Instead, they all mindlessly pounced in a display of abject ignorance, epitomizing voracious senselessness”, the letter noted.
Reminding that Persaud of East Canje Berbice is a Hindu priest who “walks his talk” as he refuses to officiate at any wedding where alcohol is indulged in, the letter writer noted that above all “he’s a patriot to his very core, one who’s traversed the length and breadth of Guyana seeking to impact betterment.”
“Pandit Deodat is a guide, mentor, counsellor, leader, moral exemplar, who inspires, educates, lifts up, empowers and builds. In fact, his worth has been nationally recognized to the extent that he served a stint as the youngest person ever on the Ethnic Relations Commission and is now serving a stint on the Suicide Prevention Commission.”
Further, the letter writer said that if a person of Persaud’s calibre is allowed to be demonized, cyberbullied, and derogated “in the most awful manner possible without consequences for the perpetrators” then what message is being sent to the perpetrators?
Former Mayor of Georgetown, Ubraj Narine in a letter in Stabroek News had said that the online attacks targeting Persaud raise concerns about the future of democracy in Guyana. “If a citizen who expresses views in a civil and respectful manner becomes the target of vicious online harassment, what message does it send to the larger society?” he asked.
Offering his support to Persaud, Narine, also a pandit, stated, “Are we to believe that only one opinion is worthy of protection while divergent thoughts should be quashed? True democracy empowers all its citizens, irrespective of their political affiliations. It welcomes open discussions, values different perspectives, and encourages citizens to question their leaders. By allowing these online attacks to persist, we are betraying the very foundation on which our democracy stands.”
Several other persons have spoken up online and on Facebook sharing their support to Persaud while calling out the page and fake accounts that have been targeting him for merely sharing his opinion on issues of national interest.
