Dear Editor,
I am repeating some of what was shared in a recent participation on the David Hinds Show, Politics 101. These are my thoughts on the Kidackie Amsterdam social media programme, the police response, the political position, and a smattering on the general surroundings.
First, Mr. Amsterdam manifested a serious lapse in judgement. I listened to the clipping more than once, the one involving that caller. Offensive and outrageous are the first words that came to mind. If I can rationalize that caller, then I should be able to rationalize what PPP leaders do in their public outbursts and defend what their shadowy followers inflict on law-abiding Guyanese. Mr. Amsterdam had to detect where that caller was going, and stopped him there and then, dead in his tracks. Cutoff and cutout. Followed by a disclaimer. In his favour, Mr. Amsterdam did so, but he took too long. The damage was already done, the cannon loaded with self-destructive balls. On the aspect of ‘many wanting to see the backs’ of those who blight this land and its citizens, I am with brother Amsterdam. They should go, should be pushed out, and sent packing.
Like I said on Dr. Hinds’ Show, there must be the keenness, the street smarts, to discern the direction of the wind, and the troubles with which it is laden. In other words, as public commentators, there is more than a duty to civility. There is a personal responsibility to gauge the environment and sense danger, and the presence of those lurking in ambush. Man, how they would love to silence some of the few remaining voices fighting the good fight. For the little people. For a little truth. For a little light from any PPP or public service source. Why present the bushwhackers with ammunition, giving them openings, to shutout and shutdown? It is the nonchalance with a development – a loaded one – of momentary gratification, with a world of the retaliatory waiting on a platter. Put differently, be wise and strategic and protect the rear for, in Guyanese parlance, ‘dem ah watch yuh.’ Most of all, and for emphasis, the caller was given too much rope, and one man is being penalized for his momentary failure to control his space, in what is said. It must be a lesson for all honest, outspoken presences in the local arena, be they writers, speakers, and whether they stand for and against.
Regarding the police response, I read that a couple of detectives visited Mr. Amsterdam’s home at around 10 p.m. Why the most opportune time that could have been found for such a call, such a knock on the door, had to be an hour creeping towards midnight? By itself, that is both sinister and ominous; the former in its authorship and substance, the latter in its retracing of ugly history and the message(s) sent. I think that the Guyana Police Force acted with surprising energy and alacrity. Surprising, because it goes against the standard that the police have established in dealing with cybercrime reports, as lodged. I know some people who will attest to the casualness and clumsy sloth that have been the portion meted out to Guyanese who made reports about cybercrimes committed against them by supporters of the PPP Government. The case of different folks, different strokes, usually command how matters unfold.
In terms of political postures, the Hon Vice President, Dr. Bharrat Jagdeo said in one of his press melees that ‘the police have been delinquent….’ I agree with the honourable one, the ever vigilant one (when it suits his partisan objectives). The police have, indeed, been delinquent, and it is as outlined in the preceding sentences. When alleged cybercrimes intrude on the PPP-aligned, the Guyana Police is quicker, sharper, and wiser than the combined Interpol, Scotland Yard, the FBI, and NYPD Counterterrorism Task Force. When, however, it is some Guyanese dismissed as either being against the PPP, or more inclined to the side of dissenters and deviationists from the party and government’s script, then the same Guyana Police Force does its best pretense of a spent force, a clueless and helpless force. In such familiar Guyanese circumstances, the local cops try to outdo one another in their version of Beverly Hills Cops (all the parts). In a nutshell, this is what the proper handling of cybercrime reports now embody.
Sincerely,
GHK Lall
