We welcome the plethora of activities and events, namely to commemorate 100 years of indentured emancipation and Holi, in the month of March. The Public and Private Sectors, as well as various religious organisations and associations, should be commended for organising, promoting and hosting these cultural activities and events.
However, that the above cultural events have received narcissistic doses of insensitivity mainly from some supporters of the PNC-dominated coalition should be a critical concern to all and sundry. The mere fact that a Minister within the Government and some well-known extremist cats were involved in ethnic splurging is most disappointing. These social scourges will continue to tarnish any meaningful attempts at rebuilding ethnic solidarity in the most ethnic divided country in the Caribbean, if not the Americas.
If you have missed what transpired last week on the most celebratory events in the Indian Guyanese community, may I remind you that the Minister of Culture, Ms Nicolette Henry, who apparently has received a loaded financial scholarship from this regime to pursue a PhD degree unrelated to culture, in a public speech repeatedly conflated Holi with Diwali, two Indian customs. Perhaps this was happenstance, but I argue that the Minister has developed a reputation for being culturally insensitive and conflict- habituated. That this individual still serving in her post at the expense of the public coffers reveals the depth of ineptitude and blind loyal ethnic clientelism that so permeate this regime? Is this tribalism? Is this ethnic supremacy? It is difficult for me to withhold these questions from the public when considering that at the highest level of this regime there is one permanent secretary of Indian background.
Added to this disappointment were some supporters from the current regime peddling views that Indian presenters at one symposium were encouraging ethnic separation and violence when, in my judgement, they were speaking frankly on issues affecting Indians in Guyana. Suddenly, these individuals have become blinded to the fact that other ethnic groups also speak out, but do not necessarily receive the same level of chastisement. Equally harmful is that not a word of positivity emerged from these individuals, an unhelpful pattern and practice they continue to spew in their daily misguided missives.
Space does not permit me to get into the heads of these individuals but I will venture out and say that one would think that in a country like Guyana which has been reeling from ethnic tensions since colonial times that some who have hogged the national print and public space would, by now, try to avoid rancorous and reckless statements. I have come to the realisation that leaving these individuals alone will not solve the problem even if they are looking for attention. They must be called upon for their twisted intentions.
I do wonder also what goes through the mind of our President when he has invested so much in his Ministers only to find out that they are not performing to meet basic expectations. Mismanagement is the defining feature of this regime. This is equivalent, on the face of it, to parents who have invested in their children but have received dismal results. The disappointment can be difficult to take, but it comes to a point where parents realise that their children have to go on their own journey. The time comes for them to shape up or ship out.
I am of the opinion that a responsible President, which I think David Granger is, would take immediate action not to please the public and reshuffle under-performing Minsters but to ensure that ethnic insensitivity should not become a norm of his regime. So far, the President has not offered or uttered a word.
I believe also that individuals should have the freedom to express their thoughts, but by the same token that the extremists and propagandists in Guyana should be more cautious in their anchored ways since what they peddle daily might yield mayhem and disorder. In moving forward, their rants must be challenged with firm boundaries.
The larger question here, of course, is what ought to be done to avoid ethnic supremacy and how to slow down the march towards permanent ethnic dissonance and decadence. I turn these questions over to the Ministry of Social Cohesion and ask what are you going to do now since some damage has been done to rebuild ethnic solidarity during one of the most festive times for Indians in Guyana and some of their leaders have been chastised for merely sharing a difference of opinion. Do you think Indians will simply push this experience under the rug and go on with their lives? I do hope they do.
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