A Trinidadian strikes down a Guyanese wimp

Dear Editor,

For me to strike down a semi-literate newspaper letter-writer like Baboo Freddie Kissoon is like using a sledgehammer to kill a fly. And indeed Baboo Freddie is like a fly who feeds off the filth of the back-dam to further infect the body politic of Guyana.

For the first time – and I hope it would be the last – I would dignify this semblance of a man named Baboo Freddie by responding to his letter. In his letter, he seeks to ridicule and belittle three national icons of Guyana. Ravi Dev, Ryhaan Shah and Swami Aksharananda are also heroes in the Indian diaspora.

Baboo Freddie wrote that Ravi Dev “is a stuck record that has become a jaded and faded mandarin.” The meaning of mandarin in this context is “a member of an elite or powerful group or class, as in intellectual or cultural milieus.” Unwittingly, Baboo Freddie has confessed that Ravi Dev was once important, powerful and influential in the Guyanese society.

I have known Ravi Dev for decades and have been impressed by the breadth and depth of his intellect. The University of Guyana (UG) should have awarded Ravi Dev an honorary doctorate a long time ago. Baboo Freddie is no match for this former New York attorney. I am sure Ravi Dev can beat Baboo Freddie to a frazzle in any writing or debating contest.

Baboo Freddie also wrote that Ryhaan Shah “is a tenth rate writer of fiction…” Baboo Freddie is so blinded by hate for Indians and for himself as a/an (black) Indian that he cannot see beyond his tainted spectacles. If Ryhaan were a “tenth-rate writer of fiction”, how was she able to publish her novel, A Silent Life, with the prestigious Peepal Tree Press in England, and her second book, A Death in the Family, by Cutting Edge Press in the UK? If Ryhaan were a “tenth-rate writer of fiction”, how was she able to win the Guyana Prize for the Best First Book in 2007?

It is clear that Baboo Freddie cannot be objective and it is no surprise that he was fired by UG as a social sciences tutor. Since his dismissal in 2012, he scrimps out a living day by day by frog-hopping as a columnist from one Guyanese newspaper to the next. In 2009, the Guyana Revenue Authority had to issue a notice to him for outstanding property taxes.

Unlike Ryhaan Shah, he does not have a book to his name. Someone should advise Ryhaan to keep her books under lock and key because Baboo Freddie is reported to have stolen 88 books from the National Library in Guyana perhaps to re-sell (See Stabroek News, October 18, 2009).

Baboo Freddie also wrote that Swami Aksharananda condemned Moses Nagamootoo and Nigel Hughes for inciting African youths to beat Indians during a violent protest at Agricola in October 2012. Baboo Freddie wrote that the racially incited protest never happened: “Nothing of this sort happened. We would have it on the historical record…” As a letter writer, columnist and former tutor, Baboo Freddie should know that not all (perspectives of) events are recorded in newspapers and books. Every school child knows this fact.

Alternatively, Baboo Freddie must provide evidence that Swami made those accusations. If he cannot, he must be hauled before the courts. He is known to have lost an appeal in a libel case in 2011 and was ordered not to repeat the allegations in question, and to pay a $40,000 fine.

Baboo Freddie also wrote that Swami “owns a school where the students numbering in the hundreds are all East Indians.” It is obvious that Baboo Freddie has not visited Swami’s prestigious, private Hindu high/secondary school. I have visited the school twice and saw African, Christian and Muslim (in hijab) students. I have photos to prove that Baboo Freddie is peddling dangerous and divisive lies.

Clearly, Baboo Freddie needs psychological or even psychiatric help. He seems to suffer from ethnic self-hatred (auto-phobia) which is expressed by extreme dislike for one’s own ethnic group. Social psychologists use the terms “internalised oppression” and “false consciousness” to describe this form of personality disorder. As a writer, Baboo Freddie should read the book Jewish Self-Hatred by Sander Gilman who discusses the feelings of self-loathing and shame of individuals with low self-esteem.

Sincerely,

Dr Kumar Mahabir,

Assistant Professor

University of Trinidad

and Tobago (UTT)

Ph.D. Anthropology,

University of Florida