Dear Editor,
I am advised not to respond to columnist Freddie Kissoon, because he would never accept he is wrong even when proven so with facts beyond a shadow of doubt. But his misinformation cannot go uncorrected, for people may well take his fake news for facts. His latest invective against Swami Aksharananda, Ravi Dev and Rhyaan Shah are replete with inaccuracies. And they are debunked below. None of these scholars is an ethnic hegemonist; they all believe in ethnic equality, as I do.
It is literal ignorance for any scholar not to know the difference between a pandit and a swami. And if you don’t know, you ask in order to become enlightened, as blacks or whites do. It is also idiotic to refer to a pandit as a priest or a preacher.
One does not call a pastor, or priest, or bishop, or the Pope a pandit or a moulvi or imam or meiji or swami. So why disrespect a pandit or swami or Hindu leader by referring to him with a Christian title? Only an uninformed person would resort to such ignorance.
Freddie misrepresents what took place in religious riots in India. He offers a simplistic, nonfactual comment of a religious conflict. According to judicial probes, pandits did not encourage anyone to take to violence in Gujarat.
And then Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi, according to reports, was denied a US visa at the request of then ruling Congress Party at the Centre. The visa was restored following the defeat of the Congress Party in general elections.
Ravi Dev has never advocated for ethnic hegemony. On the contrary, as I have done, he has called for power sharing among the ethnic groups, and decentralisation of power. This PNC-led coalition administration practises ethnic hegemony. Freddie supports it, including the firing of thousands of Indians and Amerindians.
Rhyaan Shah is an accomplished novelist and columnist. She is an outstanding writer whose works are praised, including by Prime Minister Moses Nagamootoo and Education Minister Dr Rupert Roopnaraine. Her writings, unlike Freddie’s, are credible. She does not manufacture information. Her works, unlike Freddie’s, are cited by scholars. In addition, her novels are being considered for CXC and CAPE. She is a first rate novelist, while Freddie is a tenth rate columnist.
Swami Aksharananda does not own a school. He is principal of SVN, which is owned by the community. Swami does not own a Hindu “Church” — it is called a temple or mandir — and he does not own it. It is a public place of worship that is open to all. There are affiliated pandits at the temple.
It is a total expression of ignorance to compare Pastor Steven with Swami-ji. The latter does not preach hatred, and does not attack other faiths.
Freddie’s interpretation of Swami’s letter of two years ago is incorrect. It is misinformation to say Swami urged Indians how to vote. The letter made factual reference to the oppression of Indians during the ethnic PNC dictatorship.
Freddie claims there was no news coverage of Indians being beaten in Agricola in 2012. The media, including the paper Freddie writes for, has dozens of news items on the beating and robbing of Indians.
According to all the news reports, AFC was accused of organising a protest and inciting Africans to beat and rob Indians. Nagamootoo, Nigel Hughes, and Khemraj Ramjattan publicly denied that the AFC called the protest that led to the violent attacks on Indians. They accused the PNC of organising the protest and setting Africans on Indians. The PNC denied the accusation and redirected the allegation to the AFC.
Freddie needs to read reports carefully in order to understand facts, and he needs to do proper investigative research to get his information right. Otherwise, he will continue to peddle misinformation, lies and half-truths, as he did in his attack on Swami and others.
Yours truly,
Dr Vishnu Bisram
