Dear Editor,
It is quite apparent that the instigators who conspired to usurp the peace Guyanese want to blossom for a “One Guyana” paid no heed to the call to learn a lesson from the last election in Grenada, where democracy survived and there was no violence after the accepted results were declared, with a peaceful transition from one Mitchell to another Mitchell as Prime Minister.
Guyanese would recall the bitter lesson learnt from the 2020 General Elections, when, for five prolonged and agonising months, the APNU/AFC refused to accept the legitimate recounted results and hand over governance to the legal winner, the PPP/C party.
Mr Granger had to be referred to as “sanctimonious” by Dr Ralph Gonsalves, Prime Minister of St. Vincent and the Grenadines, and also be told to “take your licks like a man.”
But a party that comprises characters who do not know the meaning of shame and disgrace, pride and dignity, honour and integrity will not be embarrassed by spreading lies and propaganda, nor will they hesitate to be tongue-twisters or be dishonest in any move they make. They will not play any game fair and square.
Guyana has witnessed all the violence, high-handed attitude, the party card preference, the banning of essential items, the food shortages, unemployment, poverty, foreign exchange scarcity, the media censorship, the mass exodus of migration, the hardship, the suffering, the drug shortages, the wage freeze, the hurt and the cry of poor people, all under the rulership, dictatorship and leadership of Burnham, Hoyte and Granger for a spread of thirty-three years, when they assumed power to control Guyana and to flag the paramountcy of the PNC Party.
The elimination and limitation of one race employed in Government services and agencies remain evident from time immemorial. Let’s not even mention the framework of the disciplined forces. The mantra of power-grabbing, retaining and maintaining by illegal means, is the root of their survival.
Trinidad and Tobago Prime Minister Dr. Keith Rowley had good reasons to observe, “There was one thing I said to my colleague at the time, who was the President of Guyana, is that if you have lost this election, lose it with dignity. There will be another chance; but if there is no dignity in this defeat, the next time you and your party will be of no use to your country, and that was the position of Trinidad and Tobago in Guyana.”
History continues to repeat itself with beating, hurting, murdering, robbing and burning of one particular community, residents of which are deemed anti-PNC, by another community, residents of which see themselves as the sole owner of this land and the right to preside and prosper with the wealth of this nation only for themselves.
It is a daunting picture to reflect on the evidences of the Wismar massacre, the 1964 strike, the looting and burning of Georgetown, the aftermath violence of the Jagdeo era and elections, the Buxton uprising, the PNC-inspired mayhem in West Coast Berbice in 2020, and now the Mon Repos 2022 fiasco! Who gained, and who suffered?
Guyana was led to economic chaos and bankruptcy every time the PNC was in power, and the small man never got a chance to be the real man, because only the chosen few enjoyed the good life. Mia Mottley, Barbados Prime Minister, reminds us, “The truth hurts…I have nothing more to say. The truth hurts, but what we must never do in Caricom is to avoid the truth and avoid our principles.”
“Justice for all” was the battle cry of the legitimate demonstrators who were peacefully picketing and protesting over the death of Quindon Bacchus. The malicious and vicious attacks on harmless and innocent vendors spurred the inspired vandals into looters, and with direct intent to hurt and harm the members of the community. They were definitely instructed to carry out a job of destruction, and to create as much damage as possible.
Guyana can only knock on one door for the answer. President Irfaan Ali said, “While everyone has a right in a democracy to let their voices be heard, it does not give them the right to loot, steal, or harm anyone.” His Excellency urged patience, and to “let the system work,” as the Police Complaints Authority have their hands filled with the death of Bacchus.
Incidentally, there was no uproar when Deanraj Singh (Steve Singh) was shot and killed by the Police a few weeks ago in Riverview, Ruimveldt. The investigation is being conducted by their Office of Professional Responsibility. The question is: why wasn’t there an uprise by that community to the magnitude as what we have seen this week? Again, we can only traverse one road for the response.
Does one wrong justify another? An eye for an eye will make the world blind, Gandhi taught us. Definitely not, and this incident was staged as an excuse by the evil force to contaminate the tranquility of complacency. To date, vendors have been compensated, as promised by the President, and some 16 persons have been charged for riotous behaviour, with only one pleading guilty.
Many sober minds have openly expressed their condemnation and disgruntlement, and registered their enragement over this sad and pathetic incident.
Guyana’s legal mind, Attorney General Mr. Anil Nandlall, summed it up: “A perceived injustice can never justify the commission of another injustice.”
Yours respectfully,
Jai Lall
