Freddie misunderstands Trotman and grovels for job

Dear Editor,
This is in reference to your news item (Guyana Times April 3) quoting the controversial Freddie Kissoon (April 2) wherein Freddie claimed he viewed a videotape showing Minister Raphael Trotman uttering “racist comments against Indians at a LGE campaign meeting in Bartica”. Freddie offered no evidence (what is new?) to substantiate his charge of racism against Trotman. People take Freddie’s claims with a pound a salt since they are unbelievable.
When I read Freddie’s claim against Trotman, I did not place much credibility in it because the discredited columnist has had a reputation of misunderstanding, misstating, and misreporting what he reads or views, and of misinforming and falsifying data. (As an aside, this is one of several reasons why Freddie was denied PhD at University of Toronto and sent back to Guyana).
Lo and behold, on April 8, Freddie admitted that he misunderstood and misreported Trotman’s “racist” statement.
Sources say Freddie’s job (as a columnist and as letter editor) was threatened unless he disavowed everything he wrote about Trotman that he saw on the tape. Freddie did not want to lose his meagre income. Freddie grovelled profusely apologising to Trotman and promising never again to write anything negative against the minister or the government.
That is the nature of Freddie when it comes to his livelihood – self-gain trumps principles, honesty and intellectual integrity, a continuation of his behaviour from the 1970s.
As an aside, when a number of us were publicly opposing National Service and organised student strikes on the Corentyne against the victimization of teachers, Freddie did not support the movement fearing it would hurt his chance of getting a Burnham scholarship. So he did not oppose National Service or joined the protest against rapes committed on several national service participants, and Freddie did not provide solidarity, unlike Walter Rodney, Eusi Kwayana and Rupert Roopnaraine, among others, to striking students and teachers on the Corentyne.
On the videotape issue, Freddie claimed that Trotman appealed to Africans and Mixed “to vote race” and not to “split their vote” away from APNU/AFC to competing African groups. Freddie claimed that Trotman stated that there were no competing Indian groups against PPP and as such the Indians would not split their vote.
The truth of the matter is some Indians in Bartica did vote for APNU-AFC in the LGE and a large number also voted for the APNU-AFC in the 2015 general elections helping to trigger the defeat of the PPP/C.
Indians also split their vote in 2011 when Moses Nagamootoo defected from the PPP and linked up with AFC. But in general, Indians vote ethnic analogous to how Africans and most Mixed vote ethnic.
Africans largely did not vote for PPP or any other Indian group or split their vote. In spite of the abuses heaped on the nation by the PNC between 1965 and 1992, Africans did not split their vote in 1992, rejecting Clive Thomas WPA and sticking with PNC.
Appealing to members of a group to vote ethnic is not in and of itself racist. All ethnic leaders in Guyana and around the globe appeal to ethnicity.
Donald Trump has been appealing on ethnicity and attacking other ethnic groups to win the republican nomination.
Barack Obama appealed to ethnicity to win the Democratic nomination in 2008.
Daniel Arap Moi appealed to ethnicity in Kenya. Ethnic appeal is the nature of politics in all multi-ethnic societies including America.
Freddie interpreted Trotman’s election race appeal campaign rhetoric as “racist”. Merely appealing to vote race is not racist. But attacking or demeaning an ethnic group is racist and Trump, like Burnham, were branded as racist for their prejudice.
Freddie offered no evidence that Trotman denigrated Indians. Denying people their ethnic food or religious freedom is racist or confiscating their land and giving same to their supporters. Burnham and several PNC leaders were guilty of such policies, and as such were/are racist.
Trotman is on record, when he was a member of the PNC, of calling on the PNC executive to apologise to Indians for its racist policy. Trotman was excommunicated from the PNC and linked up with Khemraj Ramjattan who himself was expelled from the PPP, and Sheila Holder who was excommunicated from the WPA to form the AFC.
It is difficult, therefore, to accept that Trotman would attack Indians. And although Freddie offered no evidence that Trotman did attack Indians, it is disappointing that Trotman appealed to “Africans and Mixed not to split their vote because Indians would not split their vote”. The AFC was supposed to be the party that does not campaign on race and that holds the key to open the lock on race voting.
Freddie claimed that Trotman stated that he and Granger met in Nassau, Bahamas, around 2005 and concocted a plan on how to split the Indian vote to defeat the PPP.
It is not clear if teaming up with Ramjattan was part of that plan to split the Indian vote or that the strategy itself is racist. The Indian vote did split in 2011 when Nagamootoo defected from the PPP, causing it to lose its majority. The PPP/C lost power in May 2015 when the AFC linked up with the PNC.
The PPP’s unwillingness to compromise with Nagamootoo led to its loss of majority in 2011.
And PPP’s refusal to reconcile with Nagamootoo and Ralph Ramkarran (who was excommunicated in 2012) led to its loss of power in 2015.
Freddie concluded that Trotman does not belong to the politics of the future because of his race appeal. Freddie did not make a convincing case with supporting evidence. If Trotman uttered denigrating remarks against Indians or other groups, then he must be punished. And Freddie should not grovel coming across as a coward.

Yours truly
Vishnu Bisram