Dear Editor,
Gabriel H K Lall has written an odious piece on His Excellency Dr Mohamed Irfaan Ali, and it was recently published in another newspaper as a feature item.
Gabriel Lall, who told us he is an American citizen and is possibly also a Guyanese, holds himself out as a man of many parts and a voice claiming to be one of high morality, decency, ethics, honesty, uprightness, and good standards in public life and public office. But note it so HE says.
However, serious doubt is cast on his claims after one has observed his conduct on a recent show with Dr Blinds – a preacher of rank racism, who seems determined to divide our people along racial lines, and who proudly proclaims that he is not bothered about being identified for his racism. Dr Blinds recently described Gabriel Lall as “more black” than the Honourable Prime Minister Mark Phillips.
So, Gabriel (brown outwardly, but perhaps black at heart) has expressed the view that His Excellency Dr. Mohamed Irfaan Ali got a bit carried away in his remarks at the recent International Building Expo. In a vain effort to gain the attention of the ambassador of the United States of America to Guyana, and living up to his special skill as an exceptional empath, Gabriel asserted that President Ali’s presentation “had to have reminded” the ambassador of the New Orleans Mardi Gras.
Gabriel has taken issue with the tone of His Excellency’s presentation at the International Building Expo. Maybe Gabriel admires the suave and charm of Forbes Burnham, his cunning and deceit notwithstanding; or the tone and apparent composure of brigands like Mussolini of Italy, or Papa Doc Duvalier of Haiti, or the late Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe – a usually tranquil man, but one who conveyed his nasty racist sentiment in a moment of noticeable anger with the remark that he used “white toilet paper to wipe his black backside”.
In his ramble on President Ali in his featured piece, Gabriel was at his disrespectful worst towards His Excellency. Had he written thus about the dictator Forbes Burnham in Burnham’s heyday, if he had not fled to the United States, Gabriel might have found himself hanging from a helicopter over the Atlantic Ocean.
Gabriel Lall has seemingly failed to appreciate the precious value attached to the freedom he enjoys to make public his scurrilous, baseless criticism of President Ali’s speech under a government led by President Ali.
Gabriel’s pomposity and empty arrogance are noted in his own words, when he wrote in reference to President Ali that Gabriel “tried to give him a hand before.” What leads Gabriel Lall to the belief that he is worthy, capable, or qualified to give a hand to the President of Guyana?
I expect President Ali to be wary of graduates of fifth-rate universities, who end up as pavement washers on Wall Street and call themselves financial analysts; and who, in grand moments of delusion, hold themselves out as capable of offering him advice. It may be that, by donning a red dashiki, Gabriel Lall has reinforced “his blackness” for Dr Blinds, and has impressed him with his knowledge of American history.
President Ali is, however, advised by competent and highly qualified people, and it is downright offensive and disrespectful for Gabriel to describe those persons as “squeamish and simply not up to the task.” Gabriel must be told, and directly so, that there exists, in the minds of discerning Guyanese, no doubt of his involvement “in dirty jobs”. This is evident, and is clearly conveyed in the tones of nastiness and downright disrespect in what he writes, and in his utterances on his appearance on internet shows with those with whom he now associates.
Gabriel Lall thinks much of himself. He strives mightily to show those who have gathered him that he can abuse and criticise the President of Guyana and members of his government; and though his comments are tasteless and dry, he seemingly harbours the vain hope that they are delighted with his efforts, when they are possibly chuckling and quietly thinking that they have on their side, as appropriate cosmetic ethnic dressing, quite the kind of buffoon they really need.
I wince when I think that President Ali would give GHK Lall a passing thought, even with Lall’s pretensions at intellectuality.
President Ali, by his style of speaking, conveys his hopes and expectations for Guyana.
This is captured in his emphasis and vehemence as he espouses his concept of “One Guyana”, which, as His Excellency has explained, is a multi-faceted concept with deep philosophical underpinnings.
The President’s tone and his forcefulness when he speaks convey the dedication, dreams, aspirations and purposiveness of a leader bent on doing good for his country. It is sad that Gabriel Lall is focused only on the President’s tone, and in so doing has missed His Excellency’s message. Maybe this should not be held against Gabriel; it is the way of those with whom he associates, and whom he undoubtedly seeks to please in order to earn his keep: to focus on trivia while Guyana, led by President Ali, advances rapidly in a march to prosperity for all.
It is important, therefore, for people like Gabriel Lall to be careful with the focus, nature, and quality of their criticism, particularly of the Head of State. Criticism can be a healthy pursuit, but when the occasion warrants, it must be constructive, fair and circumspect, lest the criticism reveals the critic to be just a gross, horrible, knavish lout.
Sincerely,
Selwyn Persaud
