“Islamic State” comments against President : Widespread condemnation, calls for Mayor Ubraj Narine’s resignation

…Deputy Mayor distances self from Narine’s utterances

Remarks uttered by Georgetown Mayor Ubraj Narine, accusing President Dr Irfaan Ali of creating an Islamic State, was on Tuesday vehemently condemned by Government, the private sector, civil society among others.
While protesting against the removal of vendors on New Market Street, Georgetown, Narine descended into making a series of serious accusations against the Guyanese President, which was met with immediate backlash and calls for his immediate resignation on the grounds that he was unfit to hold such office.
Narine went to the area after the Public Works Ministry initiated actions to remove vendors who are occupying spaces along New Market Street, between Thomas and East Streets as of Monday, following notices that they were impeding traffic flow in the vicinity.
The Private Sector Commission (PSC) on Tuesday said Mayor Narine’s remarks were “wholly unacceptable, vile, obnoxious, religiously offensive and highly provocative personal statements”.
The private sector said it is appalled at these statements, calling the Mayor unfit to hold such high office. It also recognised that Narine, having realised that his statements were immediately rejected out of hand as offensive and dangerously divisive by the Christian, Muslim and Hindu organisations of the country, belatedly, attempted an apology.
“The private sector is of the view that, given the high office and responsibility of the Mayorship of our capital city, Mr Ubraj Narine has proved himself to be unfit for this office and is left with no alternative but to immediately resign.”

Religiously and racially prejudicial
Like the PSC, the Georgetown Chamber of Commerce and Industry (GCCI) said it is aware of statements of “a religious and racially prejudicial nature made by His Worship, Pt Ubraj Narine, Mayor of the city of Georgetown.”

GCCI noted that the body assiduously disapproves of all forms of marginalisation, bigotry and discrimination perpetrated against any group of people. Within this context, the chamber is also gravely concerned with the frequent trend of politicians making statements with the potency to incite unrest through racism.
“GCCI strongly condemns any hate speech or actions, that attempt to incite racial and religious tension and by extension division in our nation. GCCI is firmly persuaded that at this juncture of Guyana’s economic transformation, unity in diversity should pervade the nation’s landscape and airwaves,” the GCCI said on Tuesday.

Biased accusations
Meanwhile, a statement from the Viraat Sabhaa Guyana opposed the remarks made by the Mayor and his expression of degrading the President as a racist and Muslim leader who wants to create a Muslim state in Guyana.
“The Sabhaa has confirmed that since President Ali ascended to his position, his agenda of uniting Guyana took precedence over everything else. For he is firm in his conviction that only a united Guyana could accelerate the progressive attitude of our people,” the organisation relayed.
“President Ali has never deliberately absented himself from any Hindu festivals. As a matter of fact, this year he was personally involved in the Diwali celebrations in Georgetown and other parts of the country. His passionate celebration of Phagwah and his personal visits to various mandirs is a testimony of his support for the Hindu religion. His contribution to the strengthening of the social and religious fabric is being admired by all with whom he would have come into contact.”
“The Mayor in effort to explore possibilities for the vendors has allowed his emotional overdrive to ventilate these bias accusations of the President. The Viraat Sabhaa denounces such expressions and calls on the Mayor to tender his resignation with immediate effect for making such dangerous statements.”

Distances
Amid the series of events, Deputy Mayor Alfred Mentore distanced himself from the Georgetown Mayor’s comment on President Ali.
“Deputy Mayor Alfred Mentore wishes to distance himself from the unfortunate utterances made by the Mayor regarding President Ali, with specific reference to comment pointing to a ‘Muslim State’,” a missive indicated.
Mentore said the comments made by Mayor Narine does not reflect his own views and that of some other Councillors but added that the decision to remove the vendors should have been a collaborative effort between the Mayor & City Council and the Ministry of Public Works.
“As a Council we are prepared to work with any religious group, organisation, denominations and Central Government at large. As our motion only [Monday] spoke to collaboration and dialogue and the extension of an olive branch to endorse the term of a (One Guyana) which will create Local and Central Government working in collaboration to build this nation.”

‘Spectacle of himself’
Minister within the Housing Ministry Susan Rodrigues condemned his actions, lamenting that the Mayor “made a spectacle of himself”.
“It gets more and more disgusting…I condemn this in the strongest terms. This Mayor is unfit and should not be in the position that he is in. He should be removed. He should resign. It is wrong what he did and we all know that you cannot accuse our President or this Government of showing any bias or discrimination,” she voiced.
The Minister went on to add that the President’s character speaks for itself, having displayed intentions of bringing the country together through his One Guyana banner.
“Imagine a President with the calibre like Dr Irfaan Ali, who everybody living in Guyana and overseas, know about the type of leader that he is. They know where they can find him. They can find him in places of worship, under people’s bottom houses, in every single community all across this country.”

“It is President Ali who talks about love and uniting this country, and not only talks about it. He does it. He walks the walk. He is a man that has been delivering for every single Guyanese in this country,” Rodrigues asserted.

Warrant legal interventions
Meanwhile, Home Affairs Minister Robeson Benn denounced these utterances in a statement, adding that it prevented the Police from conducting their lawful duties in respect of the removals of vending huts, carts, caravans and stalls illegally placed along the main access road into the Georgetown Public Hospital.
He said that the “antics and public expressions” of the Mayor were totally uncalled for and could have been resolved in a more dignified manner.
Additionally, Minister Benn said the statements made by the Mayor about President Ali are outrageous, egregious and warrant legal interventions from the relevant authorities. Ubraj’s remarks drive with envy, malice, and religious and racial hatred.
He added that the Guyana Police Force has been requested to review the “antics and utterances” of the Mayor for breaches of the peace and the law.

Nurturing mischief
In addition, Public Service Minister Sonia Parag also condemned the Mayor’s comment about the President and Guyana.
“Telling lies, spreading untruths and nurturing mischief have long been the modus operandi of the People’s National Congress and all of its aliases over the years. Having despicably overplayed the race card, the heavily disgraced APNU+AFC has now descended to a new and untouched level of low,” Minister Parag said on Tuesday.
She added that whilst Guyanese can all agree that Guyana has a history of racial tensions, “we have always been able to pride ourselves on being a nation that can genuinely be described as the epitome of religious harmony – accepting and appreciative of all religions, faiths and spiritualities, and even the lack thereof.”
He noted that the revolting utterances of Pandit Ubraj Narine, is nothing short of “wicked and vile.”
“As a man who purports to be of faith, Narine seems to harbour much hate and resentment in his heart, perhaps too weak to separate his political bitterness from the noble practices of Hinduism,” the Minister noted.
She noted that the Mayor continues to blatantly fail the people of Georgetown, adding that in the years that he has been at the helm of the Georgetown Mayor and City Council, Narine has done absolutely nothing to lend to the development of Georgetown.

Provoked and instigated
Adding its voice to the widespread condemnation, the International Centre for Democracy (ICD) said that it condemned the behaviour and allegations that was made by Mayor Narine. It noted that as an elected official, Mayor Narine is expected to conduct himself in accordance with the law, his oath of his office and more importantly be a role model for the citizens of Guyana. The comments made by the Mayor provoked and instigated racial and religious division – and from his actions and behaviour could have resulted in devastating civil unrest.
The ICD demanded that “Mayor Narine immediately apologise to His Excellency of the Cooperative Republic of Guyana President Irfaan Ali, the citizens of Georgetown and to the Guyana Police Force (GPF) for his unprofessional behaviour and comments, obstructing and preventing the GPF from carrying their duties.”

Reckless
Meanwhile, in a joint statement, the Islamic organisations of Guyana, which includes Central Islamic Organisation of Guyana (CIOG); Muslim Youth Organisation, Guyana Islamic Trust among others, unequivocally condemn what it called a “reckless outburst” from the Mayor.
The organisations noted that in a world characterised by epic political, social and technological transformations, there has never been a greater need for responsive and responsible leaders. “Some of today’s dominant models of leadership struggle to reconcile both qualities. The actions and utterances of Mayor of Georgetown, Pandit Ubraj Narine, outside the Georgetown Hospital last night make him the embodiment of what contradicts these principles,” the joint statement read.
It noted that the insinuation that President Ali is working towards the establishment of a dictatorship and an Islamic State, could lead to religious strife in Guyana.
“We the Muslim Organisations, view these statements as utterly irresponsible, amounting to no more than a pathetic political stunt to incite the emotions of people and garner support for himself. Such outbursts are foolhardy and very dangerous, and feed into the Islamophobic agenda which seeks to incite fear in the hearts of people regarding Islam and Muslims, and they must be condemned in the strongest terms.”
It noted that from the President’s actions and engagements with the various religious groups Guyana, it is clear that no single religious denomination can claim to be less favoured by the President.
“So far, by the Grace of God, our Guyanese community has been free from religious discord and our people continue to coexist with religious harmony and tolerance,” the organisations said.

Pandits Council
Meanwhile, the Guyana Pandits Council and its affiliates vehemently condemned the utterances made by the Mayor.
“We believe strongly that his words were inappropriate and highly disrespectful to the President of Guyana, His Excellency Dr Irfaan Ali and the Muslim community. Guyana is a country in which all religions are treated equally and allowed to practice their ideals and principles freely. Let us spread love, tolerance and unity instead of hate and divisiveness,” the Guyana Pandits Council said in a statement.
Meanwhile, the Opposition, APNU/AFC in a statement said it reaffirms its total confidence in the stewardship of the Mayor. (G12)