PNC leaders must learn from Gladston Henry’s humility

Dear Editor,
Gladston Henry, father of the late Isaiah Henry – who was murdered in a gruesome manner with his cousin Joel – stood like the Gibraltar Rock, and accepted his loss like a real man, in the true spirit of altruistic brotherhood, and as a magnanimous Guyanese.
He wept, but did not wimp like the cowards who, a while ago, weaseled their way into the Henrys’ home and discharged their garbage to weaponise the crowd; then disappeared in the still of the night, leaving behind agitated women and men to wreak havoc with their own neighbours.
He imploringly appealed to the rest of the nation, and called for a cessation of the violent acts that have unravelled a racial bias because of the devious agenda from the visiting PNC politicians. The sincerity of Mr Henry overflowed when he declared, “I am not a racist; I still love my Indian brothers and sisters. I am not supporting immoral protesting, because I went out in Number 5 Village and I told them straight: ‘If you want to protest, is our right; let we do it peacefully.”
What a lesson for all, especially the leaders of the PNC Party, to learn! Had they adopted Mr Henry’s humble attitude and honestly broached the matter in the same natural vein, this blazing inferno may have been completely avoided, and none of the horrible damage might have occurred. The men in disguise planted the diseased seed of conflict, not peace; but, as a true Guyanese, the mourning father blurted out, “I am not a racial person. I born in Number Three (Village). The community I live in, I live among Indian people. We eat together, we sleep together. The majority of my friends that I move with are Indian. We move like brothers; big men, older men than me, and because of how I was moving with them, they give me a nickname, “Geera”, and “Geera” is because it have to go in the dhal, seeing that me is the only black one that living in there.”
This is what “One People” means, coming from a similar background landscaped with a friendly and brotherly relationship, knitted and bonded with mutual respect, sharing a camaraderie that embraces love and caring for each other’s welfare.
The likes of Granger and Harmon cannot speak such simple language explicitly, because their roots are grounded in Burnham’s fascism that condones preferential, ethnic differences. Harmon’s seeing “eyeball to eyeball” meant, “an eye for an eye.”
A conscientious advocate for peace, Mr Henry further painfully pointed out, “We, the nation, cannot be fighting against one another, because this is going on too long.” Hitting the nail on the head, he has unabashedly demonstrated with such simplicity what the acclaimed intelligent city technocrats failed to realise. As a humble rural civilian, he can mentor those anointed in their high seats with selfishness as foresight and falsity as hindsight.
The PNC Party has always placed their troubled party paramount to the nation, and “politricks” above people. The policies of the party have inculcated a culture that accommodates greed and vindictiveness as its base, and purports to divide-and- rule as its instrument. No wonder its followers are misguided with its lies and brainwashed with its deceptions.
As a result of Mr Henry’s attitude, the mass has been chastised for its misbehaviour and castigated for undue consequences. Granger and cabal are committed to breaking, and not making.
The language of a tiring Gladston Henry is neither flavoured nor favoured. He unapologetically admonished: “Let we not see this thing as Black, White, Chinese or Putagee (Portuguese) because if Blackman did do this, or a Chinese man did do this, or any man did do this, and if is not my family, I believe that he will have to pay the penalty, and not no other people who looked like him and get the texture of hair like him, but the person who committed the act should pay for the crime.”
Mr Henry is the gentleman who is involved in this disrupted fracas, and has lost his son, but yet he is tempered, and still wishes for justice, but in a free and fair environment, not an atmosphere sidetracked with prejudice and contaminated with convoluted corruption. He has 20-20 vision, which is not obscured with any enshrouded clarity. He is not disoriented with illusions, nor can he be befuddled with thwarted perplexities.
The Police should be allowed to perform their duties unhindered by political interference, so that justice may prevail. The PNC Party finds it difficult to call a “spade a spade” and to allow the law to “run its course.”
It is most interesting to see how Granger has awakened from a slumber, availed himself conveniently, all of a sudden made his presence known in a scandalous manner, mudded his feet and mouth in dirty water, and then departed, again to hibernate. Walking with a knee strengthened with discrimination, he is kneeling on the voice of conscience. Harmon has spoken with the forked tongue, and poisoned the twisted minds of the community. Volda Lawrence, perfecting a performance, has polluted the ambience with her self-interest, popularised a promotion, performed an act of pretence, declared power flexing, and populated only her vanity.
In a press statement issued by Home Affairs Minister Robertson Benn, he was right on target with a bullseye, stating, “This escalation in violence rests squarely at the doors of these two gentlemen and specific known political agitators of their ilk!! The emergence of these political vultures and associated criminal opportunists (has) led to a deteriorating spiral in safety and security in the areas! Granger and Harmon bear the prime responsibility for the escalation in violence, injuries and death.”
This sentiment is echoed by many Guyanese, and reverberates in every nook and cranny in Guyana. All lives matter, and as we mourn the loss of all lives, let us contemplate on the words of Jane Elliot, “We learn to be racist, therefore we can learn not to be racist. Racism is not genetical. It has everything to do with power.”

Respectfully,
Jai Lall