Pres Ali calls for widespread condemnation of Opposition’s “hateful, racist, divisive” remarks

– Indo-PNCR members distance selves from utterances

Recent comments made by specific members of the Opposition during a meeting at Buxton, East Coast Demerara (ECD), have been condemned by President Dr Irfaan Ali, who has called for a collective condemnation by stakeholders.
During a public meeting on Thursday evening at Buxton, Working People’s Alliance (WPA) member Tacuma Ogunseye made a reference to the use of guns in the hands of the Disciplined Services. President Ali, who is the Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces, described the comments as inflammatory in an address to the nation on Saturday.
As such, he called for a collective condemnation against those who continue to spew such “dangerous” words.
“Are these leaders? Are these the type of people we want to lead our country? Are these the type of people we want even to be associated with leadership in any political system, in any political party?”
“To the private sector, ask yourself very simple questions; can these people who shared that stage have the interests of Guyana at heart? To the religious community, in the consciousness of religion and in our own conscience as religious leaders, do you accept this? To some of the civil society who would ignore this because it does not suit their agenda too, where are your voices now? …Where are the voices? [In] any society, this will never be tolerated; [in] any democratic society.”
President Ali, nevertheless, declared that these actions would not stop his Government from unifying and uplifting Guyanese on this path of development.
“Your President will stand up every single day for what is right. Will stand up every single day in support of democracy. In support of unity. In support of development. Because all the guns he’s talking about, let him turn them to me,” President Ali said.
“Because no gun or bullet will stop us on this path of unifying our people. On this path of developing our country. On this path of uplifting the lives of our people. This is clear hate, terrorism, and racism, that come off of that stage. All of Guyana should be upset. Imagine the Joint Services had to issue a statement!”
In a statement on Friday, Joint Services Chairman and Chief of Staff of the Guyana Defence Force (GDF) Godfrey Bess referenced an article published by the online news agency, Demerara Waves, in which Ogunseye was quoted telling residents at the Buxton meeting, where the issue of Local Government Elections was discussed, that “…the Afro-Guyanese-dominated Police and soldiers… would stand with Afro-Guyanese in resisting the mainly Indo-Guyanese supported PPP/C.”
The WPA member further stated, according to the article, “We come to tell you that we will ensure that our brothers and sisters in uniform do the right thing and this thing will be over quickly.”
In response, Brigadier Bess reminded in his statement that “…irrespective of its ethnic composition, the Joint Services of Guyana is an apolitical institution and will continue to uphold the novel position of service to the people of Guyana.”
Further, it was noted that the Joint Services – which comprises of the Guyana Police Force, the Guyana Prison Service and the Guyana Fire Service along with the GDF – is guided by the Constitution which mandates it to stand firm in the protection of the law and in the execution of its duties, in keeping with its constitutional responsibilities, and not by any partisan values and interests.
To this end, the Chairman of the Joint Services urged “…particularly social and political activists and commentators, to refrain from these and other misleading and mischievous remarks which incite racial tensions, deviating from the promotion of the peace and security which the [Joint] Services are mandated to mandate.”

Indo-Guyanese
Meanwhile, People’s National Congress Reform (PNCR) parliamentarians Ganesh Mahipaul and Natasha Singh-Lewis, Georgetown Mayor Ubraj Narine and Region Four Chairman Daniel Seeram, released a statement of their own following the meeting.
The four PNCR members, who are of Indo-Guyanese descent, took issue with another part of the meeting in which a speaker denigrated the origins of Indo-Guyanese and distanced themselves from the remarks made.
“We must take a firm hand with our lands. When we came here from Africa, who knows Africa knows the land mass that we were accustomed to. So, these other people who come here, who suddenly getting land, many of them came from the slums of India.”
“And if you look at the amount of persons in India, (over one) billion for that little land mass, you would understand what is going on in India. They lived in pipes, they lived in all the deplorable places,” a speaker who was identified as ‘Sister Rhonda’ said.
In their statement, the four PNCR officials condemned these comments made on stage and expressed disappointment that these comments were not challenged by any subsequent speakers. These subsequent speakers included Opposition Leader Aubrey Norton.
“During the meeting, one of the speakers made statements that we found to be derogatory, distasteful, and hurtful to the East Indian community of Guyana. We want to make it clear that we condemn and distance ourselves from any attack on any race in Guyana, including our African brothers and sisters.”
“It is disappointing that none of the other speakers at the meeting sought to address or clarify that speaker’s statements. We call on all political leaders and representatives to speak out against all forms of bigotry and discrimination and to work towards a more inclusive and tolerant society,” the PNCR parliamentarians said in their statement.