Religious community to play deeper role in building “new citizen” – Pres Ali

Under the next People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) Government, the various religious communities in Guyana will be called upon to play an active role in moulding well-rounded citizens.

This is according to President Irfaan Ali, who is returning on the PPP/C ticket as the presidential candidate at the upcoming September 1 elections.
Addressing worshippers at the Alexander Village Vishnu Mandir in Georgetown during the Krishna Janmashtami celebrations on Friday evening, the Head of State said that the government will be giving the support to build a strong religious presence in communities.
“In the next five years, I believe that the religious community must play a deeper role…a deeper role in building our society. And we are going to support directly the religious community to build the new citizen… In building this new citizen, [we will focus on] your civic responsibility, your moral responsibility, and your responsibility to your family and community,” the Guyanese leader stated.
According to Ali, citizens will learn more about this and many other plans of the PPP/C over the coming days.

The PPP/C is slated to formally present its Manifesto for 2025-2030 to the public on Monday ahead of next month’s General and Regional Elections.
During his remarks on Friday evening, President Ali urged worshippers not to take their presence at the mandir for granted, or the role that religious teachings play in guiding their actions.
“Do not take it for granted. It is here where that love and understanding is instilled to be passed on [including to] the small children. Not many people today say they grew up in a mandir because if you grew up in an environment… That is the structure of your foundation,” he asserted.
Krishna Janmashtami, or Janmashtami, is the celebration of the birth of Lord Krishna – the eighth avatar of Lord Vishnu. Lord Krishna represents, in myth and scripture, love, duty and action without attachment.
Reflecting on this significant festival in the Hindu calendar, President Ali noted that the various attributes of Lord Krishna are applicable in today’s society, especially in leadership roles.
“If there was any other time in our world that we needed good leadership, where we needed leadership with humanity at its centre and with people at its centre, it is now. We live in a changing environment, a complex environment. But as one looks at the attributes of leadership, there is an important component, and we are taught about wisdom and what constitutes wisdom in the Bhagavad Gita.”
“I found myself a few days ago reading chapter upon chapter on this one word – wisdom… Now there is one part of this leadership by wisdom, and that struck me. It is about your ability to make difficult decisions in the different circumstances… So, exercising wisdom in leadership is a very important example… [And] in exercising this wisdom, if we can’t understand that we are in a continuous form of reconstruction, self-construction and self-transformation, then we will always be static in life,” the Head of State noted.
Bringing this message to the current day, President Ali pointed out that soon Guyanese will be making an important decision to elevate not just their future but that of the country.
“Lord Krishna, in his leadership for people of all walks of life, exercising righteousness, wisdom, and making decisions in complex environments, warns us about what constitutes this wisdom. And how we must use this wisdom to analyse every circumstance and to make decisions that are in the best interest…not in the best interest of Pandit or me, in the best interest of the people,” the Guyanese leader noted.
Shifting his attention to service to people, President Ali told worshippers at the Alexander Village Mandir that their leader, Pandit Ravi Persaud, possesses strong qualities of a leader.
“He is always present because he has a sense of duty – a different sense of duty from the professionals. A different sense of duty and responsibility from those who may have PhDs and masters and engineers and so on. That sense of duty and responsibility comes and is underpinned in his teachings, in the nourishment that he received from his teaching that comes from the Bhagavad Gita.”
“So, tonight my simple message to myself and to all of us is to exercise that wisdom in making difficult decisions… Today, we are fighting for One Guyana… Let us not use this wisdom to make wrong decisions. Use this wisdom as Lord Krishna would have used it, as the Bhagavad Gita teaches us to use it, and make decisions of dignity, honour, and selflessness. And I think with that, we will continue to serve each other,” President Ali noted.