…or hypocrisy?
This Pandit Tillak fella who rushed in where angels fear to tread – commenting on the high rate of teenage pregnancy in Amerindian communities – has taken quite a beating. His take on the phenomenon? That it seemed to be socially sanctioned even though technically it violates the laws of Guyana – specifically those concerning statutory rape. The latter’s defined as having sex with a girl below sixteen and it matters not whether there was consent or not. You have sex with a below 16-year-old and it’s proven, that’s it!
Presumably attempting to be “delicate” – what the Pandit actually said was “I was reliably informed that in Amerindian tradition and culture, and please I stand to be correct (sic), that a girl as soon as she enters puberty, she must be equipped with these fundamental knowledge: she must know how to make the pepper-pot, the cassava bread and she must also know how to warm the bed…”
One riposte came from an “ASHTON SIMON, MBA, MPM, Master Project Manager Certification, President, National Amerindian Development Foundation (NADF). Referring to himself as an ex-military man, Simon commended President Granger for later pointing out that he (Prezzie) had recently attended the unveiling of a Statue of Lord Hanuman, a Hindu Deity and he’d learnt a lot about this practice. Prezzie had implicitly chided the Pandit when he concluded, “the best people to speak about their own culture are the people themselves,” said Simon.
But Simon, who may or may not be “simple”, chose to ignore Prezzie’s admonition about letting folks explain their own cultures. He went on an extended rant – not about the Pandit (he only called him a “full blown idiot”) or even Hindu practices in Guyana – but about alleged Hindu practices in India on child marriage, incest and forced marriages, etc.
Hey, as your Eyewitness said, the Pandit was certainly not observing the implicit “truce” that’s assumed when you have multicultural and multi religious gatherings. But does Simon have to declare war on Indian Hindus?
But fact of the matter is, Simon’s assertion that the Pandit’s statement was “misleading” just isn’t true!! . In yesterday’s paper, Minister of Health (who’s Amerindian) pointed out that teenage pregnancies (“girls under 15”) in Amerindian communities were tremendously high but “It’s not teenage pregnancy that’s the problem, it’s the path before that,” in other words “their culture”.
Minister of Social Protection Volda Lawrence also had weighed in and stated that people in Amerindian communities had adopted a passive attitude towards rape, incest and TIP. She called for “prosecution”.
So should we be politically correct and also become “passive” about this problem?
…for medical training
Whatever’s the matter with some young people and their parents? Don’t they read the papers or look at the news? Your Eyewitness was nonplussed when he saw on the front pages, policemen and policewomen clambering up ladders to nab the owner of a fake “medical school”. How many times have the soon apprehended female con artist not pulled this trick?
PT Barnum, the American showed – who pulled numerous hoaxes in his lifetime and formed the Circus named after him – famously said, “There’s a sucker born every minute”. And we know a sucker and his money’s soon parted, right?
Well certainly in Guyana, it seems there are TWO suckers born every minute. Listen…you want to become a Doctor and presumably you can’t get into UG Medical School – which isn’t even accredited. Isn’t that a tip off that whoever accepts you into their “medical” school is engaged in a rip off?
And that you were prepared to rip off some other unsuspecting Guyanese when you “graduate” by pretending to be a “Doctor”? Shame!
…to complain
So the government’s finally taking action against Bai Shan Lin after bitching and moaning for years before the elections.
As Greenidge now says, China always had regulations for its companies engaged in forestry operations. Why weren’t they used before?
