Dear Editor,
Guyana is sinking deeper and deeper into destructive ‘tit for tat’ politics.
First, the Special Organised Crime Unit (SOCU) came up with inexplicable charges against former Finance Minister, Dr Ashni Singh and former Chairman of NICIL, Winston Brassington, to appease certain die-hard Government supporters who never cease bawling for the blood of the past Administration for perceived wrongdoings.
Now, the Opposition has taken the bait and jumped on the bandwagon by filing private criminal charges against Ministers Volda Lawrence, George Norton, Winston Jordan, David Patterson and Dr Rupert Roopnaraine, thereby joining the vicious cycle of charges and counter-charges.
I am not in the fold of any political party, but I am sufficiently politically conscious to know that this is just the start; much more tit-for-tat politics will come from both sides.
This brand of politics did not start yesterday. It began decades ago when there was a split in the People’s Progressive Party (PPP) leadership in 1955 between Forbes Burnham and Dr Cheddi Jagan, partially because of ideological differences and partially because of the USA’s secret support for Burnham that was verified recently by Wikileaks revelations. Returning to the point of the tit-for-tat politics, the move to charge the former Ministers is, in my opinion and that of sane society in Guyana, part of an attempt to destroy the Opposition PPP party.
I believe in giving credit to all Governments that served this country. Many despised Burnham as a dictator and an architect for the destruction of Guyana. But I would like to say very clearly that he was a genius in agriculture and one of the masterminds behind federalism of the English-speaking West Indies, including Guyana in South America.
However, he was also guilty of tit-for-tat politics, which was evident to anyone paying even the remotest attention. This was a reality of life.
I lived in the Upper Corentyne. I was a student at the Tagore Memorial High School in Number 63 Village and I witnessed the Burnham Administration’s manipulation of the electricity system to bypass an area in Berbice that was then known as ‘Little Cuba’ because it was a hotbed of Progressive Youth Organisation (PYO) or PPP stalwarts.
They ran the electricity wires via posts way down by the beach and all the way up to the Corentyne then back out to the main highway just to bypass Number 63 to Number 69 Villages between which lay Little Cuba. There is no doubt that certain People’s National Congress people of that era were responsible. That was unadulterated political wickedness; I condemned it then and still condemn it now.
I am not a political person, I am just an observer and listener. Based on what I am seeing and hearing, I appeal to the President of Guyana, His Excellency David Arthur Granger and to the Minister of State, Honourable Joseph Harmon that the time has come for the nation to take a bold step in the direction of unity.
I also appeal to the Opposition Leader, former President Bharrat Jagdeo, former President Samuel Hinds and other PPP leaders to send into the universe their thoughts of peace into this country. The human mind is like a magnet. The thoughts you send out are the thoughts you attract and the reality of your achievements.
I cry out to the PPP/C to understand that the power lies in the party that is in power today. It is a reality we must face. But those in power must also understand that the Opposition is also powerful in this country.
So, can these two powers just bury the hatchet, lay down the sabers, put the swords in the sheaths and lock them away so that we can talk peace and goodwill? Let us speak love and harmony. Let us speak and look for common ground. We have more commonality and more similar needs than we have differences.
The peoples of Guyana are at each other’s jugular veins, albeit motionlessly until it’s time for elections, then the nails penetrate the veins and draw blood as the struggle begins for dominance by the supporters of the various parties.
Cast aside the recriminations and the attempts at destruction of careers and lives. Let the past stay in the past and let us move onward and upward to build a great wonderful Guyana.
Sincerely,
Roshan Khan
