Dear Editor,
Racially stereotyping Indians as ‘a bunch of mentally lazy people’ who cannot think for themselves and are willing to let the PPP do their thinking is utterly reprehensible and unjustified.
It is certainly Amanza Walton-Desir who should be classified as an indolent thinker who lacks the intellectual capacity to analyze and interpret the mindset of Indians. But it is always easy to use derogatory terms and attempt to degrade others. This is the gutter mentality!
Walton-Desir should study the historical data which clearly showed that the Indians in Guyana have been highly critical of the PPP when they made a wrong decision, and many even unhesitatingly moved to other political parties, most notably the Alliance for Change (AFC) which coalesced with the PNC- dominated APNU to oust the PPP/C from power in 2015.
This type of defection can be traced back to the 1960s when leading PPP members defected to the PNC. Some big names such as the late Ranji Chandisingh and Vincent Teekah immediately come to mind. In 2013, Ralph Ramkarran wrote in his ‘Conversation Tree’ that ‘the PPP has suffered from it more than any other political party to date… it (the PNC) encouraged defections from the PPP, even of the most junior members, offering jobs and positions. After 1964, when the PNC assumed political office, ‘defections’ to the PNC, which had been sporadic, then intensified’. Mr Ramkarran himself defected from the PPP, as did Nagamootoo and Ramjattan. Whilst this would be deemed opportunistic, it cannot be classified as being ‘mentally lazy’ or having a ‘house slave mentality’.
The opposite is true of PNC members defecting to the PPP, which is never significant. This defection to other parties has served to highlight the strength and resilience of the PPP. It has now become the accepted fact that it is the PPP alone which can take this country to racial unity and socio-economic progress. The Party survived the worst threats to its existence from 2011 to 2020, but survived, and it was not because of mental laziness.
It is important to note that this defection continued until recently. It is unimaginable to fathom the indignity and numerous hardships which Indians faced during the 28 years of PNC dictatorial rule, yet, in 2015, many were quite willing to vote for the same PNC disguised as the APNU.
Although some high-profile Indians in the AFC were academically opposed to coalescing, they yet supported it openly on the 2015 campaign trail. It must be recalled that Mr Khemraj Ramjattan had prognosticated that the AFC would become ‘dead meat’ but it did not until it was clear that the AFC had become totally consumed and subservient to the PNC. This can hardly be classified as being ‘mentally lazy’. Later on, many of these became totally disappointed when the PNC of old surfaced and began a most corrupt period of governance, reminiscent of the dictatorship rule from 1968 to 1992, and moved back to the PPP for the 2020 elections.
Now that the Indians who defected had returned to the PPP, they are now labelled as ‘mentally lazy’. How convenient! Indians, like all other races, have always been in the forefront of change in this country, and sometimes to their detriment; yet they continued to exhibit the fortitude to attempt to change the status quo of their situation. However, I am yet to hear from members and supporters of the PNC about the 5-month-long attempt to rig the 2020 Elections. In some of their minds, it was just a figment of the PPP and their supporters’ imaginations.
Ms Walton-Desir should not be asked to apologise, some people are mentally lazy to do even that!
Yours sincerely,
Haseef Yusuf
