Only those afflicted can gauge the solace to the soul engendered by support systems and supportive people during a time of need.

One very attractive, very brilliant young lady, who seemingly had an extremely bright future and a strong support system buoyed by loving family and friends, took a plunge from the escarpment over the cliffs and into the gorge of the Kaieteur Falls on Saturday, 7th November 2009, snuffing out the hopes of her loving family, her own dreams and life, and sending indescribable darkness into the hearts of all those who loved her.

The shockwaves resounded throughout the nation, because this was one of Guyana’s shining stars of academia, and the progeny of one of Guyana’s foremost entrepreneurial families.

There were few people in this country who did not regret such a grievous loss to this nation, for many reasons.

The wanton loss of a young and productive life that has only pursued and achieved positive things is always regrettable, and Guyana can ill-afford to lose its brilliant skills resources.

However, it is the loss of a loved one treasured by nurturing parents and siblings whose agony cannot be empathised with, no matter how much sympathy one feels, except by those who have suffered similar loss, especially under such tragic circumstances.

Chronicle was the first media house on the scene when Aliya’s body was brought to Ogle Airport on an Air Services plane, owned by her uncle, Yacoob Ally. The guards indicated that the bereaved family members wanted privacy and the media operatives were kept at bay. The enterprising media team, however, sped to the parlour and were there waiting when the hearse arrived with Aliya’s body, accompanied by relatives.

Although there were no guards intervening at the parlour, a senior member of Chronicle’s staff who had accompanied the reporter and photographer asked that they did not intrude on the grieving and shattered family, so everyone kept a respectful distance, while observing the proceedings and the personalities. The grief was palpable in the air, but one could not help but note the strength displayed by Aliya’s father, Rustum Bulkan.

The conjectures, the suppositions, the speculations and the unwarranted accusations that took a family’s tragedy and converted it into a weapon to attack the President of this country and the Guyana Defence Force, especially one columnist with a forked tongue, a black heart, a void conscience, kleptic hands, a degenerated soul and a twisted character, were directed toward the right perspective by a soul-searing letter penned by a grieving Rustum Bulkan and published in yesterday’s edition of the Chronicle, which should lay, for once and all, the speculations and the outright accusations of neglect and ineptitude by the Guyana Defence Force.

Mr. Bulkan’s narration of the sequence of events following the tragic death of his daughter included a description of the response and the risks taken by the special task force delegated to expedite the mission to retrieve Aliya’s body, which they subsequently did, braving difficult and dangerous terrain and treacherous rapids, at great risk to their own lives.

Mr. Bulkan described the instant and unequivocal response he received from Army Chief-of-Staff, Commodore Gary Best, the constant support and encouragement from the Office of the President and the Commander-in-Chief himself; and not least the bravery and skill displayed by members of the Army’s Special Forces under the command of Captain Howell and led by Lieutenant.

He singled out for special mention Corporal Guy Nash and Corporal Armstrong, who nearly lost their lives in the rescue effort, but he credited all members of the team with exemplary bravery and skill, and described them as “a special breed of men” who are heroic and dedicated.

Those of the black hearts and thieving souls rob this nation of much with their poisonous pens and their forked tongues when they blow the bad things done by a few individuals with twisted souls like their own within the State’s institutions and ignore the positive things attempted and achieved by those committed to positive endeavour within the national framework.

But the pen of one honest man who could find the courage to recall maybe the most painful moments in his life in order to tell his truths and dispel the fictitious scenarios is worth more than medals to the brave soldiers of the GDF, so take a bow, soldiers, you have done your army and country proud.