I sincerely thank Mr. Devanand Bhagwan for his classy letter in which he wonderfully relegated Freddie Kissoon to his place. In being courteous, professional, candid and logical, Mr. Bhagwan evinces qualities which are not inherent in Freddie, and also, which he can never develop. Freddie Kissoon is the ultimate ‘gadfly,’ and he is incorrigibly grotesque physically, socially and professionally. In academic circles, Freddie does not count. Yes he sees himself as the ultimate political analyst, social commentator, philosopher, and scholar. But how he sees himself, is a matter for him alone. Freddie is his own ear, reader and audience. He is the consummate bigoted Narcissist. So thanks to Devanand.

‘Dave’ mentions that “(t)he big problem with Mr. Kissoon is himself. He deems those asking hard questions and confronting him with hard facts as mere “footnotes” and perceives himself as the palpable ‘Headnote’. This says it quite succinctly. He, Freddie is also bothered by the fact that the coterie, containing the likes of Ravi Dev, Dr. David Hinds, Dr. Rupert Rooparine etc. are referring to one another, in their articles. There is great deference among these people even though they have differing opinions. So one can imagine how awful it is for this scholar-manqué. He views himself with too much importance, and so is bothered when left out of academic discussions.

Freddie chides Bhagwan for being eulogistic regarding Joey Jagan, Vishnu Bisram etc. So one gets the impression that it is Freddie’s prerogative to decide on one’s heroes. The idoliser of Tacuma Ogunseye and the paramour of Mark Benschop has arrogated too much authority to himself. Imagine Freddie deeming V.S Naipaul as stupid and advising Shivnarine Chanderpaul not to accept the government’s award. Freddie can indeed engender bitter hatred. He can also elicit interminable risibility. One could have sensed how piqued the debunked ‘fillibuster’ was. So his Sunday letter was not only anticipated, but the contents as well.

First, the ‘I’ man was obvious. He, Freddie was in the ‘public domain since (he) was 16 years of age. In that long period of public activism, (he has) encountered hundreds of Bhagwans, Bisrams and Jagans. (And since this) will not…. he couldn’t be bothered.” But bothered and reduced he was. One can talk of the brilliance of Dr. Rupert Roopnarine, the logicality of Ravi Dev, the candour of David Hinds etc., but what can one say of Freddie? He is barren, non-intellectual, puerile and nothing but a ‘rum shop’ ‘cuss bird.’ Why do you think the likes of Joey wanted to slap him and Paul Tennassee almost did it?
One little incident comes to mind. Freddie tried to tell someone how to pronounce the word ‘deportment.’ It was shocking. The man’s sources of authority are ‘hear say,’ ‘little stupid anecdotes,’ ‘conjured up and figmented’ incidents etc. Freddie wants a legacy, but he should realise he has it already. He is an obnoxious, pesky and petty brat.
Thanks again Dave.