I AM responding to Mr. Malcom Harripaul (KN June 13) who challenged me to do research on rape in Guyana as happened during the period of forced national service in the 1970s and 1980s. I spent almost two weeks in Guyana in July and researched this topic with ‘people in the know’ of incidents of rape. I also held discussions with police, UG and GTC students about rape in earlier visits to Guyana. I spoke with several doctors and individuals (judges, lawyers, police, former government employees, etc.) who confirmed the occurrence of large numbers of rape at national service, at government work sites, at peoples’ homes during some violent robberies during the 1970s and 1980s, and in the hinterland among poor, helpless Amerindians.
I penned that hundreds of Indians were raped during the authoritarian era. Harripaul acknowledged that “only a few Indians were raped” and he justified it by saying “so were women of other races.”
I am not disputing that non-Indians were also raped. The issue is whether Indian women have justifiable reason to be fearful of returning to the rule of that era.
My recent conversation, with doctors who performed abortions during that era, while not putting a number to the amount of rapes, said I underestimated the number of rapes that actually took place. One doctor told me he did 12 to 15 abortions on some days on national service victims.
Contrary to what Harripaul would like us to believe and his defence of national service and his new-found party affiliates, rape was widespread. It is not political propaganda that rape took place as Harripaul himself verified it.

Mahadai Das confirmed that rape was a common occurrence at national service. She was repeatedly raped. I was reliably informed that Ms. Luck was flown out of national service after sexual abuse and airlifted to Canada. Ms. Hanoman was raped in her office and flown to Barbados (that was widely reported in the press). Those who witnessed rape were told to mind their business especially if they wanted their certificates of satisfactory completion of national service so they can get their UG and GTC diplomas.  The late Gora Singh related to me many incidences of rape.
Rape carries a heavy stigma. People don’t generally go to police or any authority to report rape. The victims often don’t even tell family members and, when they do, the rapes are hushed up.

Parents were/are ashamed of the stigmas. They are concerned about “Ah wha guh happen to me beti”. So names are not given. Doctors don’t want to release files and names of rape victims and the doctors themselves don’t want their names be used in any writings. 

The next time Malcolm is in G/Town, he should have a chat with the older docs about rape and abortions.  But Malcolm already knows the fact and just does not want to admit it because of his defence of his new comrades.
Malcolm says only a few women were raped in the armed services. So he has knowledge of rape. And even if it is just one rape, he should have reported it to his supervisors and actions taken. Rape has no statute of limitation and America has laws to bring to justice the rapists even if the rape took place in Guyana. So it is not too late for Malcolm to report his knowledge of rape to the authorities in Guyana and the US.
In a report on rape, Nigel Rogers (KN Jun 13) kind of excuse rape in Guyana arguing that rape is not the bailiwick of one ethnic group while defending the Guyanese rapists by comparing allegations of rape with racist lynching of rape accused in America. No! It is not the same. There was actual rape in Guyana and there was no lynching of anyone.
I agree with Harripaul and Rogers that the rapists did not target one race of females and the victims were from all races. The fact that I did not mention African girls were also raped did not mean they were not victims of rape. But the group that suffered the most from rape were Amerindian women and most of the perpetrators were — guess who they were Malcolm? It is not too late to bring to justice the rapists of different ethnic stripes, many of whom now settle in America. The victims, even in America, should file a complaint to bring them to book.