In the wake of the national crisis created in the United States of America,

when Americans across every state reached out to help their fellow Americans, Barack Obama said feelingly, referring to this spirit of sharing and caring, except for rare instances, that “…there are no Republicans and Democrats, only Americans.”
In one of the Hindu holy books it is said that Hindus honour their poets more than their kings, because the emotions of their poets are more powerful than the sword arm of Kings and influence the humanity within humankind more than the creeds, doctrines, and laws of the powerbrokers.
Thus was Tulsidas revered for his “Ram Charit Manus”, the lyrical translation of Valmiki’s “Ramayan.”
Barack Obama was responding to the emotion of the moment and spoke from his heart.  If this depth of feeling and patriotism prevails in leaders worldwide they would not be able to turn a blind eye, a deaf ear, and a stony heart to the suffering of their peoples, but would do whatever it takes to be true to their mandates and create better lives and lifestyles for the citizens of the lands that they rule.
Regrettably, historically, those who can do the greatest good for mankind often choose to do the greatest evil – all because of ego and id transcending their humanity.
When Dr. Cheddi Jagan recognised the grave injustices being done to the working-class in Guyana and set out on his life-long journey to equalise opportunities for upward mobility for all living in then British Guiana, with the ultimate objective of acquiring independence from dominion status and self-rule, he did so with the inclusion of all who were willing to undertake that journey with him – with no consideration of creed or colour; merely with people being paramount in the equation.
But time and again he was betrayed by those who craved power at any cost, even if it meant delaying the acquisition of independent status in this country, which it did; and the sacrifice of peace and unity in the nation, which it also did.
But he never relinquished that dream of uniting the Guyanese people, refusing steadfastly to wrest his right to govern by violent means, accepting with patient dignity the grave injustices done to himself and his political party – the PPP, for decades, while one election after another was rigged, until the Americans themselves acknowledged the role they had played in the destruction of Guyana and tried to right that wrong with sanctions imposed on the past administration and the intervention of the Carter Centre, which eventuated in the first somewhat (not quite, because there were even then attempts at derailment) free-and-fair elections in 1992.
Leading up to that time, Dr. Jagan had tried to join forces with other stakeholders and be inclusionary in his struggles for freedom in this country; even lending “critical support” to the PNC administration when that government undertook or achieved, which it rarely did, positive developmental outcomes in the country.
Space does not permit documentation here of the depredations wrought on this country post and during elections of 1992 in efforts to prevent the creation, and the administration, of a PPP/C Government; but all the destabilizing opposition strategies over the two decades of the PPP/C rule are well-documented; yet the incumbent prevailed and achieved a near-miracle in the nation’s economic growth and social development, especially during the latter years when there has been severe recession in global economies.
One could just imagine if the PPP/C Government had been allowed to govern unimpeded by the opposition’s destructive antics where Guyana could have been in the global developmental rating today.
It is not too late for the joint opposition to take stock of their actions, be patriotic and say to themselves, “Let us put country first and work for the nation’s good”, instead of pitting Guyanese against Guyanese to foster their illusions of self-grandeur, and say, like Obama did of the Americans, “There are no PNCites and PPPites, there are only Guyanese.”