CAN Freddie Kissoon be worried that his articles are being read by his former students and they are noting how evasive he has become?  My original intent in responding to him was motivated by his touting of a “social contract” a la English philosopher Thomas Hobbes.

The good lecturer is quite familiar with western philosophers but knows nothing at all of his own origins, culture and traditions. Who cannot feel some sympathy for him when he confesses that “I am ashamed to be an Indian” and that he is Afro-centric?
That completely explains by which lens/blinders he views the world. So one can understand his portrayal of me as an “Indian extremist,” now living in New York who supports the PPP/C government.  Me? I would be less than honest if I failed to take issue with his description. Not only do I not live in New York, but how can I be more extremist than his close friends Dr. David Hinds, Mr. Tacuma Ogunseye, Mr. Barrington Braithwaite, Dr Clive Thomas or Mr. Eusi Kwayana etc? In fact, I stood in line for nearly five hours under the boiling sun and ensured President Barack Obama got my vote a second time in the recent November 6th elections! I hope the American President does not get tagged as an “Indian extremist” for appointing his former Indian origin 1980 college roommate Mr. Vinai Thummalapally- as US Ambassador to Belize or getting my vote. http://www.rediff.com/news/report/obama-appoints-indian-american-as-ambassador-to-belize/20090612.htm.
But rest assured you are not likely to find me standing under the best conditions to vote for anyone associated with the PNCR. Can anyone pinpoint the Indian champions in that party and compare them with the historically powerful non-Indians in the PPP/C? Consider also, that all hopes have now been completely shattered by Mr. Nigel Hughes and Mr. Moses Nagamootoo’s extremism in hijacking of the AFC. The AFC’s refusal to honour its promise to make lawyer Gaumattie Singh a MP had earlier left a bitter taste since the 2006 elections.
Mr. Kissoon’s failure to address his personal obligations to any “social contract” which he touts is disappointing and makes him appear hollow. He is the one who raised the issue of a social contract by quoting Hobbes who was also an abolitionist. Instead, his sensitivity to any reminders of his luxurious three-storeyed house in a gated community built on GUYSUCO land has set him fuming.
Look at how he now completely ignores his Pitri Paksh “social contract” to his ancestors and tangents off to be seen as a working-class citizen. Since his father was a Georgetown non-sugar worker groundsman and he was allegedly treated with contempt by the Portuguese owners, Mr. Kissoon has become openly outraged at anyone with money or who is successful. (He even contemptuously vilified those Indian women who wore traditional jewellery because he is unschooled that an Indian’s wife fineries are a reflection of the husband’s success in life.)
What explains Mr. Kissoon’s privileged preference to GUYSUCO land cheaply is anyone’s guess. In any case his clarification that his “gated” community is “because it has one road in and one road out” does not cut it. By this definition, which Guyanese village is not “gated”? Only one road goes through Buxton, one road goes through Linden to Lethem and with the militarised presence of hooligans, Agricola has become elevated to a supersized “gated” village with its only public entry and exit to the nearby Demerara Bridge. Even an elementary student knows only one road leads to Essequibo, to Berbice and to the Cheddi Jagan International Airport.

Let me quickly address Mr. Kissoon’s other demands. He wants the “undemocratic” PPP/C government to change the Burnham constitution to empower the opposition. And when the opposition comes into power and Mr. Kissoon’s expectations are not met, would he then ask for the constitution to be changed again?
Come on now, but the outspoken lecturer is demanding that the PPP/C government change the Burnham constitution needs lots more. He fails in his “social contract” to demand the PNCR apologising in parliament for their 28-year absolute power which ruined Guyana, killed outstanding citizens (e.g Dr Walter Rodney) and sent its best brains fleeing abroad. I want the constitution to be changed to ensure that there is ethnic balance wherever taxpayers’ money is spent, specifically the armed forces and civil service. All Guyanese should have equal rights to the national patrimony and this is what the AFC had promised in the 2011 elections but which they have abandoned. Where is his “social contract” to make balanced demands?

In the U.S., despite winning the presidency, the Democrats lost the House of Representatives. Pardon me for being an “Indian extremist” but should the Democrats foolishly change the U.S. constitution to pave the way for the loser Republicans and Mitt Romney to get the presidency? Should the U.S. President even dare tinker with the American constitution, changing the “electoral college” to the “popular” vote? The PPP/C cannot continue to forever be the fools rushing in where even angels fear to tread when they have previously agreed to change the constitution from “consultation” to “agreement” in the appointment of the Police Commissioner and Chancellor of the Judiciary. See Oscar Ramjeet’s letter, KN, 10-30-12, “what motivated our lawmakers to change ‘consultation’ to ‘agreement?”
That same mindset guided them to previously approve the British Duncan Sandys agreement permitting the imposition of Proportional Representation (PR) before the 1964 elections? Same story in Trinidad. The ruling UNC party at that time paid a heavy price when in the tied (18/18 seats) 12/01 elections the sitting Prime Minster, Mr. Badeo Panday allowed the island’s President Mr. ANR Robinson (whom the UNC had made the President) to make the decision and he chose the black-based PNM as the new government. South Africa-born 1964 British Guiana Governor, the late Sir Richard Luyt who had dumped the PPP and made the PNC and the UF the new post-1964 government must have been very proud.
This desire of Mr. Kissoon’s for the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) and not the Privy Council to be Guyana’s final Court of Appeal contradicts his own admission that Caribbean nationals do not trust their own governments and courts. Again, Mr. Kissoon did not address the racial and ethnic balance knowing fully well that these Caribbean nations stood silently during the rogue PNC oppression and discrimination against its citizens. The best answer to Guyana’s problems dear bhai saab ( a Hindi term of brotherliness and respect) is not in constantly changing the Guyana constitution, but getting on board and demanding the political federation of Guyana so that all regions, ethnicities and racial groups will become and feel completely empowered. This is no Eusi Kwayana partition or segregation as much as you revere him. Everyone will be free to live or move about as they so wish.
Kindly indicate sir, which of the above, in your opinion, qualifies as democratic or denies promotion of “equality” or entitlement. Further I expect you to uphold your “social contract” and in the process do Guyanese, both living and dead, yeoman service whereby your evidence to the contrary can negate my own and thus credibly explain away or affirm all of the above.
Speak the truth but with supporting evidence- if only to dismantle unfair evil legacies with which you have sometimes had an enviable record in confronting. But be reasonable not to expect me to negotiate or agree to my extinction in the same manner where there are now no Carib or Arawak culture since the advent of Christopher Columbus to the Caribbean.

Your sincerity and openness to “let Ramracha write more so we can reply and show the rural folk what type of monsters control their country” is acknowledged and your challenge accepted, but of course subject to the editor’s facilitation. In the process “we” can arrive at an understanding and accommodation which does not make us bitter, acrimonious enemies but seek resolution of the constant racial animosities directed at Indo-Guyanese which threatens and endangers everyone’s security and survival.