WITHIN days of each other two iconic Guyanese religious leaders passed on; and both of those gentlemen have served this nation in multiple capacities, not least through their contributions to national life as politicians in government.

In Guyana, religious leaders are severely castigated for any involvement in politics, especially if they join the ranks of PPP/C membership.   Recently, the cardinal of New York, Timothy Dolan was asked if he thought religion was playing too much of a role in politics, whereupon he responded, “No, I don’t think so at all.
“The public square in the United States is always enriched whenever people approach it when they’re inspired by their deepest held convictions,” he said. “And, on the other hand, I think the public square is impoverished when people might be coerced to put a piece of duct tape over their mouth, keeping them from bringing their deepest-held convictions to the conversations.”
The cardinal of New York also quashed the idea that one should not vote for Mitt Romney just because he is a Mormon.
Throughout the corridors of history, in every society, politics and religion have been closely interlinked, because communities and societies are integrated within the framework of both politics and religion, which impacts in diverse ways the daily lives of the citizens of any nation.
Nicolas Sarkozy, in his elections campaign, enlisted the help of religious leaders, including Muslims as well as Catholics and Protestants.  One Christian religious leader said that it is impossible for a Christian to stay out of politics because  Jesus of Nazareth’s execution was blatantly political. Proclaiming his gospel therefore had inevitable political consequences. When Christians began reciting Kyrie eleison (“Lord, have mercy”) in the liturgy, it was a powerful political statement.  He opined that is what a loyal Roman said to Caesar when coming into the emperor’s presence. To repeat that in worship clearly states that God, not the emperor or other political ruler, is in charge and asks where does faith end and political loyalty begin? Can we reasonably expect people not to bring their deepest convictions, which are always religious in nature, to the public square, as Cardinal Dolan said?
So separating the church of any faith from the state is an impractical, because both are premised on respect for, and promotion of human rights; so logically there can never be any logical separation of powers between the church and state.
Within Guyana’s political landscape there has been Pandit Gowkarran Sharma in the PNC’s cabinet, among other religious leaders of different faiths; and the PPP/C has had within its leadership structure notably Pandit Reepu Daman Persaud and Rev. Dr. Dale Bisnauth, both of whom served as ministers of government from the beginning of the PPP/C’s governance of this country.  Subsequently there have been Bishop Juan Edghill, Pandit Prakash Gossai, and Reverend Kwame Gilbert, and all have had to weather a scathing storm of opposition criticisms.
Reverend Dr Dale Bisnauth, former Education, Sports and Culture Minister, who also served as Minister of Labour, passed away on 4th April last at age 76 following a heart attack. Bisnauth became Minister of Education in 1992 on the accession of the PPP/C to office. In recent years Reverend Bisnauth had been the Chairman of the Board of Industrial Training.
The former minister of education, since his appointment in 1992, took education to new dimensions and laid the groundwork for the heights that sector has reached, including attaining the MDG for primary education in  this country.
He gave new dynamism to the Primary Education Improvement Project, created the design and implementation of the Secondary School Reform Project, the initiation of the Basic Education Access to Management Support Programme, implementation of Desk Manuals for senior managers at the School, Regional and National levels, and the introduction of Board Management at the Cyril Potter College of Education, senior secondary schools and technical institutions.
When Dr. Dale Bisnauth left the education sector in 2001 that sector was well-poised to scale formerly unclimbable heights.
The life, contributions and achievements of Rev. Dr. Dale Arlington Bisnauth were celebrated at the Umana Yana last Sunday evening by his colleagues and stirring tributes were paid by several persons whose lives he had impacted in some way or another.
Education Minister Priya Manickchand, who had organised the event, said his was a life to emulate and described him as a mentor. Extolling his many virtues, she said his was a life that meant much to many and described some of the transformational changes he had created in the Ministry of Education to set it on the path it currently traverses.
Vice-Chairman of the Board of Industrial Training, Mr. Clinton Williams, said he met Bisnauth, whom he described as a ‘professional yet simple man,’ in 2007 when he was appointed to that Board. ‘We had an objective of contributing to national demands by the training and development of youths, particularly to be self-employed and to accept gainful employment within both the private and public sectors”. This was merely one of several youth and skills development initiatives, driven by former President Dr. Bharrat Jagdeo, for which he shared responsibility with Dr. Bisnauth; all of which proved highly successful.
During all the initiatives working with Dr. Bisnauth, asserted Williams, the proactive and innovative approaches engendered maximum results and the programmes have expanded to national levels. He pledged to continue the legacy left by Dr. Bisnauth.
Mrs. Evelyn Hamilton, who served under Dr. Bisnauth during the transitional period in the education sector, said that Dr. Bisnauth soon earned the respect of his staff because of his absolute love for people, especially children, for whom he always tried to make life better.
Ms. Maureen Massiah recalled that Dr. Bisnauth loved teaching so much that he gave voluntary service at the seminary that he had helped to establish. She spoke of his joy in serving the Lord and described him as an excellent, scholarly, and knowledgeable tutor who could weave contemporary issues with abstract theories and who loved to banter with his students.
Bishop Francis Allen described him as someone whose interest in ecumenism went beyond Christianity to incorporate the religions of the world.  He recalled that Dr. Bisnauth always promoted the concept of celebrating shared commonality across all the divides that could serve as a unifying instead of a divisive factor.
His daughter Crystal delivered a soul-stirring eulogy in honour of her father, wherein she recalled that, at the end of each busy day he would ask of himself, “Did I do everything that I could have done today?” And she asks of herself today: “Did I make daddy proud today.” The answer to that would be an unequivocal ‘yes’. If Dr. Bisnauth could have heard his daughter’s poignant but brilliant testimony of him as a professional, as a father, and as a human being par excellence he would have near-burst with pride.
Tota Mangar, as was expected, delivered a scholarly dissertation of the man, his achievements and his scholastic works; and his presentation is worthy of publication.
A representative from the CIOG informed the audience that it was because of the interventions and support of Bisnauth that the CIOG today has an expansive education programme and five private schools.
Home Affairs Minister Clement Rohee, recalled the days of the PPP in the political wilderness when Dr. Cheddi Jagan was travelling the world to find allies in the just cause for free and fair elections; and when Dr. Bisnauth used to provide accommodation for Dr. Jagan in Barbados, during which the two men grew to respect and appreciate the commonalities in their shared principles and ideals, which led to Dr. Bisnauth accepting a ministerial portfolio in the newly established PPP/C government as part of the civic component.  He spoke with admiration of Dr. Bisnauth’s eloquence and profound, thought-provoking analyses during parliamentary debates.
Reminiscing, Prime Minister Sam Hinds spoke of the vision of the late Dr. Cheddi Jagan, who wanted, as he has always done, Guyanese of ability and patriotism to join forces with the PPP to rebuild the greatly devastated country and set it on its current path of peace, progress and prosperity.
He described Bisnauth as ‘one of the stars of the civic group’ and spoke briefly on Bisnauth’s scholarly dissertations, whereby he explored the dynamics wherein people could merge as one family under the blanket of humanity, and that bridging gaps between people was his passion.
He poignantly recalled the day Dr. Jagan took ill, when he received the shocking news while in Bisnauth’s company during an inspection of buildings in Linden; as well as another sad day – 9/11/2001, which was Cabinet Day, when Bisnauth was very distressed, especially because one of his daughters worked at the twin towers.
President Donald Ramotar spoke of Dr. Jagan’s determination to harness the skills of the best talent who had the country at heart, and Dr. Bisnauth was a patriot who was willing to work with the PPP to make an input into the massive reconstruction of the country that had been absolutely devastated and disembowelled of funds and hope.
He described Dr. Jagan as a “democrat to his bones,” because his focus was the people and country, and not on divisive politics; so he formulated the manifesto with the assistance of the civic component of the PPP/C, as well as other national stakeholders in the various sectors.  According to him, Bisnauth was a major contributor to the 1992 PPP/C manifesto.
The President described Bisnauth as a brilliant orator who saw the whole society as a classroom. He related Bisnauth’s disappointment when late PNC parliamentarian Deryck Bernard, one of the nicest and most erudite members of the opposition, whose oratorical skills he appreciated, was absent and someone else made a presentation in the place of his fellow academic.
He recalled Bisnauth’s absolute commitment to the skills development and youth empowerment programmes formulated by former president Dr. Bharrat Jagdeo, and revealed that, at the time of Bisnauth’s passing they had been engaged in discussions on writing the memoirs of Dr. Jagan and the history of the PPP.
The President spoke of the shared experience of rising from humble beginnings through hard work, grit and determination to reach the plateaus that they did, and spoke with regret of the many collaborative efforts that can no longer come to fruition under the guidance of Rev. Dr. Dale Bisnauth, but acknowledged that this loyal patriot has served his country well.