–but absolutely refuses to apologise on their behalf
OLD KAI had predicted in his last column, written on Thursday, May 8 and published on Saturday, that the APNU would soon bring up the ‘race card’ once again (of course, making themselves the victims against the big, bad PPP), because it is currently under pressure.My exact words were: “They (APNU) will use anyone to hold on to their support base; and just as someone drowning, they will clutch at anything to keep them afloat. Hence, don’t be surprised that they will soon begin another scheme which brings up the ‘race card’ politics again. It is the only way they know of keeping their supporters in check.”

Sure enough, the very day after the column was written, APNU, at a press conference, expressed concern that the ongoing Walter Rodney CoI may breed Indo-Guyanese resentment against them.

It is a claim they have repeated in the past. However, this time around, the mask of the PNC = APNU has inadvertently admitted that Indo-Guyanese were indeed targeted when they were in Government.

How else can one interpret the statements in the media attributed to no less a person than David Granger, who was quoted as saying, “It is clear that the administration is more interested in seeking to gain a political advantage by unashamedly provoking resentment against the PNCR.”?

There would be no cause for ‘resentment’ if Mr. Granger’s PNC, now APNU, did not target this section as well as other sections of our population during their dictatorship. Granger was a senior figure then, and even wrote extensively, including attempting to justify the killing of the ballot box martyrs in Corentyne, referring to them as ‘gangsters’ when they only sought to protect the legitimacy of their votes. So he of all persons would know what he is talking about now.

One would expect that even at this 11th hour, Granger, who has been preaching the virtues of racial reconciliation, and A Partnership for National Unity, having inadvertently admitted that there was reason for resentment in the past, would now do the honourable thing by taking responsibility and apologizing for their actions.

If he was truly committed to these ideals he would have done so; but, sadly, this was not forthcoming. It did not surprise Old Kai as, clearly, the PNC/APNU have not changed from their past misadventures; as only recently Granger was publicly articulating their ‘jook fuh jook’ policy.

How can we ever have racial reconciliation and overcome this ethnic barrier with such a mindset from the opposition? The only way is to isolate these individuals, and let all progressive Guyanese continue to build on the foundations of the 1992 elections.

We have come a far way in overcoming many hurdles, overcoming differences that once kept our people apart. Today they socialize together more than ever in our history, and the fastest growing demographic is the mixed race, which indicates that there is greater commingling of the races. What this means is that there has been a dramatic increase in the percentage of Indo-Guyanese persons who have relatives that are Afro-Guyanese, and vice versa; and this goes for other races as well. By virtue of this fact, the chances of either of these races taking up arms against the other, or trying to harm the interest of each other have greatly diminished.

This is where the devious machinations of the PNC/APNU will be exposed, as they are hoping to reign in their traditional base by using the race card and a bit of reverse psychology. By crying that the Walter Rodney CoI will stir up Indo-Guyanese resentment against them, they are hoping this will result in Afro-Guyanese rallying behind them. Their aim has always been to condition the minds of their supporters, so that if there is Indo-Guyanese resentment against the PNC/APNU, Afro-Guyanese would be the de facto targets. Such is the wicked trickery by this opposition cabal.

As established earlier, there is a greater commingling of the races today than at any other point in our history, so the chances of inter-racial strife have been dramatically reduced. Therefore, the PNC must stop trying to drag an entire race behind them to serve as protection from their actions in the past and in the present.

These people have no concern for anyone expect themselves. As Old Kai had revealed, the PNC’s X13 terrorist plan would ‘destroy their own brother’ if that person did not fall in line with the objectives of the party.

Let us also consider the reason for the current CoI — the assassination of Guyana’s most famous scholar of African ancestry, Dr. Walter Rodney.
So if there is Indo-Guyanese resentment against the PNC for the death of an Afro-Guyanese, it shows that the ‘jook fuh jook’ perception Mr. Granger is trying to create to divide the races is misplaced. It shows that contrary to what the cabal of extremists would like to have you believe, our people are more united than at any other point in our history.

However, they want to undermine that unity for a selfish reason — political preservation. Ultimately, it is up to you to decide what kind of future you and your kids would live in, the ‘jook fuh jook’ one, as announced by David Granger, or one of continued peace, progress and prosperity.