HEAD of the Presidential Secretariat (HPS), Dr. Roger Luncheon is most emphatic that the People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) does not just respect diversity, but also nurtures it.Speaking on the programme, “Political Scope” aired Sunday on the National Communications Network (NCN), Dr Luncheon took the opportunity to remind his audience that diversity has always been co-existent within society since the beginning of the human race.

He cautioned, however, that the problem is not diversity, which is inevitable, but responses to it; and he said history is replete with examples of extremist approaches to this normal phenomenon in society.

He expounded that ‘respect for diversity’ has attracted the widest range of human responses, as on one end, some of the most glorious chapters have been written when it came to respect for diversity; on the other hand, some of the most infamous examples have occurred, and have shown the insensitivity of ‘man to man’ based on the colour of the skin, the colour of the hair, or on religious, geographical, or tribal differences.

For Dr. Luncheon, ‘respect for diversity’ is fundamental to social organisations and society, and the PPP/C excels in this area.
He recalled that this has been so with the PPP/C from the days of the People’s National Congress (PNC). Dr. Luncheon noted clearly that the embracing of diversity was both ‘intra’ (PPP/C) and ‘inter’ party (with the PNC), since the genesis of both parties.

He explained that people need to be reminded that “we’ve come from different places, and were brought here as slaves and indentured labourers; also that we’ve met the first peoples and, over the centuries, we have all been here in this cauldron that is both British Guiana and post-independent Guyana.”

Because of this variegated background, the veteran politician said, “we all had to contend with the reality of the good and the bad.”

He said that with this comes either “respect or disrespect for the diversity.” According to him, Guyana has prevailed in this area, conquering by embracing the fundamentals for a good society.

“Aided and abetted by the most permissive of Governments, that is, the PPP/C Government, Guyana has indeed confronted all aspects of diversity and has committed itself to dealing with respect for diversity.”

He said respect for diversity means that Guyana must always apply those features of intervention that have been used elsewhere and are appropriate for the Guyanese situation, and this must be done in a way that is holistic and profound, that is “at the level of the constitutional, statutory, executive, and administrative.”
ROLE OF EDUCATION

Dr. Luncheon elaborated that ‘respect for diversity’ is not something that could have been or must be left to chance; and, in this way, the PPP/C is very much at the forefront in making this a reality.

He declared that “no one should be rejecting or questioning it, but recognise that this is our social reality, that we all can’t be the same, and we can never be the same, and what we have we have to learn to live with.” This mindset, he stated, is what is vital, and is what has been achieved over time.

The HPS posited that this was done via education, and opined that “the commendable work that has been done by the education system (did it) but it has to continue.”

He said he has absolutely no doubt in his mind that there is such a link between education and diversity.

Dr. Luncheon wished that every Guyanese could have been a university graduate, because “I feel that with education, with knowledge, comes wisdom, and that would allow for this respect for diversity to actually flower in the Guyanese environment.”

He highlighted that Guyana is moving assiduously on the educational front “to imbue the Guyanese people with a heightened culture, not a narrow culture of race, but of a ‘people in toto’ as this would allow us to embrace diversity…that is where it all begins and ends. We have to love what is our own,” he said.
POLITICS AND DIVERSITY
Dr. Luncheon firmly believes that the PPP/C has essentially established the groundwork for ‘respect for diversity.’ He said the PPP/C has a pattern, with the major element being consolidation. He, however, cautioned that “we, the PPP/C, need to remain focused; we need to enforce and to make the ‘respect for diversity’ so ingrained it’s like rain falling, the sun shining; it becomes a part of our very nature, and this I refer to as enculturation.”

The HPS explained that ‘respect for diversity’ has got to be a cultural reality, and he reiterated that this is possible when the educational system takes the tremendous responsibility for so doing, as it is “our education system. There is where I wouldn’t say the battle or war would be waged, but the action will play out.”

He strengthened this line of thought by announcing that “an educated Guyana is a Guyana that will embrace respect for diversity, so we have to indeed keep the focus on our educational system, on the output of our educational system, as it encourages greater respect for diversity, and indeed enshrines respect in our legislative constitutional instruments, the monitoring and the evaluation.”

In this vein, the HPS said that Guyana has to consolidate so as to ensure an emerging culture that embraces ‘respect for diversity’ and one that is inculcated by the educational system. He detailed that it is by the products of education that ‘respect for diversity’ will become cultural, noting that “we have to look at what is happening with enforcement, and support it by appropriate legislation, constitutional instruments that maintain what we have achieved.” (GINA)