As Guyanese celebrate as a nation their country’s Republican status and the freedoms currently being enjoyed in this country, there is need to reflect on the extant threat by those who aspire to high office and have no qualms in visiting destruction and tragedy on Guyana and Guyanese.The very real fear that the Opposition’s utterances and actions would devolve into violence is an extant reality of an ongoing cycle that has its genesis in the infamous x-13 Plan, allegedly crafted by Hamilton Green and Forbes Burnham, with proven external collaborative and enabling forces, and continuing throughout Guyana’s history in various guises.
Approximately a decade ago, during the height of the “Buxton Resistance” and the “PNC slo’ fiah, mo’ fiah” campaign, four GuySuCo workers were kidnapped and murdered aback of Buxton; sleeping babies from an adjoining community were slain, along with their parents and older siblings; a sitting minister of Government was gunned down in his home, together with his siblings and security guard; people having a recreational drink at a bar were gunned down; businessmen were scythed down like so much chaff, while entire blocks of business entities were either looted or burnt flat. One May day, early in the morning, Premchand Barran and his 10-yr-old son, Mervyn Barran from Enterprise were executed in the backdam where they went to catch shrimp to augment family income. Not far from them Mr. Dhanpaul Jagdeo from Non Pareil was found. Each was executed. One policeman who persevered in investigating the murders, police detective Harry Kooseran, was gunned down. The PPP adjured its supporters not to retaliate, so the opposition’s plan to ignite a race war was averted, but the pressure continued.
The list of atrocities was endless and spiralling out of the control of the governmental construct.
The security sector heads, as evidence showed through tape-recordings and other subsequent revelations, were complicit in these criminal and murderous forays by one section of the Guyanese community against the other.
During that period in time, the inflammatory opposition rhetoric and actions continued, to the extent where they labelled murderous thieves and rapists as freedom fighters and even draped the body of the notorious Lindon “Blackie” London with the Golden Arrowhead – giving him hero status, was never condemned by the Guyana Human Rights Association and the Opposition collective of ‘NGOs’, including the PNC/APNU/WPA women’s arm –Red Thread, which have much clout with the foreign ambassadorial delegates through intermingling on the cocktail route.
The police ranks were helpless to intervene in the wanton slaughter and destruction countrywide, because they too came under fire, being gunned down on the streets as they performed their duties, or even while they performed personal tasks during their off-duty periods.
Then the bodies of the criminals began dropping like flies, either through clandestine actions, or through confrontations with the more patriotic members of the joint services.
It was only then that the voices of conscience, including and especially the Roman Catholic-led Guyana Human Rights Association arose to vociferously condemn the gunning down of “innocent young men”, even though the “innocent young men” were known thieves and murderers. The perennial protesters, who had shown no conscience and remorse for the destruction of innocent lives of men, women and children peacefully going about their business, or even sleeping in their beds, came out howling, even compiling a ‘dossier’ in which they listed criminals with their victims, claiming all those people died from extra-judicial killing by police ranks. It is said that if a lie is told often enough then it is perceived as fact. That lie has gained traction in international communities, especially through the AFC-controlled Guyana Transparency International. This period of several dark and tragic times of Guyana was precipitated by ruthlessly power-hungry opportunistic politicians who do not care if they ‘bruk up’ the country in their relentless bid for power; and the community through which they directed their murderous campaigns was the PNC stronghold of Buxton, which was driven to the ground during that dark period of that community’s history. Today that community is rising like a phoenix from the ashes of that destructive past as they join with Government to rebuild their community. Subsequently the Opposition used another PNC stronghold to create strife between the two major races in Guyana; and it started during the election campaign and continued with the protests against the justifiable restructured tariffs for electricity in Linden.
A pamphlet, in sync with Keon Gibson’s highly racist publication, was circulated by PNC/APNU activists, including some senior members, in Linden prior to the elections, which accuses President Donald Ramotar of practising racism against Afro-Guyanese.
Taken into consideration the above, as well as calls by the youth arm of APNU for the boycott of Indian run businesses, as well as businesses of African Guyanese who eschew race politics to work on developmental projects driven by Government, the pillorying of African leaders in Government whom they call “houseboys”, even against bureaucratic technocrats merely doing a job within the Government construct, and the racist rhetoric against GuySuCo workers, conscientious Guyanese felt constrained to issue a timely reminder and warning of the consequences of these inflammatory racist rhetoric and actions by the joint Opposition and their satellites.
President Donald Ramotar’s grandmother was purely Afro-Guyanese, his grandfather was purely Amerindian, and his father was purely Indo-Guyanese, which equates to him being purely the ultimate, quintessential Guyanese. His close family members represent all the races in near-equal measure across the country, so how could he discriminate against any one Guyanese race, given his inhered biological and cultural composition? The racists refuse to recognise that all Guyanese, especially from the African, Indian and American communities can claim Donald Ramotar for their own.
It was David DeCaires who first began the campaign of race-hate accusations against Dr. Jagan, through the Stabroek News, after the greatest humanitarian in the western world made a speech in Canada decrying the way Africans are generally treated; and just as the anti-PPP faction twisted Dr. Jagan’s comments out of context to infuse racist overtones, the opportunistic joint Opposition, especially the professional protestors, who mean to subjugate the public servants, whom they see as their personal property, went into a frenzy of accusations and volatile rhetoric to stir up more race-hate and anti-government actions because the public servants are now protesting the Opposition’s actions, especially the relentless Budget cuts in the 10th Parliament, which threatened their very survival. Buxtonians also are rejecting the calls from their leaders to be divisive once again; because they have been there, done that, and they were the ones who suffered the consequences while their leaders went their merry ways with their air-conditioned vehicles, their fancy houses, and their security guards, and their children were being sent to the fanciest educational establishments, while the children of the Buxtonians were socialised to become criminals in the “Buxton Resistance” army by their leaders and their henchmen, with many of them killed by the security forces, leaving grieving and devastated family members behind.
The Buxtonians are once again experiencing growth and development and are refusing to allow their young men to once more become cannon fodder for the elitist opposition forces.
So Lindeners and residents of Agricola became the next targets for the Opposition’s army of destruction.
Those who lived through and experienced the horrors of those years are terrified of this trend to the incitement of violence and hatred, as exemplified by Freddie Kissoon’s raging against a sitting Minister of Government, because of the potential for the destructive elements – the ‘Dogs of War’, who could once again be unleashed upon this country. The signs are troubling.
Not only with enjoyment of this day’s festivities, but also with reflection on what this day means to Guyanese; and the need to sustain and protect all their freedoms that should hallmark Mashramani – the celebration of all things good in Guyana, achieved after much struggle and sacrifice by our heroes of yore,the Board-of-Directors, Management and staff of the Guyana National Newspapers Ltd (GNNL) extend Mashramani greetings to all Guyanese.