IN ADDITION to being the basis for private legal action filed against former president, Dr Bharrat Jagdeo, the Media Monitoring Unit (MMU) is also being questioned for its conclusion that comments made by him were “racially divisive.”The incumbent People’s Progressive Party/ Civic (PPP/C) Executive Secretary, Mr Zulifikar Mustapha, in a strongly worded letter, noted that the decision to label comments made by Dr Jagdeo was unfair.

At an event at Babu John last month, Dr Jagdeo, while stressing that there is no place for divisions in the Guyanese society along racial lines, pointed to an example of what was done during the 2011 General and Regional Elections.
He said: “They shout about racism of the PPP, but they practise racism. They whisper campaigns. In the last elections they went to some of the Afro- Guyanese villages and beat some drums at 6 O’clock in the morning and say let us throw out these coolie people. Get up, go out and vote, throw out the coolie people. That’s the kind of language they use. Anybody from our party who uses that sort of language, we will kick them out. This is our approach.”
This considered, Mustapha pointed out that the MMU’s position is not only “unfair,” but a “gross misinterpretation” of what was actually said.
“Was the speech of Comrade Jagdeo reviewed in its entirety, no reasonable mind could have arrived at such an interpretation. Comrade Jagdeo was simply reciting what was actually being peddled by other political parties and indeed, proceeded to condemn those statements and that type of political mobilization in strong terms. Indeed, he was condemning racism,” the party’s executive secretary noted.
He added: “Are we to assume that you are encouraging political parties to use racism as part of their political campaign and strategy? We in the PPP have always and will continue to condemn racism whenever it rears its ugly head. That is precisely what Comrade Jagdeo did. It is mindboggling how you can interpret that to be ‘racially divisive.’ It is the complete opposite.”
CONSPICUOUS OMISSION
According to Mustapha, the PPP/C also has questions regarding the MMU’s “conspicuous omission” in expressing a view on the “twists” given to Dr Jagdeo’s comments in a Kaieteur New article, headlined: “PPP is a coolie people party- Jagdeo.”
He said: “We note your conspicuous omission to express a view on Kaieteur News’s very skewed and malicious twist of what Comrade Jagdeo said in an article a day after the event under the screaming headline: ‘PPP is a coolie people party- Jagdeo’.
“…we note also that you have refused to comment on a complaint which we have lodged with the Commissioner of Police in relation to the Kaieteur News story.”

The ruling party’s executive also questioned the MMU’s non-mention of another matter involving Alliance For Change (AFC) member, Dr. Veerasammy Ramaya.
Mustapha said, “We also recognise that you failed to even respond,more so, express a view on our complaints to you in relation to statements uttered by Mr.Ramayya from the APNU/AFC on television in Berbice.”
Ramaya made “libelous” claims regarding Mustapha, in November 2011 – during the height on the elections campaign – on his televised programme ‘Issues of the People’, which airs on Channel 8, a local station that transmits from Region 6 (East Berbice/ Corentyne).Both himand the proprietor of Channel 8, Tony Rambarran, were penalised by Judge NareshwarHarnanan, who ordered that the two pay a fine of $60,000. Final judgement was also awarded in favour of Mustapha.
All considered, Mustapha said, “These omissions coupled with your misinterpretation of what was actually said by Comrade Jagdeo force us to question not only your objectivity, but also your organisation’s professionalism and perhaps political bias.”
Consequently, the PPP/C has called on the MMU to review its decision at the earliest possible time and undertake a retraction of what was published.
The contention report is the first one produced by the MMU since its resuscitation.