WHEN the PPP, in 2011, first accused Brigadier (ret) David Granger of having blood on his hands, I assumed it was politics as usual. I thought the APNU Presidential Candidate had dealt adequately with the matter when he explained that he was a junior GDF officer at the time; he was in no way connected with the Corentyne incident; the Justice Dhan Jappan report exonerated Lieutenant Henry, the GDF officer who had command of the troops on the ground who opened fire on a hostile crowd.
I also did not pay much attention to the warning a few weeks ago by PPP leaders against the “militarised state”, pointing to the number of ex-senior military persons who joined or endorsed APNU/AFC. I felt these persons, now civilians, were only exercising their democratic right to choose which political party to support.
I was very shocked to read the following in ‘Guyana Times’ on Sunday April 12th, 2015:
“The justice’s report says nothing about political education, but Granger says that, the soldiers saved the day from the PPP and its supporters because of the political education they received, as early as 1971.”
What Granger referred to as political education was the politicisation of the army from 1971, by an Education Unit headed by no other person that Granger himself. Mouth open, story jump out. The period of politicisation of the army marked one of the most sordid chapters in its history. Would it not have been enough for Granger to say the soldiers did their duty by acting within the scope of their orders?
Most Guyanese would prefer to have a professional rather than a politicised army.
Since Granger is now claiming that his political work with the GDF is responsible for the army action on the Corentyne which unfortunately resulted in the loss of life, one is left to wonder if the PPP is justified in placing the label on him. Did this political education prepare the army to be loyal to the PNC rather to the State and did it embolden the decision to transport ballot boxes to GDF Headquarters where they were staffed in 1973?
Is Granger a fit and proper person to be Commander-in-Chief of the Army after admitting that “political education” saved the day? This alarming claim by Granger should be pondered upon by every voter for the May 11th, 2015 election.
The nation has been warned. The power hungry AFC has been warned. Beware, the Brigadier!
FARUK MOHAMED
