DISMISSING accusations by the People’s Progressive Party (PPP) levelled in emotive language such as ‘ethnic cleansing’; former Speaker of the National Assembly Ralph Ramkarran is convinced that there is no “large-scale discrimination” by the APNU+AFC Government, but rather a “perception” of this. Offering this reasoning in his weekly blog, Conversation Tree, Ramkarran explained that there are growing concerns within the Indian Guyanese community that the Government has embarked on large-scale discrimination against them.
NEGATIVE PHENOMENON
But while he does not accept this, he suggested that the growing perception is a negative phenomenon so early in the life of the three-month old Government. “It should not be dismissed because once such perceptions take hold, they are very difficult to overcome,” the former Speaker said.
According to the him, “With the advent of the APNU+AFC Government, many Indian Guyanese have become fearful of discrimination and, in particular, fearful of the loss of promotional or job opportunities, loss of access which is vital for overcoming bureaucratic inertia or manoeuvring around bottlenecks in the conduct of business.”
POLITICAL APPOINTMENTS
This fear, Ramkarran said, is being generated by the reality of Indians losing their jobs, notwithstanding that most of those are political appointments and are expected to resign upon a change of Government or are public servants who have elected to climb a political platform.
However, he opined that while on the ground there is little substance to any charge of discrimination but there have been worrying developments.
To this end, he alluded to the recent dismissal of 2,000 community officers in the Amerindian community which was described by the PPP as an example of the “worst case of ethnic cleansing.”
Explaining that he is unable to say whether the employment of the 2,000 persons was for a political objective as alleged by the Government, Ramkarran said that it appears unlikely, having regard to the large number involved.
But according to him, the Government which has the responsibility has not provided information of a credible nature to the public about this “large-scale dismissal.”
Public indifference, he reasoned, has met the sudden loss of income by those individuals in the most deprived community in Guyana.
But while he would be prepared to give the Government the benefit of the doubt, Ramkarran noted that it would be conditional on an acceptable explanation for this destructive act, with a stroke of the pen and the presentation of a plan, for the injection of the same level of resources in the Amerindian communities, which have suffered this devastating loss.
He then reflected on the dismissal of Bharat Dindyal, CEO of the Guyana Power and Light by the Government recently. The dismissal of Dindyal, whom he described as one of the “best and most dedicated managers” in the State system, will send shivers down the spines of the ethnically sensitive.
The former Speaker stated in his blog that if the incidents that led to the dismissal which were reported in Stabroek News last week were indeed true, then, “Dindyal resisted gross and continued insubordination” from his deputy, which was supported by the Minister.
Ramkarran suggested that the CEO’s dismissal was prompted by his resistance to the insubordination and the exposure of the political involvement. “He has stood up and resisted in times past in different circumstances,” Ramkarran said.
But according to him, this political culture in much of the Third World embraces the type of gross political interference and insubordination which Dindyal perceived and which he protested.
“Political interference crushes all those in its path who attempt to resist. There were many from recent PPP Governments. Dindyal is the first known victim since the elections and will not be the last unless the Government breaks with this culture,” the former Speaker said.
To this end, he noted, the APNU+AFC Government should have “no doubt” in its mind that these acts will all add up to the growing “perception” by the Indian Guyanese community that discrimination against them will become a part of their lot under the APNU+AFC coalition.
Ramkarran reasoned that, “The Government must understand that the rise of such sentiments is not determined by constructive examination of facts and rational conclusions arising therefrom.”
He suggested that they emerge from “perceptions rooted in historical circumstances” that are given expression by Guyana’s two-party system which drives and sustains these perceptions.

By Ravin Singh