Dear Editor,
A LITTLE over a week ago, on Sunday evening, May 29th, I was casually browsing the television channels, looking for something interesting to relieve my boredom, when by chance I came upon a programme that was just about to begin on TVG Channel 28, titled “The Factor”, hosted by Mr. Neaz Subhan. My attention was immediately drawn to the programme because of the personalities being interviewed by Mr. Subhan, namely Mr. Ravi Dev, Dr. David Hinds, and Bishop Juan Edghill. It is not often that one gets to see the likes of Dev and Hinds together, sharing the same space, discussing the salient ethnic issues that are negatively affecting the country’s development; so I thought to myself that it was going to be worth my while to listen in, especially since they were going to discuss the interrelated vogue issues of race, ethnicity and national unity.
Predictably, the exchange of ideas and opinions amongst the discussants was invigorating and thought-provoking, and had me glued to my television set. However, coming down to the tail-end of the programme, what was up until then an engrossing discussion was spoilt by remarks made by Bishop Edghill. In sum, he stated that Afro-Guyanese believe that they have the God-given right to rule, and this belief is being fostered by the Christian charismatic churches.
I couldn’t believe my ears. I actually pinched myself to ensure I wasn’t having a surreal experience. Editor, I encourage you to view the programme to confirm what I’m reporting here is true, accurate and correct. Better yet, I implore you to make contact with any of the other persons who were on the programme to validate that what I’ve stated herein is factual, and not fictional.
The statement made by Bishop Edghill was unambiguous, unequivocal, and pellucid; there can be no misinterpretation of what he said.
I patiently waited a whole week to see if the wider society would have zeroed in on Edghill’s remarks and use the formal media or social media to roundly condemn them, but having not seen any movement in this direction, I decided to pen this missive.
First off, I wish to state that, as an evangelical Christian, I take extreme umbrage at Bishop Edghill’s unflattering misrepresentation, traducement, and denigration of the charismatic community here in Guyana. Worse still is that he would seek to controversially infer that the church propagates and executes a racist agenda, which is palpably slanderous and mischievous. This is, so far, the most mean-spirited and diabolical attack on the church that I’ve ever encountered in my Christian life. It is being made by an apostate, and it should not go unchallenged, since reticence on the matter can embolden him and others of his ilk to make even more scurrilous allegations against the evangelical movement.
Here, I pause to advise that I have not, by any stretch of the imagination, appointed myself as the evangelical representative on this matter; I am just responding as an aggrieved member. Hopefully, my more spiritually-grounded and informed brethren in the evangelical churches will take this issue on board and give it the serious attention it deserves.
Secondly, the callous assertion made by Bishop Edghill — that black people think they have the God-given right to rule over all the other races — though risible, is also racially inciting. Every Guyanese knows that race-relations in this country, especially between Africans and Indians, are being skillfully balanced on a knife’s edge. It is a powder keg waiting to explode at any time, given the right conditions. In the circumstances, Bishop Edghill’s remarks are akin to throwing gasoline on a smoldering fire. I guess he is right now probably smugly sitting back, waiting for the conflagration.
I take the position that Mr. Edghill the politician knows what he is doing: he is deliberately fanning the flames of racial hatred, bigotry and discord in an undisguised attempt to ingratiate himself with the PPP’s Indian support base. The public would recall that it was only last year — during an event organized by the Indian Arrival Committee to commemorate the anniversary of the Lusignan killings, which occurred on January 26, 2008 — that Mr Edghill had made similarly racist remarks, for which he was pilloried in the media; so this is not the first time that Mr. Edghill has publicly espoused racist demagoguery.
For the good of this nation, and in furtherance of the goals of social cohesion, unity, and peaceful coexistence of all the races, moreso Africans and Indians, someone has to put a muzzle on Edghill and all the other racial entrepreneurs, who by their pronouncements and actions seek to create racial strife in this country. Where is the Ethnic Relations Commission (ERC)? Is it still hibernating?
Based on Juan Edghill’s pattern of behaviour, I am strongly advocating that he be summoned before the ERC and banned from all political activity in this country. This man is divisive — and dangerously so.
In conclusion, I would like to use this afforded opportunity to posit the view that the powers-that-be need to get their act together, and fast! There must be no further hesitation in dealing condignly with the race-baiters in our society – lest, God forbid, we unwittingly recreate the Rwanda experience right here!

Yours truly,
OSAFO LYNCH