Dear Editor,
Reference is made to the long-winded missive captioned “Correcting Bisram’s falsehoods” of Mr. Eric Phillips (GC Sep 12) in which he defamed me and five reputable columnists of Guyana Times for debunking his racist claims over land. He distorted and misrepresented arguments, slandering the names of the five columnists and myself. He made wild allegations and assertions without bases. In addition, he drew conclusions from flawed assumptions. And he engaged in a very dangerous game of racial incitement against his detractors and against Indians, Chinese, Whites and Amerindians. Readers are smart enough and won’t be that gullible to his falsehoods to influence them. For the record, my writings contained no falsehoods and as such, there was nothing to be corrected.
Phillips boxed himself into a corner and is using charges of racism as a weapon to get out of it. Labelling those who disagree with you as racists with the hope of silencing them is an old worn-out strategy. Sound, reasoned arguments are needed to justify an indefensible controversial position. Phillips does not have a monopoly on discussion over land claims.
Instead of branding his critics as “racists” and threatening a “Rwanda” like experience for their disagreements with him, Phillips could have proposed a healing conference on the issues they raised – ancestral land claims and reparations for those groups that suffered depraved injustice during colonial rule. Phillips is needlessly pitting Africans against other groups,thereby worsening our fragile race relations. He is advocating exclusively for Africans, while the rest of us are championing justice and fair- play for all ethnic groups. Readers can decide who is racist.
In attacking ethnic groups and denouncing writers for their views on the issues, Phillips is not helping the African cause on reparations or land claims. It is indisputable that Blacks initiated the infrastructure of the sugar industry (conceived by Whites) and that slavery (as well as indentureship) and genocide against Amerindians were crimes against humanity. The descendants of slaves, like those of indentured Chinese, Portuguese and Indians and the native Amerindians, deserve reparations from European powers. Saying one group deserves reparations and the others don’t simply hurts your cause.
Phillips should not have assaulted the Indian community in asserting they have not made contributions like Blacks to the development of Guyana, and as such, are not deserving of land. Also, his view that Amerindians are not entitled to more land is not endorsed by others and his view that Africans predate Amerindians in Guyana is not supported by credible evidence. The fact is, all of Guyana first belonged to the native Amerindians who have ancestral claims to the land. And Phillips, like me, does not have any ancestral claim to land. Our ancestors are immigrants, and by definition we cannot make such a claim. In making a demand for ancestral land, Phillips is dishonouring his great people who made such a significant contribution to the development of Guyana.
Phillips should not attack any media or their writers. No media has an anti-African agenda. Pillorying five reputable feature writers and me with a baseless allegation (that we are being used to push this agenda) is not supported by facts. My agenda is to write accurately. I am an independent thinker and professional with a reputation of critiquing all parties and persons without fear or favour. I write factually with my writings originating from a credible historical basis.
Phillips mistakenly attacked the Indo-Caribbean Diaspora Network (www.icdn.today) accusing the website of “peddling an agenda of how Africans are persecuting Indians because of jealousy of wealth or achievements.” But there is not one line on the website attacking Blacks. Phillips accused me of “subtracting from African achievement” without offering any evidence. I have consistently praised the contributions of Africans and other groups in Guyana’s development. It is Phillips who is seeking to negate the contributions of Indians, Amerindians, Chinese and Whites in the development of Guyana, when he asserts they don’t deserve land.
Phillips also maliciously assailed me for a claim I did not make — that Indians are superior to Africans – a figment of his imagination (as it does not appear in any of my writings). The allegation is designed to tarnish my reputation among Blacks who respect my objective, balanced commentaries. What I stated was that if Africans developed 20K acres and Indians developed 100K acres, then one does not have to be a rocket scientist to conclude that Indians moved more earth. It was Phillips who claimed that Africans moved earth that is the equivalent of 15,000 square miles when they developed 20,000 acres of land for sugar cultivation, which Phillips is claiming. Indians expanded the cultivable land to some five times (almost 100K) using the same technology as the Blacks. Applying deductive logic, then Indians would be entitled to five times 15K square miles or 75K. And since Whites provided the capital (with Africans and Indians providing labour), and the land belonged to Amerindians, two resources considered more valuable than labour, then Whites and Amerindians should get much more land than Africans and Indians. The other ethnic groups should also be entitled to land for their roles in its development.
Phillips falsely charged that I wrote that the “black man should get no land.” This comment will not be found in any writings of mine. Neither Africans nor Indians is entitled to ancestral claims of land. If you have title to land, present it and claim it. One simply cannot claim land that is titled to others. Phillips should be ashamed for his mischievous writings replete with falsehoods. He has dishonoured himself and his people for misleading them about ancestral lands and the views expressed by the columnists and me.
Regards
Dr. Vishnu Bisram