— Heal Guyana founder, Sharon Lalljee-Richard

FOUNDER of Heal Guyana, Sharon Lalljee-Richard, has called out former president, David Granger, and now Opposition Leader, Joseph Harmon, for demonstrating what it calls “duplicitous behaviour.”

Heal Guyana is a non-profit local organisation aimed at promoting peace and goodwill across the country and often lends its voices to various social and other issues affecting the populace.

“Double standards are unacceptable when it comes to race relations and violence in Guyana. After one electoral term of passionately promoting social cohesion during his presidency, David Arthur Granger and the now Opposition Leader, Joseph Harmon visited the grieving relatives of the Henry family, and, during that occasion, took it upon themselves to utter irresponsible words which served to instigate an outburst of violence among protesters who were demonstrating their discontent over the brutal murders of Isaiah and Joel Henry,” Lalljee-Richard told Guyana Chronicle on Friday.

Lalljee-Richard, passionate about human rights, equality, and the like, feels that there must be no tolerance for “such hypocrisy” among politicians when it comes to race relations and violence in Guyana.

“This unfortunate incident which compounded the already painful loss of the Henry boys, a tragedy which rippled all across Guyana, is a vivid example of how duplicitous behaviour in public office can cost us dearly as a nation,” she expressed.

UNWARANTED
The unwarranted loss of additional lives and the destruction to property which occurred in Berbice as a consequence of Granger’s and Harmon’s political interference in a family’s misfortune could have been avoided, had they stayed true to their platform of unity; a premise upon which they previously campaigned to rise to political power during the 2015 Election, she noted.

“Within the wider context of our local politics, insincerity and double standards, for too long, have been accommodated as a norm. Politicians constantly make promises they seldom keep and the absence of public accountability slowly erodes into becoming a fabric of our culture while we helplessly struggle toward development we could never seem to fully achieve.

“Our first misstep is to assume, without the benefit of a proper investigation, that the murders of the Henry boys were racially motivated. We simply do not know enough as yet to jump to that conclusion. The second misstep we seem to be making is to assume that all Indo-Guyanese, especially in Berbice, are racist. Indo and Afro Guyanese in Berbice live and work together in harmony every day of their lives which made the vile and reckless attacks on this select ethnic group, not only misguided and unjust but also very revealing of the inherent race-hate we carry in our hearts,” Lalljee-Richard added.

NEW CULTURE
She said the only solution out of this dilemma is genuine reform of all politicians toward a new culture where no hypocrisy, in any sphere of public office, is tolerated by the citizenry. Matters of race-relations are particularly important in this regard, she noted, as it can quickly accelerate into civil unrest and the senseless loss of life.

“With the current charges of electoral fraud still engaging the courts in which Former Health Minister Volda Lawrence appears to have played a critical enabling part by affixing her signature to a declaration document, coupled with her speech given in her capacity as a government Minister, as she then was, in declaring ‘The only friends I got is PNC so the only people I gon give wuk to is PNC…’, her recent call for peace, though surprising but welcomed, is perhaps the testimony of the fact that a political leader can maybe move from being culpable to taking the lead on restoring peace in times of unrest,” Lalljee-Richard observed.
This initiative should have been equally taken by Mr. Granger and Mr. Harmon, considering that it was their irresponsible utterances which exacerbated the mayhem which resulted in the protest accelerating to violence, Lalljee-Richard said.

“As a people, we must do better to promote reconciliation and healing as a priority within our country. As leaders, we must remain cognizant and responsible as we manage our followers, as well as ourselves. We can’t only be advocates for peace, unity and non-violence when we are the ones in power. All Guyanese are deserving of peace, unity and non-violence, every single day of their lives, regardless of who leads. Anything less would be grossly hypocritical and insincere.”