–Shuman says incendiary comments an absolute insult, betrayal to late WPA founder Dr Walter Rodney

DESPITE several civil society, religious, and political groups and individuals having come out to condemn  racially inflammatory remarks recently made by Working People’s Alliance’s (WPA)’s executive member, Tacuma Ogunseye, the People’s National Congress Reform (PNCR) and the Alliance For Change (AFC) parties continue to remain silent on the issue.

Contacted on Tuesday for a comment on the situation, PNCR Leader Aubrey Norton noted that he was not going to comment on the issue. Pressed further, Norton, who is also Leader of the Opposition, said he will not be speaking to the Guyana Chronicle.

“I don’t want you to take this personally, but I wouldn’t speak to the Chronicle,” Norton responded to queries during a telephone interview.

Similarly, Leader of the AFC, Khemraj Ramjattan also indicated that he would not be commenting on the issue as yet; however, he said that his party is expected to speak on the issue at its weekly press conference.

Voicing unsubstantiated claims of oppression faced by Afro-Guyanese under the current government, Ogunseye called for the Disciplined Services “to turn their guns on the State.”

Speaking to a gathering at Buxton on the East Coast of Demerara, Ogunseye said: “I don’t understand how people complain that they are oppressed and they are holding guns in their hands. They are the majority in the army, in the police, and they say they are oppressed. And they still say our problem is our own making. Anytime we turn those guns in the right direction it is over.”
Ogunseye also made incendiary remarks about Guyana’s Indo-Guyanese. Since the utterance of those statements, numerous persons have called out and condemned the remarks as racist and inciting.

Notwithstanding no official comments from the PNCR or the AFC, several members of the opposition in their individual capacities, have since issued statements condemning Ogunseye’s statements.

Since the statement was made on Thursday, former PNCR General Secretary, Geeta Chandan-Edmond issued a statement publicly disassociating herself from the inflammatory statements, and called for responsible action and commentaries from politicians, civil society and activists alike.

Fellow PNCR members Ganesh Mahipaul, Natasha Singh-Lewis, Daniel Seeram and Ubraj Narine issued a joint statement calling remarks made by Ogunseye derogatory and distasteful.
“We wish to condemn the speaker’s remarks where it referred to East Indians coming from the slums of India and living in deplorable places like pipes. These remarks further insinuated that the alleged conditions under which East Indians lived in India made them undeserving of lands in Guyana,” the statement read.

Leader of the Liberty and Justice Party (LJP) and Deputy Speaker of the National Assembly, Lennox Shuman also admonished the remarks, saying it is an absolute insult and betrayal to the memory of WPA founder Dr Walter Rodney.

The Private Sector Commission (PSC), Georgetown Chamber of Commerce and Industry (GCCI), Region Three Private Sector Inc., and other groups from the business community have all issued statements condemning Ogunseye’s remarks.

From the religious community, the Guyana Pandit’s Council, Guyana Central Arya Samaj, Guyana Inter Religious Organization (IRO), and the Central Islamic Organisation of Guyana have also condemned the incendiary comments.