–for condemning WPA’s racist, inflammatory comments

EXECUTIVE member of the Working People’s Alliance (WPA), David Hinds, has lashed out against the media, the private sector, trade unions and Indo-Guyanese Opposition members for speaking out against racially incendiary remarks recently made by fellow WPA member, Tacuma Ogunseye.

On his weekly virtual programme “Politics 101” on Wednesday, Hinds referred to the Indo-Guyanese People’s National Congress Reform (PNCR) member Geeta Chandan-Edmond, the Stabroek News newspaper and the Federation of Independent Trade Unions of Guyana (FITUG) as “slaver catchers,” for having condemned remarks made by Ogunseye.

Hinds also called out PNCR Parliamentarians Ganesh Mahipaul, and Natasha Singh-Lewis; Regional Chairman Daniel Seeram, and Mayor Ubraj Narine for their comments.

“We are going to begin to document all the slave catchers, from the private sector to FITUG, from FITUG to Stabroek News and all those other slave catchers who are hunting down slaves to turn them in to the master…we are documenting them… there is life after the PPP. Those who are catching slaves to turn them in to the masters, may the wrath of the ancestors visit them,” Hinds said.

Ogunseye at a public meeting last week Thursday made several inflammatory statements that ranged from inciting violence against the Guyana Police Force (GPF) and the Guyana Defence Force (GDF) to calling on the predominantly Afro-Guyanese Joint Services to turn their guns on the predominantly Indo-Guyanese supporters of the governing People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) supporters.

Ogunseye’s comments were further compounded by further incendiary remarks made by fellow WPA member, Rhonda Layne.

According to Hinds, by refusing to remain silent, and standing up against what has been described as hateful and racist remarks made by Ogunseye, the Indo-Guyanese members of the opposition have fed into the belief that they are traitors.

“There is a strong view in the African community that Indians who belong to the PNCR are traitors. Once you are in a party that is not your natural ethnic home, people believe that you are traitors.

“When you behave in the way that you behave, you are giving fuel to the myth. It’s a myth that has very strong resonance to the community and you all have given fuel to that myth; you all have walked into that myth,” Hinds said.

Regarding Stabroek News, Hinds accused the media house of not doing enough to write their stories from the WPA’s perspective on the matter, going a step further to even accusing the newspaper of benefitting from the government.

“We are going to remember it. We are buyers of newspapers and we are going to remember it Stabroek News. We want Stabroek News to know there is life after the PPP. I’m not threatening anybody, but we have some power as the people. We understand why you all want to keep the PPP there, at the end of the day you all are benefitting from it, Stabroek News and others,” Hinds declared.

Though the WPA has since issued a statement fully supporting the remarks made by Ogunseye and Layne, in the wider society the situation has received tremendous backlash.

Several organisations from the business and religious communities, including the Private Sector Commission (PSC), the Georgetown Chamber of Commerce and Industry (GCCI), the Guyana Pandits Council, Guyana Central Arya Samaj, Central Islamic Organisation of Guyana and the Guyana Inter Religious Organization (IRO) have issued official statements condemning the statements.