LAST Friday, former Prime Minister, Hamilton Green, was allowed to give an address to an audience that gathered for the commemorative symposium of former President, Linden Forbes Burnham organised by the APNU/AFC and its affiliates in the form of IPADA-G, Forbes Burnham Foundation and the PNC/R.

Apart from twisting the truth and seeking to rewrite history, the 89-year-old politician told the predominantly African Guyanese audience that “the history of this country suggests that the only people who deserve to be ‘pon top’ are those whose ancestors suffered for centuries without a cent.

We welcome[d] the indentured people, gave them an education and Burnham sought to unite the people but based on the demographics, the new Indians were a larger group, they didn’t want that…”
Green, in essence, said the PNC government at that time welcomed all the other ethnic groups in the country.

By using the word ‘welcomed’, he meant that those ethnic groups and their descendants, except for Africans and their descendants, were never really seen as bonafide Guyanese but were always considered visitors. Never mind that the Amerindians were here first and the Africans were brought to British Guiana after.

He then said the ethnic groups were “educated” by Burnham’s government which was pursuing a type of national unity construct but in the end did not succeed because the largest bloc, the Indians, did not want that. So, it is logical, to assume that through Green’s eyes, all other ethnic groups and their descendants were considered uneducated and ungrateful of this herculean task to get them involved in the movement to allegedly build Guyana.

This is absolute rubbish and wrong on so many levels that it borders on racism and ethnic prejudices. It is simply not true.
Green did not stop there and took his statements further to justify using alternative means, which were illegal and outlawed in these modern times, to remove the PPP from office so that the PNC can get back power.

Giving a very false and politically skewed account of our history, Green would sum up his presentation by stating his belief that young people need to be given this sort of information to make informed decisions about our future. He stressed throughout his talk that the ruling PPP were allegedly wicked, cruel and all about money.

So, the end justifies the means, Green posited.
He said verbatim, “Tell them, that it was Burnham’s wisdom which got him into office in 1964. I was general secretary at a critical time. And if, as I told one of the groups, I met this morning, if they say he rig elections, I say we should keep rigging to save us from the devils, these bastards, these demons, that we have.”

Let’s analyse his statements and other politicians who asked a series of thought-provoking questions that deserve answers from Green and the PNC/R-APNU/AFC leadership.
Firstly, Green, being a political guru, former prime minister, and elder, should have known better than to twist the facts and tell the audience untruths.

Afterall, there were recording cameras present at the event and it was being broadcast for the world to hear. Green’s utterances were stupid and nonsensical to say the least.

Green got comfortable because he was speaking to African descendants and among people who share his view and could sympathise with it. Any objective thinker would reach the inescapable finding that Green was losing his senses and suffering from dementia in his old age but a sharp political analyst would say differently.

They would think that what Green was able to give insight into the psyche and mindset of the PNC/R and APNU/AFC. Those folks that sheepishly allowed him to speak and were egging him on should be held accountable at the least.

Every politician knows that what the former prime minister said was not true and should move to so declare to avoid any future race problems or ethnic issues. Nigel Hughes and Vincent Alexander, should be mature enough, to set this conflicting revisionist version of Guyana’s history right. Ethics in both politics, law and academia requires it but all Guyanese demands it.

Secondly, no one ethnic group and their descendants in Guyana deserves to be “pon top”. This is dangerous talking of a politically spent force who is having difficulty understanding the current configuration that he is seen before him. That configuration involves every ethnic group living side by side and equally benefitting from the resources while Guyana’s morphs into a multicultural society of peace and unity.

In any case, it would still not be African descendants that deserve to be on top in Guyana. It’s the Amerindian and indigenous people who deserve much more rights since they were here already. The other ethnic groups came here and some would say took away the land from the Amerindians.

Additionally, the former prime minister is foolish seeking to conflate two very different issues. African Slavery and reparations are two different things but are easily confused. African slavery is and was wrong period.

Reparations is something that we as a country are still fighting for from the persons and their descendants that enslaved the Africans. The PPP/C and President Irfaan Ali is championing reparations at various CARICOM and international forums. The PPP/C Government has done single handedly more than APNU/AFC to empower Afro-Guyanese in every sector of this country through scholarships, contracts, homeownership and business development.

What has Green done for Afo-Guyanese in this country when he was prime minister? What is his legacy and how did he pave the way as General Secretary of the PNC so that upcoming Afro-Guyanese and other groups could coexist? And, why did he slide into the background for all these years?

Green was just playing racist politics. He was not interested in national unity and shared governance matrix in either the Burnham or Granger eras. Further, he is still not interested in inclusive politics and government. He is happy to die, leaving the youth to struggle to fit the pieces of Guyana back together because he is mixing race and politics.

Guyana and all of its resources belongs to every ethnic group in this country.
Thirdly, Aubrey Norton’s statement issued to the media on this entire debacle is the reason why he will never be president. He said Green was taken and quoted out of context. He pointed fingers at the media and said foolishness but “if” was left out of the quotation.

Norton skirted the real issue. He was being backed up by PNC cheerleader, Ganesh Mahipaul who disappointedly lied about PNC and APNU/AFC records in relations to free elections and democracy.

Norton could not bring himself to do the honourable thing and lay blame at Green’s feet where it rightfully belongs. He could not even condemn his political leader for the revisionist version of history which he told the world. He thinks that he will benefit in the long run but he nor any person will benefit from the spoils of rigging elections.

It’s anti-democratic and against the law to suggest that “…they should continue rigging” elections and Norton knows this. If Norton cannot stand up to Green on principle, how could he ever stand with President Ali.

Finally, where is the outrage from Civil Society and the media? Where are the statements from the independent arms of the state? Apart from the PPP politicians that spoke and condemned Green’s verbiage, no one else has said anything inclusive of the Ethnic Relations Commission.

The general silence is astounding and telling. There are no attempts to hold his feet to the fire and to reform or change the narrative of past behaviours. This is truly sad that this political demi-god, fossil and snail is allowed to break the law, revise history and hurt the movement of all Guyanese towards unity.

The onus is on government to act now, repealing or scaling down the Parliamentary package which he enjoys under the false pretense of making significant contributions to Guyana development. The government should look at having the entire event examined, specifically Green’s statements, to ensure that there were no other violation of the law or libel occurring.

Should they find, charge them because it will serve as a deterrent to other politicians from displaying the same contentious behaviours. This is no game and not the time to be speaking so loosely. This selective outrage and selective retention are killing Guyana! History will not be kind to us if we don’t do something now.