I LEARNT an important lesson when I worked in Grenada during the implosion in the ruling party in October 1983. It is not a lesson I didn’t know about long before I became an academic. But in Grenada, I was witnessing first-hand, the descent into tragedy where that lesson was watching me in the face.

This simple reasoning goes like this – try to put yourself in the place of the person you are saying things about. I think the ruling New Jewel Movement could have avoided the tragedy if the two competing hegemonic figures – Prime Minister Maurice Bishop and Finance Minister, Bernard Coard – had shut their mouths, go away from the public eye, and let others represent them. That did not happen. Both men said things about each other that went beyond imagination.

What we see playing out in the Adriana Younge family reminds me of those fateful days in Grenada, and I would advise the mother and father of the little girl to put themselves into the mind of President Ali.

Before I proceed, I don’t think the family can stop narrow-minded Guyanese, insanely hostile anti-PPP personalities from using the tragedy, as UG lecturer, Neville Bissember puts it, for personal and political reasons.

This is a country where I would describe certain anti-government persons as having vultured minds. They descend into the arena like carrion crows just waiting to pounce. We have seen it so many times that if I should give just a few examples, there won’t be space to outline the core of this column here. So, I would think it would be difficult for the Younge family to go around telling these vultures to stop. Even if they did tell them, they wouldn’t stop. The Adriana drowning death has presented a gold mine for people who have either a racist or political mission or both.

I cannot continue this analysis without an honest comment that the Younge family has to know and they must know that their daughter’s tragic death is background material for some sections of this country that have put it on top of their political agenda.

Looked at from any angle, it is immoral abuse of a tragedy for cheap political mileage. The Younge family should never get even a distant closeness to such people.

Here now is my advice to the Younge family. No human cannot be that naïve not to have seen that the President was visibly annoyed when questions were put to him as he was leaving the conference of Caribbean police chiefs about the tragedy.  He told the reporters that he fulfilled his promises to the family. Indeed, he did. He facilitated three top class pathologists, one of whom was selected by the family. He agreed to a forensic investigation and a Canadian expert is here.

Put yourself in the mind of the President. The credibility of the three pathologists and the family doctor who was present at the autopsy are being questioned. Put yourself in the place of those four medical men. The family doctor has gone so far as to record and circulate a video to protect his character.

The family now moves the goalpost from international shores to Trinidad where they want a pathologist from that country to do a re-examination. Put yourself in the place of the President. His efforts have gone to naught, and the international pathologists are discredited. What can the Trinidad specialist find that the three pathologists and the family doctor missed? And the President is to facilitate the new pathologist with the facilities of the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation?

The President has brought in a former RCMP specialist to do the forensic/detective work. This man’s curriculum vitae is impressive, and he works as a consultant in Canada after serving the RCMP for 30 years. The President of Guyana is insulted that his RCMP expert is rejected by the family because the family says he is not officially representing the RCMP therefore he is not accountable.

The family has used the word, “infiltration” to claim that the team of international pathologists was compromised. The words “not accountable” carry the same connotation. It is questioning the integrity of a former top class forensic expert of Canada. If he is not accountable, then you are saying upfront that you cannot rely on his professional investigation.

The Younge family must put itself in the place of the President. How do you think the man feels? And this is not showing contempt for a subordinate officer of the state. This is the President himself. Surely, the President is compelled by the Guyanese people to uphold the dignity of the presidency.

DISCLAIMER: The views and opinions expressed in this column are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the Guyana National Newspapers Limited.