IN my (last) Thursday and Friday pieces, which were replies to Moses Bhagwan’s criticism of my politics, I referred to Bhagwan and his fellow WPA comrades from the olden days as characters from the plays of Tennessee Williams. Just in case you miss those editions, Tennessee Williams (his plays always carried a philosophical reflection) wrote about people who still cling to the past even though the past forgot about them a long time ago.
Here is evidence for you; graphic, incontrovertible evidence of the Tennessee Williams character in these WPA leaders that Bhagwan, after more than 50 years, still see (and himself) as heroes even though from 2015 to 2020 they destroyed every bit of their legacy through their involvement in first, a government that was anti-progressive, anti-working class and betrayed everything they stood for and fought for in the 1970s. Secondly, they erased their legacy by either their participation or silence in their party’s (WPA was part of ANPU in the 2020 national election) attempt to rig the 2020 national election.
I now quote a part of Bhagwan’s condemnation of my politics: “Kissoon contrive to launch into his complete enterprise of attempted assassination of the name and accredited repute of a select group of his erstwhile comrades of the WPA….” Who are these WPA names that are people of accredited repute?
Bhagwan does not offer names, but we can deduce who they are when he noted they were my erstwhile comrades in the WPA. Obviously, Bhagwan has himself in mind. I elaborated on Bhagwan’s discredited legacy last Thursday and Friday, so I will move on to other WPA personalities.
One such person is Rupert Roopnaraine. Days after his death on Republic Day this year, I dissected the politics of Roopnaraine over the decades he was active in Guyana in 7 columns. My conclusion is extremely negative, so I will not take up space by reproducing parts of those 7 columns. I am fixed in my mind that Roopnaraine played no good role in making Guyana a better country, so I do not think he is a person of accredited repute. Someone like Bhagwan thinks so, but don’t forget the Tennessee Williams syndrome I referred to.
Next, Clive Thomas has to be one of the persons Bhagwan has in mind. A former top WPA official in the APNU government, Dr. Maurice Odle, wrote in his autobiography that Clive Thomas was Economic Adviser to President Granger. Few knew he had that status. It was never announced. Here was an avowed socialist economist holding one of the most important positions in a government and that did absolutely nothing for the class that Thomas spent 40 years fighting for.
Thomas occupied a powerful role in the Granger presidency occupying the chairmanship of GuySuco and head of the State Asset Recovery Agency (SARA). Under his huge role in government, sugar estates were closed down and legally entitled monies due to the workers had to be fought for in the courts by the sugar union.
Here are the words of Odle, which go to show what an incompetent economic adviser Thomas was: “The coalition government made the strategic error of failing immediately to embark on (a) development plan that would quickly put money in the pockets of its poverty-stricken supporters.” So what advice was Thomas giving Granger?
For the education of Bhagwan, here is an incident with Thomas and me when he was a powerful man in the APNU administration. I requested some information from him in his capacity as CEO of SARA. After political involvement for over 40 years with Thomas, and given my long praxis in Guyana, I naturally thought Thomas would open up to me. He refused and I was treated as a complete stranger. I will not repeat the words of Professor Jay Mandle, a close intellectual colleague of Thomas for over 40 years, when I asked him how Thomas related to him when he went to see him as the economy tsar in the APNU-administration.
Is this the man that Bhagwan says has an accredited repute? Do you realise that at the psychological level, when Bhagwan writes about the WPA stalwarts, including Nigel Westmaas, he is stuck in the past like the Tennessee Williams character? Bhagwan blanks out from his mind the descent into political and racist degeneracy by the people he once shared an intimate camaraderie with.
No one in the Caribbean, Guyana and global academia sees Bhagwan, Thomas Rooponaraine and the remnants of the WPA leadership of the 1970s as activists with a legacy. That legacy lies in tatters. Bhagwan ends his epistle on me with these words: “Go write your own autobiography and let the demons haunting you be your editors.” I will write my autobiography with large chapters devoted to demons like Bhagwan.
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.