PRESIDENT Bharrat Jagdeo has vowed to stand firm against attempts to whip up racial sentiments in Guyana, and says he will fight against such tendencies by some. He has sued the Kaieteur News and its columnist, Mr. Freddie Kissoon, for libel, claiming the newspaper and the writer had accused him and the government of practising racism.
At a press conference at the Office of the President Friday, he said he had for long ignored regular attacks on him by the Kaieteur News and Kissoon, whom he described as “the last person in the world to lecture on morals.”
The President reiterated, however, that he will not stay silent when racism comes into the picture.
“I see them trying to whip up once again racial sentiments in our society, and that is what I am not going to tolerate. I’m going to fight this right down the line,” Mr. Jagdeo declared.
He is suing the columnist and Kaieteur News for more than $10M in damages, on the grounds of libel in a June 28 publication.
The President is arguing that the article suggests that he and, “by extension, the State and Government of Guyana, practise racism as an ideology, dogma, philosophy and policy…”
At the press conference, President Jagdeo said: “…he has to prove I’m racist, and prove that my government’s policies have their origin in that… So I’m looking forward to this wonderful day in court when we do that.”
The President, however, said he was more concerned about the generation of today burying the country’s past experiences where race and ethnicity were used as tools to divide the society.
He said there is notable evidence that young and old today are much more comfortable living with each other.
“Society is changing; people rely on each other more. You turn out to any workplace now, you would see a mix of our country, and that’s how it should be… people are more intolerant of the language of racism,” he said.
The few in society attempting to return Guyana to this hostile past are those who are ignorant of the value of the positive attitudes needed to mobilize people, he argued.
“I am convinced that our country is changing, and I know how difficult it was in the past, and I know where we are today,” President Jagdeo said as he reiterated the government’s policy of fairness in the allocation of resources, and its position against countenancing discrimination in any form.
He said an assessment of the government’s allocation of resources across regions and sectors will see evidence of fairness.
Although he admitted that the problem has not been eradicated in the society, President Jagdeo challenged every Guyanese, particularly youths, to “kill this problem,” since they have more of the burden to carry.