–At WPA public meeting

SEVERAL opposition members have publicly condemned the racially inflammatory remarks made by a member of the Working People’s Alliance (WPA) even as Opposition Leader, Aubrey Norton, is yet to distance himself from those problematic remarks.

WPA executive member, Tacuma Ogunseye, voiced unsubstantiated claims of oppression faced by Afro-Guyanese under the current government at a public meeting at Buxton, East Coast Demerara (ECD), on Thursday.

During the meeting, Ogunseye told the gathering, “I don’t understand how people complain that they are oppressed and they are holding guns in their hands. They are the majority in the army, in the police, and they say they are oppressed. And they still say our problem is our own making. Anytime we turn those guns in the right direction it is over.”

Coming out publicly to condemn these statements was Geeta Chandan- Edmond, the former General Secretary of the People’s National Congress Reform (PNCR). The PNCR is the largest constituent of the A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) party.

Chandan-Edmond, in a press statement, said some speakers at this public meeting made sentiments which must be strongly condemned as they can lead to public disorder and anarchy. And she posited that Guyanese must move swiftly to initiate mature dialogue aimed at promoting harmony, tolerance and trust.

In her statement, she said, “I wish to publicly disassociate myself from the inflammatory statements and call for responsible actions and commentaries from politicians, civil society and activists alike.”

She went on to add that there must be a stronger national effort to build a unified nation.

Since these statements were uttered by the WPA executive member, numerous persons have called out and condemned the remarks as racist and insightful. However, opposition leader, Aubrey Norton has remained silent on the matter.

In a separate statement, Opposition members, Ganesh Mahipaul, Natasha Singh-Lewis, Daniel Seeram and Ubraj Narine stated that they found the remarks made to be derogatory and distasteful. Mahipaul and Singh- Lewis are Parliamentarians, Seeram is the Regional Chairman #4 and Narine is the Georgetown Mayor.

“We wish to condemn the speaker’s remarks where it referred to East Indians coming from the slums of India and living in deplorable places like pipes. These remarks further insinuated that the alleged conditions under which East Indians lived in India made them undeserving of lands in Guyana,” the statement read.

The opposition members, through their statement, added that they wished to condemn and distance themselves from any attack on any race in Guyana including Afro-Guyanese.

And they said it is disappointing that none of the other speakers at that public meeting sought to address or even clarify Ogunseye’s statements and as such called on all political leaders and representatives to speak out against forms of bigotry and discrimination.

The opposition members then noted that Guyana belongs to all its people regardless of the country which the fore-parents came from. They, however, levelled unsubstantiated accusations against the government, stating that people’s needs are being neglected.

Meanwhile, President, Dr Irfaan Ali, on Saturday, publicly said the comments made at the gathering were used to promote hate, racism and terrorism against the state and sought to influence people in a direction to create havoc.

He said, “No gun or bullet would stop us on this path of unifying our people, on this path of developing our country, on this path of uplifting the lives of our people of this country. [It] is clear that terrorism and racism came off of that stage.”