M. MAXWELL’s loaded letter: “The struggle for dominance will destroy this nation” (KN, 05-02-13) is helpful in the current racism discourse that has pervaded the country, with the advent of Freddie Kissoon labelling the former President an “ideological racist.”
Space does not allow me to delve adequately into the critical issues referenced by the letter writer, but I shall address some of its salient points.  I echo Maxwell’s call for Mr.Kissoon’s ‘research’ that was presented to the court to  be made available to the public – it certainly would become an eye

opener!
Maxwell wrote: “Bhagwan and others love to point out the fact that the traditional public sector remains African dominated. Indeed it is.”   Certainly, one ought to copiously refer to this well known but hardly spoken fact; the likes of Freddie Kissoon and his angry ilk never mention this (ethnic) domination in their grouse and allegations about racial discrimination in the country.

Maxwell continued: “…there is no mention from this group of a historical and endemic refusal of Indians to join the traditional public sector. The PPP has been in power for 20 years and Indians refuse to join the police and army. This Indian scorn of the public sector is never referenced by these commentators.”

I am not sure where Maxwell lives or who are his/her friends and acquaintances. I have a feeling that Maxwell does not know where/how Indians think.  I don’t know where Maxwell got the idea that there has been a “refusal of Indians to join” the public sector.  In the 1970s, my Indian high school graduate friends and I were suitably qualified, and desperately tried to get jobs in the civil service, but the political and racial doors were slammed.  Those employed were few and far in between; the only ones to have secured jobs quickly and easily were those who had a PNC party card or who had given a bribe.  Indians “scorn” to work in the public sector?  Nah!  Give dem a chance, man–that’s it!

For decades, the civil service had been opened virtually only to one race; this truth is plain as day.  This discrepancy must be addressed candidly and thoroughly in working towards a fair and just system for all Guyanese.

Regarding the police and army situation, it is true that Indians have refused to join these outfits.  Maxwell appropriately pointed out in his letter that one ought to “venture beyond the effects to look at the causes.”  The question begs – why have Indians refused to join these regiments?

Malcolm Harripaul, former GDF Officer, and Ravi Dev, have given us some insights in citing why many Indians have not joined the GDF and Police Force.  Mr. Dev pointed out that from the inception of the Police Force, Barbadians were brought in to “take on the local ex-slaves. When the locals showed that was not a threat, they were recruited to keep down the new ‘threats’: Indian indentureds with cutlasses on the sugar plantation. This “divide and rule” policy was maintained by the PNC after independence because it served their purpose”

Mr. Harripaul indicated that the vast number of Indians was automatically barred from recruitment, because of the physical criteria requirements such as height and chest measurements; these criteria should have been lowered decades ago to make way for the largest ethnic group in the country, who have often felt unrepresented and unprotected.  Mr. Harripaul also pointed out that no provision was made for dietary requirements of Indians. Indians generally abhor foods such as garlic pork, souse, and cow heel – an automatic turn off!  I am sure if dal and rice, roti, alu and bigan chokha (and coconut chokha!) were  frequent features in the menu, you’d have a whole lot more capable people flocking to the forces.

Mr. Harripaul also denoted that there are other factors impinging on Indians being part of the Force, which include racial insults, discrimination on training courses and sheer intimidation. The GDF and Police Force need wholesale changes in effecting the culture genre, food, and music – and go the extra mile in encouraging Indians and other ethnic Guyanese to be part of these outfits.

Maxwell laments that the PPP have been in power for 20 years and nothing (significantly) has been done to change the ethnic balance situation.  Maxie, tell me, how do you think the likes of the Kissoons would react if they had single-handedly, efficaciously made wholesale changes to the Force/s?  Freddie would moan and groan, as the ‘standing colour’ of the Forces would upset the equilibrium in his workable ‘Plural’ model!  His angst for any change in dark in the hue is well known – whether it is in the football team of the country, the staff in the neighbourhood post office or those  persons who are in advertisements in the media!
The letter writer circumspectly stated: “The public sector is highly inefficient and must be made efficient, which will naturally shrink it by about a third to a half of its current size. That shrinkage would reduce ethnic imbalance. Then you could go about balancing it when hiring new workers.”   One cannot help but note Maxwell’s pivotal point in that last quote – to balance the ethnic composition of the civil service “when hiring new workers”!  This is a reasonable and prudent move on any government’s part, and I assume that this is what the government in power is attempting to do.  Care should be taken, however, in working towards this balance, so as to maintain integrity and justness for all.

Mr. Maxwell in his letter underscored his discontentment with the “parallel public service” in the form of private, contracted work.  I hold absolutely no briefs for the government nor the PPP, but suffice it to say that governments worldwide have been leaning that way.  It is a universal truth that government workers “slack off the job” much more than those in the private sector.  So there is nothing wrong with work going the contracted way; they (in the private sector) should be paid better because hopefully, it is a significantly more efficient and cost- effective route.

The contention, however, is why do Indians get more of those contracts?  If it is by virtue of the fact that there are almost one third more Indians than Africans in the country (43.5% compared to 30.2%), or if Indians happened to present the best contract offers for work to be done, then we need not cry foul; that is how the cookie ought to crumble.  However, if Indians are hired more in contracted positions because of political or racial discrimination, then we should fight tooth and nail (without violence) against this position.  I would be part of such a fight; why should my Guyanese brothers and sisters be discriminated against merely because of the pigmentation of their skins or the texture of their hair?  However, we need to chart such waters with care and caution, and not paint every situation as ‘racist’ simply because we perceive every situation through racial eyes.

I appreciate the opportunity to vent our frustrations and offer our views in the letter columns of the media.  However, we need another solid avenue to candidly discuss the issue of racism.  We need to take time to listen to the other, bring issues to the open and have meaningful dialogues. Apart from crime, the one issue that hampers our progress in the country is racism, which has tremendous ramifications for social, economic and political development; we can brush it aside, place it under the rug, or pretend that it does not exist – at our peril!