THE Indian Arrival Committee (IAC) has said in a release that it is extremely concerned with the politicisation by a number of media houses of the

comments made by former President Dr. Bharrat Jagdeo at the funeral of Pandit Reepu Daman Persaud O.R., which was held at the International Conference Centre at Liliendaal, Greater Georgetown on Thursday, 11th April 2013.
The IAC strongly believes that those media houses are bent on creating mischief, and are deliberately fomenting strife in the society by accusing Dr. Jagdeo of making racist remarks during his tribute to Pandit Reepu Daman Persaud.
The IAC concurs with Dr. Jagdeo that anti-East Indian sentiments are being actively promoted in the society; and the court case in which Dr. Jagdeo brought a lawsuit against Kaieteur News (KN) columnist, Freddie Kissoon; KN’s editor-in–chief Adam Harris; and KN’s publisher, the National Media and Publishing Company, is being used as a vehicle to foment these anti- East Indian feelings.
The IAC understands this viewpoint of Dr Jagdeo, and why it was expressed in this manner at the funeral, because the late Pandit Reepu Daman Persaud was himself a victim of the then colonial society in which the aspirations of poor persons, especially those of East Indian origin, were usually frustrated.
In spite of these obstacles, Pandit Reepu Daman Persaud, who had dreams of becoming an attorney-at–law, eventually rose to become a revered Pandit as well as a Minister of the Government, responsible firstly for agriculture and secondly for parliamentary affairs; and, indeed, he must be regarded as a national hero, since he single-handedly preserved Sanatan Dharma in Guyana from the corrupt influences of a phalanx of opportunistic elements.
The IAC is calling on civil society to recognise that these blatant attacks on Dr. Jagdeo are racist in nature, and as such, the IAC calls upon all responsible groups and organisations to ensure that the issue of forging national unity, tolerance and removal of ethnic prejudices must be allowed to thrive. The days of sweeping under the carpet the subject of Indo-Guyanese being targeted by certain forces are over.
Let’s have a frank but civil debate/discussion on national unity. Dr. Jagdeo’s revelations are a good starting point.