guyanatimesgy.com
FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 11, 2020
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All lives matter, all deaths matter
Dear Editor, The gruesome killing of our two Guyanese youths, Isaiah Henry and his 19-year-old cousin Joel Henry, in West Berbice, has caused me to think that “All lives matter,” and “all deaths matter” too. Guyana is a sad place, a “shole” country, where people will brutally kill you for a cellphone or Gy$300 (US$1.50). Are we, as a society, not ashamed of things like these? This is a reflection of our poverty, and is a good reason why we must vigorously support the Government as it seeks to gain more oil revenues for the country from renegotiation with Exxon, to improve our overall well-being, so we don’t kill for a cellphone. The class act in this sad situation is the Christian response of the Henry family. The father of Isaiah (Gladson Henry) reportedly said: “This is not about race or religion or political things…I don’t want the people to say this is racial, it is not about race…I am a Christian, and I don’t want violence to happen in this community…” Crime Chief Wendell
Blanhum said this is clearly not a political crime. The most shameless act is PNC top leaders weaponising the pain and grief of these poor families to promote their “resistance” movement against a new, legally elected Government. What they could not do at the ballot box they want to do through violent street action. Gleeful at the protests and the pressure it puts on the Police/military resources, the PNC leadership has been silent, and has not called on its supporters to stop the terrorism against innocent people. One blog on Facebook by Patrick Findlay said, “You cannot demand justice for an atrocity whilst at the same time perpetuating an atrocity on others.” The wily dictator Burnham used to say, “He who owns the dogs can call off the dogs.” The other shameful thing in the current racial attacks of stopping, beating, burning, robbing, and stripping of Indians trying to pass the blockages on the roads is the continued silence of the churches. There is breaking news of 17-yearold Haresh Singh killed to-
day as protests escalate. We have not heard from the Guyana Evangelical Fellowship, the Georgetown Ministers Fellowship, the Zadok Ministries, East Berbice Corentyne Ministers, the Guyana Council of Churches, Assembly of God, Full Gospel Fellowship, or Lifespring Ministries, etc. Why is the Church silent at such a time as this, when one party is using two families’ tragedies to stoke racial strife? Loyalty to a party should not cause us to lose our conscience. This gruesome killing of the Henrys and the call for swift justice also bring to the fore other similar murders in Guyana. Many were murdered, and they were instantly forgotten by the public. There were no protests, nobody tried to burn and block traffic, and no politicians came, probably because there was no political mileage to gain. People simply buried their dead, suffered in silence, and hoped the Police find the killers. Many cases went unsolved, and there was no justice. I say: the same way “All
lives matter”, “All deaths matter” too. We know all cases would not be solved, but victims like to know that the Police did their best. I remember the May 2001 case of a father, Bemchand Barran, and his 10-yr-old son, Mervyn Barran from Enterprise, who were executed in the backdam where they went to catch shrimp. This case was never solved. Similarly, September 11 would be the 10th anniversary of 21-yearold Sheema Mangar’s murder. Like many others, that have ended up in the cold case cabinet. Sheema, from Mon Repos, a Bank employee whose dream was to become a certified accountant, was killed for her cellphone in broad daylight at a city car park area in the presence of many at rush hour. Sheema Mangar’s family has refused to give up their quest for justice. Then there is the recent case, in July 2020, of 21-year-old Navindra Samaroo, a Marketing Agent who was killed by motor bike bandits as his car slowed down at a pot-
hole at Middle Road, La Penitence. They shot him and grabbed his bag. All they got was his lunch in the bag. Samaroo’s wife was pregnant, and he did not live to see the birth of his first child. To his mother, Valini Shivcharran, he was a “precious jewel”; to his boss Etwaroo, he was a “willing and hard-working” employee. Dwayne Castello, known as ‘Top Cat,’ was charged for his murder. Other youngsters have lost their lives with no justice in sight: Alicea Foster; Trevor Rose; Ricky Jainarine, who was just 10 years old. The body of Monica Reece was dumped from a pickup back in April 1993. Then there were the September 2012 Anna Catherina home invasion murders, in which Abishai Caesar allegedly slit the throats of 41-year-old liquor store owner Jennifer Persaud and her two children: 6-year-old Afridi Bacchus, and 18-month-old Jadon Ernest. Caesar reportedly said Persaud’s elder son woke up during the robbery and saw his face, and he decided to slit
his throat. The 6-year-old screamed when his throat was slit and the baby woke up. When the alleged killer noticed that the baby was awake, he killed the 18-month-old. Caesar had initially evaded justice until April 2016, when investigators were able to arrest him after his reputed wife went and told them that he murdered Persaud and her sons during the home invasion. The box stolen contained only $3,000 (US$15). In August 2020, Ryan Mohamed, 27, a taxi driver of Wash Clothes, Mahaicony, was attacked and stabbed in the neck while standing at a milkshake stand. There was a dispute over a $300 overcharge fare. Marlon Estriado is wanted in connection with that murder. The brutal deaths of loved ones diminish us all, and broken hearts are left behind to suffer in silence. We must care equally about all those innocent victims, and support all victims’ families. “All lives matter,” and “All deaths matter” too. Sincerely, Dr Jerry Jailall
President urged to hold political criminals accountable Dear Editor, President Irfaan Ali may wish to learn from the mistakes of previous administrations of the People’s Progressive Party, and hold accountable persons who have recently engaged in political crimes and previously advocated violence as an instrument of politics in Guyana. Our history has been tarnished by these perpetrators, who have thus far been allowed to run free and hold Guyana to ransom. Ethnic discrimination in our politics goes back to the fifties and sixties, when the colonial administration of the time sought to divide the national political force that the People’s Progressive Party had become. During that era, Forbes Burnham and Dr. Jagan acted in concert under the People’s Progressive Party, with Dr. Jagan as the party leader and Burnham as the party chairman. The split was engineered in part because of what the British considered to be Dr. Jagan’s ultra-left socialist ideas, which forced the plantocracy to improve the conditions of sugar workers, which was not in keeping with the direction of the global politics of the day. It should be observed that the sugar industry was premised on the idea of slavery/depressed wages, mean-
ing that efforts to pay workers their fair wages was then, and will now, likely jeopardise the viability of sugar as a major crop. Financial payoff of sugar workers, allotment of 5-10 acres of land, along with Government support to develop and maintain these lands for agricultural purposes in the near-to-medium term, could be an alternative consideration. Other considerations include alternatives to the loss of sugar as a major foreign currency earner. Unfortunately, Burnham took the bait, and began a programme of ridicule and ethnic character defamation of Dr Jagan and Indians on no basis other than that they had “straight hair”. One of the major initial incidents of political violence was the recurring threats and ultimate bombing of the Son Chapman ferry, which served as a major transport facility to Linden. This triggered one of the first major spates of violence against Indians, as many at the time bought into the idea that the PPP was behind this attack. Looking back at this incident, it doesn’t require much consideration to realise that there was no one within the PPP leadership at the time - certainly not Dr. Jagan himself, Ashton Chase, or Sydney King - who would have contemplated such an
act, much less carried it out. Dr Jagan himself worked tirelessly to unite Guyana at the time, including placing Burnham as the PPP party chairman, and all the rest of the PPP executive at the time were all concerned with securing better welfare and working conditions for Guyanese through the legislature. Closer inspection of the demise of the ferry would realise that the principal beneficiaries of this heinous act were none other than Burnham and the People’s National Congress, this being to strengthen his political base and provide a platform for victimisation of Indian- Guyanese, which has lasted to this day. It is also without any doubt that they might have received some help. Fast-forward to 1992, when the PNC dictatorship finally came to an internationally supervised end, President Cheddi Jagan and the PPP at the time never sought to hold accountable those responsible for previous fraudulent elections and political violence. Those individuals were left to operate freely, continuing their failed ideas of perpetuating ethnic insecurity and divisiveness. The PPP’s reign from 1992 to 2015 was littered with charges of rigged elections. But contextually and
culturally, even if elections had indeed been rigged, the PNC from 1968 to 1992 set the stage for rigged elections and rigging elections to become part of our culture and a matter of standard national practice. This is not to say Guyanese have any more tolerance for rigged elections going forward; because, after more than 50 years, it is my opinion that we think rigged elections are criminal, a crime against the state, and not to be tolerated. Finally feeling the heat of their previous folly, after they lost the elections in 2001, notable leaders within the PNC at the time: Raphael Trotman, Vincent Alexander, and none other than Desmond Hoyte himself, embarked on a criminal campaign of inciting violence as a means of ‘deposing’ the Government of the day, and to strengthen their negotiating position for ‘shared governance’. Being approximately twenty-one years of age at that time, President Ali might find some of these memories close to heart. The Government of the day did not address the criminal actions of these PNC leaders directly, which they should have, but instead sought to address the result, this being combating the violence spawned by Alexander and company. This led to scores
SEE ADDITIONAL LETTERS ON PAGE 17
of deaths, hundreds of young Guyanese who became inspired by these PNC leaders. Vincent Alexander had, at the time, observed that their deaths, the violence, was for ‘the greater good’. (See Stabroek News, August 14, 2002.) The undeniable fact (of which there is copious public documentation) is that the PNC leadership at the time was accountable for much, if not all, of the violence and consequent deaths of the hundreds of Guyanese youths, the perpetrators of which they promised to bring to justice during their recent failed Government, but never did, and never will. Not directly addressing the source of criminality and violence in 2020, and previously also, will again leave these individuals free to continue dispensing their trade as none other than the criminals they are. The President is encouraged to carefully consider his options, because Guyana has been systematically held to ransom by the PNC leadership, with our culture, our welfare, our livelihood, our economy bearing the brunt of their failed ideas on politics and Government. What remains of APNU (at least two parties have disassociated themselves since the March 2020 elections) indicated that they
will boycott the 2020 Budget presentation. Perusing the contents of the 2020 Budget, it is obvious they wanted to spare themselves the political embarrassment of the utter folly of their five years of Government; as much, if not all, of their policy implementations on VAT and taxation, if not outright harassment of some sections of the productive sector, have been reversed. Guyanese have to level with themselves that the performance of the PNC since March 02, 2020 has stripped itself of all claims of credibility as a political party fit to be entrusted with the governance of our nation. They are unlikely to win another election in our generation, if they last that long. Guyanese in general are also encouraged to resist being drawn into well-coordinated ethnic violence, since they ultimately become fugitives from the law. The President is once again encouraged to seriously consider the consequences of not addressing the source of political crimes: which have so bewildered us as a nation, and which will exact tremendous social and economic costs should they remain unaddressed. Yours faithfully, Craig Sylvester
