Dear Editor,
I write to express my outrage at the reprehensible bulldozing of African Guyanese communities by the PPP administration. Guyana has become a brutal apartheid state. The sight of a black woman, covered in mud, with the knee of the State planted firmly on her back, brought tears to my eyes. My father, a member of the PPP, stood in front of Parliament to protest PNC misrule. My brother also fought the Burnham regime as a WPA activist.
We endured unannounced visits in the dead of night by the GDF to search our home. Fast forward to 2023, and the party that loves to boast about its democratic credentials has taken Guyana back into that dark period of totalitarianism. Editor, as far as I can recall, Burnham, Jagan, Hoyte nor Granger went into any community and removed residents by force.
Those leaders would have sat down and worked out a humane solution. We have no such dignified leaders today. I watched in horror as Irfaan Ali went to Buxton and used crass words to describe Dr. David Hinds, a distinguished son of that village. The same David Hinds that fought in the trenches with the PPP. Editor, there comes a time when silence in the face of aggression is no longer an option, and so I raise my voice in protest of the callous inhumanity meted out to members of the black community by this dictatorial regime.
I raise my voice in support of my African Guyanese brothers and sisters on whose necks this government has pressed its knee. My father and brother both stood tall in their fight for a better Guyana. It is time for me to follow in their footsteps. Editor, after the assassination of Dr. Rodney there was a poster on the wall in our home emblazoned with his face and the words “This act in itself will not delay their day of judgement.” Those words are relevant today. I stand with Dr. David Hinds and all those who stand up to fight for the dignity and humanity of African Guyanese.
Yours faithfully,
Yuri Westmaas
