Frequent reports and references to the possible racist content and context of the ‘Babu Jaan rants’ have reinforced public perceptions that race relations are deteriorating and social cohesion is being damaged. The Babu Jaan ceremonies, every March, have evolved from a reverent commemoration of the lives of Presidents Cheddi and Janet Jagan into a People’s Progressive Party/Civic political rally featuring fiery rants against the People’s National Congress Reform.
This opinion was expressed by former President David Granger during his weekly programme – The Public Interest. He lamented, also, that the rants have aggravated ethnic tensions, eroded social cohesion and provoked public revulsion, starting in March 2011 in the campaign to general and regional elections that year.
He called for careful scrutiny of the rants in light of the UN definition of ‘verbal violence’ as language about, and towards, others that is “discriminatory” (1e, biased, bigoted or intolerant) or “pejorative” (prejudiced, contemptuous or demeaning) and, also, of the UNESCO Declaration on Race and Racial Prejudice that “racism includes racist ideologies, prejudiced attitudes, discriminatory behaviour, structural arrangements and institutionalized practices resulting in racial inequality’.
Mr. Granger pointed out that the rants were so offensive that they became the cause for public indignation, police investigation and private litigation. Accusations – that the Opposition leader had “…blood on his hands”; that the army will join forces with the then Opposition and “…kick down doors”; that “…Afro-Guyanese would beat drums at 6 o’clock in the villages and say throw out these coolie people” – were fictitious and malicious.
Public encouragement for residents to “chase” the President and Prime Minister from the Region and statements – that stigmatise an entire political party as ‘racist’ and that brag that the PPP will work “…to take control of every village, including Afro-Guyanese villages” – go beyond the boundaries of everyday competitive politics and venture into the sphere of hatred and hostility that could cause violence.
The Babu Jaan ceremony is not a circus and the performers’ clownishness is dangerous. The rants run the risk of steering racial relations towards a more unbalanced and unsettled society. The criticisms, even by former PPPC executive members and some sections of civil society, should be a warning to the wise. The rants have been hurtful and are perceived as hampering, rather than helping, social cohesion, Mr. Granger concluded.
