Irfaan Ali and Bharrat Jagdeo must not seek to make fool of Guyanese. It has been reported Minister Nigel Dharmalall was arrested, questioned and released on Monday, having been accused of the most heinous crime committed against a minor. How more unfair can this society be as state agencies are involved in using the people’s resources to single out and oppress some of its citizens. In the eyes of the law when all are equal, and amidst the Irfaan Ali ‘one Guyana’ chant, Dharmalall is singled out for preferential treatment.
We stand helpless as a nation as we observe the incarceration of a number of Guyanese who were arrested and detained for 72-hours without being charged. Among these are Colvin Heath-London, former head of NICIL; Trevor Benn, former head Lands and Survey Commission; Roxanne Myers, Deputy Chief Elections Officer; Clairmont Mingo; Returning Officer, Region 4; and other staff of the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM); attorney-at-law James Bond to name a few. All these persons’ fate was determined by an edict passed down by the natural head of government.
But when one of their own is accused of viciously raping, sodomising and brutally forcing a teen to perform oral sex, stripping her of her innocence in their ‘one Guyana,’ they ignored her plea for help to none other than the president. They responded with no care for the minor and, instead, what the nation witnessed was a hasty attempt to cover-up and an alleged $10 million hush money paid to the vulnerable family. Initially they sought to place the alleged criminal act as political with no consideration for the suffering of the teen, seeking only to protect one of the many sexually depraved monsters in their midst. The only thing political here is that the alleged victim is said to be related to a senior member within the PPP and all efforts were being made to deny her the right to justice.
Leaders and other high ranking officials in the PPP seem to have a problem with sexual depravity, whether with minor boys and girls or their partners. This nation still recoils from the alleged treatment meted out to Varshnie Singh by Bharrat Jagdeo, and though not of the same magnitude as the teen’s alleged violation, it starts as a precedent of acceptance instead of shame and condemnation for abuse of women and the vulnerable.
Dharamlall is no stranger to repeated allegations of sexual abuse. Based on these allegations this man’s conduct is clearly reprehensible and he must no longer be paid from the public purse. You cannot have several recurrences of the similar allegation of the same person and allow that person to continue to hold public office. In any government with an iota of morality he would have been fired already.
There is need for justice and Dharamlall going on administrative leave, or asking to go, is an insult to the industrial environment and the workers therein. At his level he is not subjected to the public service rules and should be fired. The PPP has no regard for rules and should not now seek to hide or cloak him behind those rules.
It is public pressure that has caused the PPP to give instruction to the Police to stage manage a process where Dharamlall was invited in, appeared with his lawyer, and the nation thereafter advised he was arrested, released and an investigation is being conducted. All of this was well choreographed to diffuse the public’s anger and lull some of us into a false sense of security.
I call on the Jagdeo/Ali regime to ensure this teen gets all the psychological and other support she needs uninhibited by political dictat. I also call on the wider society, youth and women and religious organisations to rally around her and show her their support. I further call on society to denounce and the government to take action on hush money being paid and taken to hide crimes and subvert justice. Let’s call on society and the government to totally screen persons who are selected to work closely with our children and the most vulnerable, and take swift action on any violation that occurs. We need to activate mandatory reporting of domestic violence and child abuse.
Society must no longer hide and be afraid to discuss these things in public. When we hide we give predators the opportunity to grow and multiple behind a wall of secrecy. This must be the last time that any sexual abuser has to be brought to justice through societal pressure.
What happened Monday is nothing for the public to shout about. Nor should we return to a place of complacency for we know the nature of the PPP. We must remain vigilant until justice is served for this minor. We all know the PPP has the capacity to coerce or influence others to undermine the rule of law. The next stage in the process is for the Office of the Director of the Public Prosecutions to make a determination. Let’s remain vigilant.
