Dear Editor,
I read the article written by Hydar Ally in which like others, has faithfully followed the script to glorify the PPP leadership and to dam and demonise the PNC and its leadership.
This myopic approach is unhealthy and unhelpful if we wish to solidify our new wealth and to vindicate the suffering of our slave ancestors and the sacrifices of indentured predecessors and our indigenous people, the Amerindians.
As a teenager, I worked with our two political titans, Forbes Burnham and Cheddi Jagan and unlike Hydar Ally and others I write first-hand, stating facts not neither fantasy nor fiction as is the want of Hydar Ally, Dr. Randy Persaud and others.
When the original PPP was split the significant Indo-Guyanese such as Dr. J.P. Latchmansingh and Lawyer Jainarine Singh came out batting for Forbes Burnham. Latchmansingh being the first Chairman and Jainarine Singh being the first General Secretary of the PNC.
The results of the 1957 General Elections which Ally wrote about in his letter was all about race with the PPP riding on the crest of that dirty, divisive racist term ‘Apan Jaat.’
In office, top members of the PPP pursued discriminatory policy. This led to a prominent former PPP member, Sydney King (Eusi Kwayana) advancing a campaign for partition, that is to divide the country into racial sections).
Partition was popular among large segments of the Afro-Guyanese community because they felt it was the only way to save them from the perceived discrimination. However, Burnham stoutly opposed partition , contending that it would justify the old colonial imperialist policies of divide and rule.
Ally refers to the 1964 PR. I’ve dealt with this earlier in response to a letter by Ralph Ramkarran. Ally’s and others’ obsession to misrepresent the 1964-1992 period ignores the fact that like other non-oil producing countries, we suffered serious economic and financial problems, consequent to the ravages of the cold war and the oil crisis.
Today, with no natural disasters we are a frontline oil producing society and as we observe the anniversary of the founding of the PPP, Guyanese everywhere should be comfortable and not be burdened with a rising cost of living in the fastest growing economy of the world.
The reason why many Guyanese workers and pensioners are facing the plight of daily existence is because of a dictatorial philosophy of the Government and the ruling elite. Mr. Ally should know that dictatorship takes many forms. In Guyana, we see dictatorship manifest when the Government announces salary increases and pension benefits without even a modicum of consultation.
We see areas where the main beneficiaries of these massive infrastructure works, roads, canals, buildings are the friends of the Government, where contracts are capriciously awarded, that is de facto a dictatorship.
Since audit reports dealing with the critical oil sector remain a secret , though handed over to the Government but have not been shared with the public. Dictatorship. The first report was leaked rather than officially shared through Government channels. The second report however remains hidden from the public to date. Dear Hydar Ally, a classic dictatorship.
Senior Officials involved in the adjustment of billions of dollars are given a slap on the wrist by penalty, we are told of half a month’s salary. Either a joke or a dictatorship. Mr. Ally, take your pick.
Private and ancestral lands are sequestered by the State. Dictatorship. Local Authorities, Trade Unions, Organisations not deemed clients of the State are punished in one form or the other. Elements of dictatorship. Media Houses and persons who dare to express views contrary to the ruling elite are punished and pulverised. Elements of dictatorship.
Finally in Guyana we see on display beliefs that once elected to office you are invested with divine authority and power to decide and direct what and how things are to be done in the Cooperative Republic of Guyana., without appropriate discussion and consultation as required by the Constitution.
Yours truly,
Hamilton Green
Elder
