The United Nations Declaration on Human Rights explicitly states: “All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood. Everyone is entitled to all the rights and freedoms set forth in this Declaration, without distinction of any kind, such as race, colour, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or other status.” These tenets are enshrined in the Constitution of Guyana. They not only underpin our common humanity but also our interdependence, or as the Rev Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. advised, “whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly”
Without exception, no group can survive without the others. No group has within themselves the resources and capacity to operate independently of others. It is a fact in the productive, distributive and consumptive cycle we depend on each other. You may have the goods or services to provide but the ability to profit/benefit from these relies on those who purchase them, and those who depend on the spending power of others to secure their economic interest.
The labour landscape, be it entrepreneurial, employed, government or non-government reveals ethnic diversity and in some instances concentration of an ethnic group. Can we in pursuit of our interest say we will not utilise the services or goods of this or that group because they do not look like us, believe in the same thing we do, or do not share similar political persuasion?
Are we, in the pursuit of securing our self-interest, particularly those guaranteed in the Constitution of Guyana, think we can arrogate to ourselves a ‘right’ to deprive others their rights? Persons may try, but they won’t be allowed to succeed. The experiences and lessons of history, including those of our forebears which proudly run in our veins, show that man has always resisted efforts or acts to dehumanise him. It will be no different this time and it is to this reality we turn, hopefully, sooner rather than later.
It is the reality of our equality and innate desire to be treated with dignity and respect which will force recognition that irrespective of class, ethnicity, socio-economic standing, power or otherwise, the sanitation worker in the scheme of things is vital to our health, the police officer is necessary for our safety and security. The nurse is essential to our care, the teacher to our education, the vendor to the produce we seek, the customer to your sales, and so forth. The acceptance and enforcement of these require us holding ourselves and leaders accountable, for nothing is ever achieved or sustained in the absence of accountability.
And in the pursuit of ensuring this we cannot, as a people, hold on to primitive notions that because this or that person is our or your leader or friend, he or she will not be held accountable to act consistent with their responsibilities, as outlined in constitution and laws, and reasonable expectations of their constituents. Accepting otherwise would be a grave disservice to ourselves, the nation and future generations.
Our struggle for social, economic and political justice, though it manifests in all its rage and disdain at elections, is real and ever present, and for the good of Guyana we cannot continue the pretense. We must address what grieves and offends us in frank, honest and open conversations.
History shows that to be right or take a stand for what is right could come at great sacrifice in the face of intolerance, fear, and notion that might is right. This should only serve as a lesson or challenge when we encounter them, not hindrance to pursue what is just, right and fair.
The urgency for good governance, of which inclusion is a part, is even more pressing in this oil rich and politically polarised economy where the powers that be are deliberately trampling on human rights and leaving many behind as a few, from within and without, gorge on our resources. Something is wrong with this picture, and we must move with purposefulness to have these egregious acts corrected. The political opposition must assert itself and deliver leadership or join with those taking the fight to the government. For the problems that confront us are political in nature and require political leadership, intervention and solutions now, not in the future.
We are “One People, One Nation, One Destiny” and must be allowed to function and act in concert. All 83, 000 square miles of this nation belong to every ethnic group, regardless from whence we came or the circumstances under which we arrived. We do not have to grovel, compromise our integrity or sense of self for what’s rightly ours. All under the Constitution are equally and equitably entitled to the resources within, above and beneath Guyana; the right to work, free speech, assemble, ownership of property, share in the national patrimony, political association, protection from discrimination, etc.
The future is now and it belongs to all of us. We must go forth boldly and claim what’s rightly ours or others will dictate it.
