Guyana has rolled out the red carpet for India’s Prime Minister, Narendra Modi. Because it is Mr. Modi, and the storied heritage and linkage of Guyana to Mother India, the red carpet is a little wider and a little longer. I call that advancing the charm offensive in carefully calibrated strides. Guyanese have brought their red garlands to greet their distinguished visitor and his entourage. Because a great first impression is the first objective, the garlands are redder and more in number.
In succinct terms that would make former US President Calvin Coolidge proud (he wasn’t called “Silent Cal” idly), the PPP Government and leadership, as well as the Guyanese people pulled out all the stops to deliver a welcome to the distinguished Indian PM. It would have made a king cry. In what is fast becoming the norm, the dirty job of capsizing boats and bursting birthday balloons is left to a nobody like me. I give advance warning to His Excellency, the Indian Ambassador: be on guard, sir! The cavalry is on the way, and it is not with peaceful intents.
Prime Minister Modi may be distinguished in many areas, I will give him that courtesy, acknowledgment. But when I question some of his own citizens currently living here (not ones serving in official capacities), their reactions and recognitions about his positives are few and far between. My first concern about PM Modi is that he is fixated on that religious supremacy business of his, while still pushing forward claims about democracy. He reminds me of some PPP Government luminaries who have their supremacy visions, who were part of his welcoming party. Here, the supremacy visions are cloaked under the umbrella of “one” of all things. Slick politicians do have their own language, complete with its own peculiar vocabulary, and their unorthodox meanings.
Mr. Modi is about democracy, world leadership, economic justice, and climate change parity. I say that all of that is good, four times over. But can a man, one who is a prime minister no less, be allowed to get away with speaking silkily about democracy while there is that abomination involving a huge minority right there in his beloved India? The reality of India under the honorable prime ministerial strategies relative to Muslims in his country is nothing but the irony of a silent tragedy. One about which the world knows plenty, says only the paltry.
There are over 200 million Muslims, who are bona fide citizens of India, yet the majority of them are treated like serfs under the guiding hand and what comes out of the head of Mr. Modi. What does it say when there was a man like Lal Krishna Advani in his camp, so close to his own bosom? I remind my fellow Guyanese, all people of fraternity and tranquility, of mosques razed and temples built, and leave the rest to others to take from there. I have said my piece. It is this: I have no use for bigots, local or foreign. The local ones are self-identified by their callous actions. I point to America and India at their political pinnacles, and assert that bigots and men of rare prejudices live there.
Still, courtesy demands that I treat visiting PM Narendra Modi, a brother, with the dignity his office requires. But nothing in this world can make me appreciate and applaud a man, leader, who has his record. Kashmir, citizenship laws, human rights, and a land where democracy is retreating and licking its wounds. Democracy dying not with dignity, but in the ignominy of drawn out bits and pieces.
This is the world leader who is embraced in Guyana currently. Because I have so many concerns about what goes on here (any citizen that raises objections, stands in opposition, is a dirty enemy), there can be no love lost for the likes of Narendra Modi, or Donald Trump. If I cannot be a proud, fearless man of color, one of profound beliefs, then I am not worthy to be a man, nor of this life. Now I ask for the privilege of a slight departure.
Guyanese, especially Guyanese Muslims, have protested the genocide of their religious brothers in Palestine. Public marches and public protests seen and commended. Where are those Muslim Guyanese now, with bhai Modi here and graced with grand honors, political worship? Excellency Ali, a Muslim officially, has his leadership duties, which trump other considerations. But other Muslim Guyanese cannot claim his elevated mantle. Where are they now? It would have been inspiring to hear some outraged voices, filled with poignancy over the pathos of their brethren in Ayodhya and Jumma, and elsewhere.
Perhaps, to do so would harm intimate and intricate relationships with Drs. Ali, Dr. Jagdeo, and Dr. Zulfikar. To protest about Palestinians is safe, no personal impacts here. To decry Mr. Modi now would leave some in no man’s land. It is where I am, what is liked. In closing, I recall how incensed many Guyanese were over LFS Burnham, but how they didn’t have a problem with one S.S Ramphal. We must be honest enough to ask ourselves one question. Why?
I welcome PM Narendra Modi in my own unique way. Credentials were just presented. Do have a wonderfully good time, sir.
