By GHK Lall- Guyana is one hell of a country. This country under the PPP Govt must qualify to be in an extremely ugly category of hell. I watch as a citizen is savaged repeatedly, and silence is the only sound that splits the air. Silence, the bleats of fear. Or cheap ambition. Alongside that, there’s distance. It’s somebody else’s business; they can fight. The PPP Govt knows where it has Guyanese. And because of that, its leaders know that it can kick them around, violate any standards to bring them down, and few objections would be forthcoming.
The holder of a constitutional office is hounded, trailed, watched, cornered and trapped, branded and battered, squeezed and tumbled, and rare are any words of protest heard from Guyanese. Many of those who long shared lofty phrases and long held larger-than-life positions on the sacredness of the Guyana Constitution, have all turned turtle or turned yellow. The former is a defensive stance (making oneself small and harmless); the latter is the cowardly color of those who have compromised themselves in some way.
Or harbour high expectations for considerations from on high. The moment that there is any kind of dependency on the PPP Govt, the dependent is as good as dead. Dead to principles. Dead to integrity. Dead to personal honor. What applies to individuals, also applies to groups. The tools and resources, the assets and institutions, of a country assembled, then unleashed in waves of attacks on those deemed parasites, undesirables, and misfits. Maybe not fit to live.
A judge was isolated and his character assassinated recently. He suddenly didn’t have a fraternity to call his own. The object of a high-level orchestration, followed by widespread derision. Not one voice. Not one bold figure daring to break the silence (and emasculated ranks) and say: I stand. I object. I denigrate. Even crapos croak when the times demand.
Once again, it’s the office and not the man. The constitution treated like dirt; the judiciary prostituted. Understand who’s master. Respond properly to expectations, or else…. And, they call this vulgarity of a country, a democracy. I want to say that many of those who assert so are first class frauds, and knaves and fools to boot. I refrain.
One of the most blinding and alarming examples of the unbelievable in action in Guyana has to be what the Guyana Police Force has been converted to, the private security force that it has become. Go there. Strike hard. No mercy. No prisoners. One man should consider himself lucky. Before that, a touching up and glossing over was admitted to recently.
How many more of that kind happened? So. it cannot be that far into the future before fixups and frameups are part of an ever-expanding range of Police crime solving techniques. Perhaps, already here. Just as casually as murder was given a pass in the past, so can those branded as offensive to the PPP Govt be setup for who knows what. The case of the judge that made the headlines goes to show how far the PPP Govt can reach. It confirms who it can make into allies (fall for its fabrications, and get something extra for it).
Guyanese have heard about how bad Burnham was for this country; the grip he had on the Guyana Police Force. Compare then to now; it’s putting chalk and cheese together in the same sandwich. Lots of loud righteous horror over the bad days of the Burnham Police. Did this country since develop an outbreak of national dumbness?
When the Guyana Police can be weaponised so thoroughly against a Constitutional officeholder, the odds are unbeatable for worse being inflicted upon ordinary citizens. Similar to how an old, intimate, and trusted friend of the PPP Govt could be demonised and criminalised, so also can new friends now reached-for with an invitation that causes a heavy overflow of salivating. Give it some time. When such are the circumstances, those who rhapsodise about democracy, the constitution, parliament, and law must be among the biggest hoaxers and hucksters seen over the years in this region.
