By GHK Lall- It took two women, actually. One spoke and wrote, the other shared. To the Hon Amanza Walton-Desir, my thanks. To the forwarder of the Facebook clip, gratitude. To Ms. Hana Mohamed, my shame, my apologies. I failed the women of Guyana. I failed this daughter of the Mohamed family.
There’s a world of excuses that can be made, many reasonable. None is offered. For when a woman is assaulted by the brutishness of the all-powerful State, that’s the most compelling of times for voices to be raised. In protest. In horror. In disgust. In condemnation. I belatedly lend mine to all those. Where’s the threat in a peaceful protest?
Why the fear of women who stand for what they believe, for the ties of blood? For a long time, it has been women demeaned and devastated. It could be a short time before young children are next in line. For sure, Ms. Hana Mohamed has the pull and push of politics around her. It is provided for in Guyana’s Constitution, as I have read and heard.
It still applies, doesn’t it? It’s the question that I reserve for Guyana’s Hon Attorney General, Mr. Anil Nandlall. May peace be with him; and may he be man enough (and holy warrior enough) to break his silence and pronounce vigorously. A hurt and scarred Hana Mohamed is waiting. The women of Guyana are waiting, Mr. AG.
I have waited on the women of Guyana, and disappointments sweep. When the women in powerful positions in this country can be so distantly callous, so indifferently inclined, the men of power just received the clearance on how they should operate. If the women in the PPP Govt are not unduly perturbed, then why should the men?
The parallel coming to mind is that of domestic violence. One woman took a hammer to the head, patched up herself, then patched up with her hammer wielder partner. Translation: the women in the PPP Govt will take any blow, so that the men in their circle are given a pass, another opportunity to brutalize.
My biggest disappointment is Minister Vindya Persaud. A holy woman, a doctor, a sister, who has been a fighter for better for the abused and battered women of Guyana. It’s her grace, and it is presented publicly for the umpteenth time. But there’s that other side of her. Tense and curled into a tight ball, when one of her male comrades cross the line, and savage the dignity of Guyanese women.
Sometimes, I wonder if something has ever dawned on her. She manifests some resemblance, some strains, to a female version of Dr. Jekyll and Madam Hide. The goodness, then the gracelessness. There’s the instance of Ms. Hana Mohamed in handcuffs, in medical distress, in hurried dispatch to the safety of her home. Surely, a woman, a minister, a citizen, of the caliber of Dr. Vindya Persaud could have had one word of comfort to offer. Or, better still, a word of public objection. Before Amanza, there should have been Vindya.
What about the men of Guyana? Where are the usually loud PPP men, PNC men, AFC men, and other Guyanese men? Are they that new kind of Guyana man, lacking in courage, dissipating from character deficits, ghosting along in fearful silence? Are they proudly doing their jobs as national eunuchs? When one PPP Govt after another succeeded as much as they did in coercing and controlling Guyanese men and women, there was only one destination, one terminal. The first is named fear; the latter is silence.
Still, I’m thankful and joyful that there’s a woman as Amanza Walton-Desir, and another in Hana Mohamed. They have the courage of their convictions, and the spirit to match. If only the men of Guyana would take note. If only Guyana’s sons could prove to be men, and stand for something. Other than pleasing Drs. Jagdeo and Ali. Other than securing their own places. Other than pretending at the manly, while leaving women to battle, while they cower.
