Lincoln Lewis asked me to picket with him. I obliged

Jul 19, 2009 Features / Columnists, Freddie Kissoon

Three weeks ago, I got a telephone call from Lincoln Lewis asking me to join him in a small picket exercise outside the Office of the President. Lincoln’s explanation was that Guyana has a dictatorship which is worse than any government gone by and no one is protesting.
He inquired if I would be a participant in a small group that would embark on a picket campaign that would take to the streets on a frequent basis. My first reaction was that I would only contribute if other East Indians would be invited. I specifically told Lincoln that East Indian presence is important because we need to raise the consciousness of the Indian people to the brutal, cruel and undemocratic nature of the PPP Government. He agreed.

I reached the line late because I had to work. This was the beginning of something beautiful that I thought Guyana so desperately needed. Our campaign went well. The police came, identified me as the leader for reasons I do not know. I was asked if I was leading the protest and I declined to a response.
The police put the same question to Mark Benschop, Lincoln, Norris Witter and Jinnah Rahaman but all of us refused to identify a leader. One of the officers demanded to know who the leader of the picket was but we refused to offer an answer.

The next week, Lincoln called again for a second campaign but I had a moral obligation to attend a funeral. I don’t know if Lincoln tried to communicate with me but I didn’t know about the protest outside the police compound at Eve Leary. Had I known, I would have been there.
The pursuit of protest that this small group has embarked on is long overdue. I want the gathering to know that I will be there at the next point of activity and I will continue my presence. The spirit of Eusi Kwayana lives in those who fought alongside him in the seventies and eighties.
Once Kwayana touched your life, the obligation to seek justice becomes a pressing political and personal journey for you. Acting on this belief, I will participate now and in the future, once elected dictatorship continues, in the politics of protest for the creation of the Velvet Revolution in Guyana.
The level of political degeneracy that this nation is currently witnessing is so appallingly worse than any period of PNC domination that the effort of Lincoln Lewis and others must be emulated.

One of the lowest points in my human rights career occurred last Monday outside Ramchand’s Auto General Store on Sheriff Street. I ran into a wonderfully brave woman who fought tirelessly for democracy during the reign of President Burnham. Whenever we meet, we would reflect on the comparison between then and now. Our conclusion would always be that the nature of the regime at the moment is worse than what we fought against during the rule of the PNC.
She said to me; “Is this what Walter gave his life for? These criminals!” She was a portrait of mental anguish. But all of us who fought Burnham live with such anguish.
She was referring to the mental confusion that permeates the souls of all those who sacrificed so much to fight down Forbes Burnham. Walter Rodney paid the ultimate price. All of us ask that dreadful question – “Why did we do it when we look at what we have today? Were we right to have changed the Burnham Government back then?”

This is a horribly torturing question to face. You feel in your heart that maybe we were wrong in what we did. Living with what we see all around us, living with forms of dictatorship that exceed the tyranny of Burnham’s rule, it tears you apart to know that Walter Rodney gave his life fighting against a government that was a boy scout act of mischief compared to the ocean of corruption, immoralities, and violations that smother this tragic nation today under the PPP.
The arrest of Lewis, Benschop and Witter over a peaceful picket outside the police office at Eve Leary is just another manifestation of how rotten the exercise of power has become under the PPP. One hopes that as Lewis and others extend their nationalism and love of Guyana all over this large country, Guyanese will cast off their fear, resignation and apathy and join the train of justice as it moves towards its final destination of the Velvet Revolution.
The people of Guyana deserve a better government and what it has. It deserves a government that respects the laws, Constitution and people of Guyana.

Latest News

Lincoln Lewis asked me to picket with him. I obliged

Related

Similar Articles

The Glenn Lall Show | February, 3rd, 2025

Follow on Tik Tok @Glennlall

THE BLUNT OF THE DAY

Sports

EBDCA/D&R Construction 40-Over Cricket Competition continues

GFF announces final squad for Concacaf U-17...

Cricket West Indies announces exciting 2025...

BCA, GCB to attend CWI meeting on February 9

Bolstered Harpy Eagles eyeing perfect home record...

Hockey PAHF Junior Challenge schedule released

Features/Columnists

Land, taxes and penalties

OAS Secretary General Election and renewed OAS Consensus

Helping a brother traveling against traffic

Publisher’s Note

Weekend Cartoon

Bridge Watch

Demerara Harbour Bridge

> Berbice Bridge […]

Lincoln Lewis asked me to picket with him. I obliged

Share this:

Related

Similar Articles

The Glenn Lall Show | February, 3rd, 2025

Follow on Tik Tok @Glennlall

THE BLUNT OF THE DAY

Sports

Features/Columnists

Publisher’s Note

Weekend Cartoon

Bridge Watch

Demerara Harbour Bridge

> Berbice Bridge […]