The damage of ethnic divide in Guyana

Aug 06, 2009 Letters

---

Dear Editor,
The media as a whole seems to becoming again seized up with the paranoia on Guyana’s ethnic divide, especially in connection with the Roger Khan affair. The subject is being whipped up as the hobby horse by the short-sighted and blinkered proliferations of the various competing proponents inside and outside of Guyana.
Sadly the subject is the single most important preoccupation, which has shackled the future of the Guyanese people since the advent of Independence. And it is continuing to be a major stumbling block to their future development.

It has been ruthlessly exploited since its inception by the political elite after Independence. And this has degenerated into all shades of political intrigue, conspiracies, chicanery, lawlessness and violence. Cloaked in its various manifestations it has provided much fertile grounds for reams of news prints on the issue.
Despite the constant barrage of attack set out to destroy the very fragile cohesion that is keeping Guyana’s multi-ethnic communities together, it has failed miserably over the decades to destroy the battered hopes of her diverse people.
However, there is also another side to the coin that is being denied the same level of public awareness. There are much fervent wishes lying out there; on the streets, and with an abundance of goodwill; if the media cares to look for it, and are so inclined to redirect their thrust and revelry towards a much better future for a remodeled Guyana.
A majority of the silently ones are deeply committed to the unifying harmony of cultures and ethnicities living side by side. That fact is, this harmony is alive and still kicking out there and it has yet to be pronounced dead.

Colonial rule was an anathema and violently abhorred by those past leaders, who had promised Utopia on getting their hands on power. They were unable to deliver on their false promises. They also found it far more profitable to indulge in the propagation of the ethnic divide; and the only the legacy they seemed capable of delivering and bequeathing to the people of Guyana.
It is also a sad fact that the present crop of leaders and politicians in Guyana also seem to have been hampered by the same brainwashing and nurtured on the same useless concepts. They seem oblivious to the damage being inflicted upon a people, who are taken for granted and treated as if with much contempt.
The old colonial masters would have sneered stiffly at unleashing such terrible divisions in its present form. The fact remains that it was the same vital tool within their tool bag, which they had skillfully deployed to keep control over their workers.

Their strategy however, involved unleashing the concept smoothly and seamlessly. The colonial rulers had no motive to destroy the multiracial society, which they had created and had milked for centuries to create the wealth for a developed Europe.
There were little incentives therefore for them to indulge in racial divide between their workers. This would have run counter to profiteering.
Under the colonial rule, there were far more harmony among the different ethnic communities than have ever existed after Independence. Furthermore, ethnicity was never perceived by the colonial populace in Guyana as divisive or invited major culture clashes.
Our astute politicians however, were quick to discover the crucial value of this tool and they have used it ruthlessly to propagate their stranglehold in pursuit of their own self interests.

The ordinary people became the ones to bear the burden and the ones to pay the heavy penalties demanded by the new exploiters. Thus far they have ended up in a far more dire straits than any perceived yoke, which the colonial rulers may have placed around heir necks. But the resolve of the ordinary Guyanese is yet to be broken. The US had inspired much to the present day controversy. Given credit where it is due, however, they have also expressed their misgivings and regrets for their cold war intervention in Guyana. Now they seem to be doing their utmost to ensure Guyana does not sink beyond the point of no return.
Such a vacuum would create far reaching repercussions, especially among those neighbouring states, which are harbouring territorial claims over most of Guyana. Guyana is left strangulated by these claims and has been prevented from developing its natural resources to benefit its people. But our politicians seem to play blind on the issue. Obviously they are adhering to a different agenda and which served their real, short-sighted interests.

The lawlessness and violence, which can no longer be contained domestically is due to divisive rot that has is setting in. It seems to have now spilled over to occupy international dimensions. Guyana is now under the microscope in the U.S. Courts. Some of the hidden symptoms of a sickly country will thus be open to close scrutiny, and which will never happen in Guyana while ethnic divide is being chased up a blind alley.
Guyana can hardly provide justice for its ordinary people at this time. Let alone handle high profile cases like the Roger Khan affair; and even if all the conspiracy theories are false. It may be easier to prevent the course of justice in Guyana, but not in most other countries where justice cannot be short-changed or compromised.
With the massive backlog of cases awaiting hearing, Guyanese has to cope with the denial of justice and are forced to wait many years in the future for any chance of getting justice.
The media should have been in the forefront to lead the march towards more harmony and justice in Guyana. Unwittingly, they seem also to indulge in the sensationalism of ethnic divide as opposed to the mundane wishes of most ordinary people and their hopes of a better future.
Mac Mahase

---

---