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Applause for those who fought for democracy

Oct 22, 2009 Letters

Dear Editor,
Guyana recently celebrated the 17th anniversary since the restoration of democracy, following 28 years of uninterrupted one party rule.
Those who fought in the revolution that ushered in democracy ought to be recognised. There are groups outside of Guyana that played a critical role in fighting the Guyanese dictatorship. I want to applaud all those overseas-based Guyanese who contributed to the struggle for the restoration of democracy in Guyana.
In New York, all the parties (PPP, DLM, URP, WPA, etc.) had support groups and they along with the Jaguar Committee for Democracy, and other organisations were in the forefront in the struggle to bring international pressure on the dictatorship to end oppressive rule. These groups played a critical role in getting the US to put the squeeze on Desmond Hoyte to hold free and fair elections.
Life has been a real struggle for Guyanese immigrants eking out a living in America. Yet some committed time and scarce money in their struggle for the restoration of democracy in their former homeland. This is a demonstration of their abiding love and commitment to Guyana. These individuals are true patriots in every sense of the word and deserve full praises for their work. They ought to be commended.
I was deep in the struggle and know several of them up close. Without the contributions of people like Arjune Karshan, Mel Carpen, Dr. Baytoram Ramharack, Vishnu Bisram, Ravi Dev, Chuck Mohan, Vassan Ramracha, and so many others, Guyana may still be a dictatorship. It was Ramharack, Dev, Bisram, and myself, who are responsible for polls being institutionalised in Guyana as part of the democratic process. Instead of attacking us, Freddie Kissoon should praise us for our work.
Contrary to what Freddie wrote in a recent column that “Vishnu Bisram must be a wealthy man to spend his own money to fund opinion polls in Guyana”. Bisram is a humble person. Bisram and Dr. Ramharack, both of whom I have known since 1977 as students at CCNY, were committed to the restoration and institutionalisation of democracy in Guyana.
They are simple, ordinary, humble, working class individuals. The same holds true for Karshan. Like myself, they spent thousands of dollars of their own money in the struggle for the restoration of democracy in Guyana. Thus, it is not a shock to me, as it is a shock to Kissoon that “Bisram spent his own money to conduct polls in Guyana or support worthy causes”.
I am a NYC teacher. My brother, Rennie, a political scientist and a NYC teacher, and I traveled to Guyana and Trinidad (and on occasions to Tobago) regularly on our own funds to assist Ramharack and Bisram with their polls. Dev also used his own personal money to assist with the TRPI polls. Others traveled with us from NACTA to assist with polling in Guyana and Trinidad because we are committed to the institutionalisation of polling. Genuine polls were done by TRPI and NACTA, not the kind that a Washington based pollster did for a political party predicting victory for it.
Who funds the polls and whether NACTA has a website and the names of its officers have nothing to do with the polls’ findings. Respondents don’t answer interviewers’ questions based on the funding of the poll or its website. Bisram is a credible pollster, as his polling record has shown, and people answer the polls’ questions based on his reputation and credibility. Freddie should accept the poll results even though they are not in sync with his discredited speculation.
I applaud everyone who contributed to the struggle for the restoration of democracy in Guyana. It was not a PPP effort alone.
Vassan Ramracha

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