What if this was a Queen’s College boy?

Nov 25, 2009 Letters

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Dear Editor,
I understand that the recent celebration of the 165th Anniversary by the QC alumni was a resounding success and high praise must go to Vic Insanally and his team for their sterling efforts; my singular regret is that I was unable to attend and reminisce with so many of my schoolmates.
Queen’s College has given Guyana a proud legacy in that among our past alumni we have presidents, politicians, scholars, lecturers, doctors, lawyers and individuals of world renowned in every profession, yet paradoxically Guyana remains in the doldrums.

However, I am moved to reflect that our ICQC (International Chapter of Queen’s College) constitution comfortably allows us to maitain our resounding silence in our failure to condemn the recent torture of a teenage boy even while we were in Guyana celebrating our 165th Anniversary.
One is left to wonder what the reaction would have been if this teenager was a QC student. Are we going to wait until this reprehensible behaviour is visited on one of our own before we react in condemnation of such an atrocity? Will it take the gang rape of a QC student by the security forces to motivate us into action?
And even then, is ICQC to be regarded only as a representative of the ‘priviliged’ who attend QC? One would have thought that our rounded schooling would have sensitized us to care for the unfortunate, the downtrodden and the underprivileged.
This deafening silence from the ICQC may lead the public to believe that we are a spineless body lacking the moral fibre to condemn an obvious barbarity. But even as we are constitutionally bound to refrain from ‘getting involved’ can we not as individuals come out and condemn this act of terrorism by an arm of the state?
Where are the noble voices of those who claim the higher moral ground whenever such an incident occurs? Where are the Eric Phillips’, the Stanley Mings, the Joey Jagans, the Jerome Khans, the Cary Frasers and even my own brother Clairmont who are all ever so quick to speak out against such an injustice and lay claim to be champions of the little people.
These are all fellow alumni and it is upsetting to think of them back-slapping and making merry in Guyana at the very time that this disturbing image hit the press without a word of criticism.
Have we all lost our moral conscience? Is it not time we ask ourselves whether ICQC should be a part of responsible civic society?
As an old student I feel compelled to express my disappointment that we can take comfort and hide behind the ICQC constitution while neglecting what is an obvious civic responsibility. It is discomforting that we should stand idly by and allow successive administrations to deprive QC of the fundamental basics which necessitate our own fund raising efforts, without uttering a word of dissent.
I suggest we have another look at our constitution and ourselves in order to determine whether there is need for some change.
Perhaps we need to engage in some sort of discussion, official or unofficial, with fellow influential old students such as Sam Hinds, Roger Luncheon, Ashni Singh, Henry Greene and others to share our concerns regarding the direction the country is now taking.
This need not be a finger pointing exercise as much as a non partisan attempt at resolving some of the existing problems within the society.
As it now stands ICQC is a reactive organisation responding to the basic needs of the school by funding activities to buy books, computers etc.
Perhaps we need to consider being proactive in making moves to ensure that these basic needs are taken care of and allow us to fund ‘luxury’ items such as scholarships in the future. Twenty plus years ago we were raising funds for our school and at this rate we will be doing the same twenty plus years from now, all because our ICQC constitution does not allow us to ‘get involve’, yet by our own activities we are involved.
We are involved in facilitating the poor governance of successive administrations by continuing to indulge in fundraising efforts to assist in providing the basic needs of QC. Like Dr. Randy Persaud we take shelter behind the continuing excellence of QC students, yet I wonder how the numbers would stack up if we were to engage in a ‘where are they now’ exercise to see where the high fliers from the last 10 years now reside. How many of these are still in Guyana?
Even as I render my condemnation of this recent torture I equally condemn, that for the better part the majority of my alma mater, the influential, the enlightened and the intellectually liberated, either individually (notable exceptions being Alissa & Maya Trotz and Hamilton Green) or collectively have found it expedient to ignore this abhorrent behaviour. It may be noteworthy that among these are many of us who criticised the Bush administration on Abu Gharib and Guantanamo.
As a matter of conscience and on a personal level I will find extreme difficulty in supporting any fundraising activity of a QC organisation which turns a convenient blind eye to the wrongs of any administration which, by its ineptitude, necessitates that fund raising.
We may wish to remind ourselves of the dictum – To whom much is given, much is expected. Our families, and the wider Guyanese society, provided us with an excellent education that has allowed us to accomplish at an international level. The least we can do is to provide a moral compass that will allow the society to escape the grips of a nightmare that the torture of a juvenile represents for the future.
Ian Lye

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