David Dabydeen did what he wanted to do. What about us?

Dec 04, 2009 Features / Columnists, Freddie Kissoon

There is bound to be criticism of David Dabydeen for his nomination of Bharrat Jagdeo for the Nobel Peace Prize. No one can accuse me of now focusing on Dabydeen. I have been critical of this sycophantic supporter of the PPP Government over the years.
At the Pegasus on the occasion of Warwick University’s award of a honorary doctorate to Yesu Persaud, in front of a number of guests, including the venerated Persaud, I refused to shake Dabydeen’s hands. It is my right to determine who I offer courtesy and respect to.
I am not asking anyone in this world to give me courtesy and respect. I assert my right to make my choices as to who I see as positive human beings making a contribution to the freedoms of the world.
The obvious accusation against Dabydeen focuses on why he is so enamoured with the PPP Government that he became Guyana’s Ambassador to UNESCO, and now officially nominates Mr. Jagdeo for the Nobel Prize. But he never worked a day in Guyana since his party came to power in 1992. There are plenty of vacancies into which Dabydeen can be slotted.
So from the comfort of his home in democratic England, he showers praises on a Government that he is unwilling to serve in any substantive capacity. If in 1985, President Forbes Burnham was nominated for the Nobel Prize letters would have been flying off to Sweden from the PPP, WPA, UG professors and others. There may have even been some visits to the Nobel directorate from Guyana.
David Dabydeen did what he wanted to do. He exercised a political choice.
That is his right. It is for us who fervently believe that Mr. Jagdeo is a dictator to contact the Nobel Committee to provide facts on Mr. Jagdeo’s intolerable dictatorship the past ten years.
There are hundreds and hundreds of well placed Guyanese in foreign countries with prestigious positions that would reject outright a Nobel Prize for Mr. Jagdeo. They must be as active as Dabydeen and lobby the international community to expose the nature of Mr. Jagdeo’s rule.
Mind you, I don’t think Mr. Jagdeo will ever be considered. Dr. Dabydeen is a professor of literature, writing poetry. The Nobel Prize doesn’t use poetic criteria in its judgement.
The Nobel Prize Committee does not function the way Dabydeen thinks. Once there is a serious contender, the Committee will gather as much information as possible.
Will it work in Jagdeo’s favour when the Committee hears about what takes place in Guyana? Not to mention that there are men and women out there with a tremendous record of fighting for freedom; Mr. Jagdeo does not stand even an infinitesimal chance. But the point is just as Dabydeen could send in Mr. Jagdeo’s testimonial, then others here in Guyana and in the Diaspora should contact the Nobel Committee to expose Mr. Jagdeo
The undemocratic nature of Mr. Jagdeo’s governorship would have been weakened a long time ago if the opposition was more active on the international scene.
In carving out a global agenda for himself, Mr. Jagdeo exposed his Achilles heel but the opposition, human rights entities and other stakeholders failed to strategize. They did not pursue an active global agenda to counter Mr. Jagdeo’s.
It was only two weeks ago, that a group of well-placed Guyanese in the US met with a number of Congressmen, including a Senator.
They presented a copy of the dossier on crime, the recent Auditor-General’s Report and documents from the World Bank on Guyana.
I can’t say more on this except to mention that another dialogue is planned in the new year.
Such a meeting should have been pursued years ago. And there should have been countless such encounters after Mr. Jagdeo showed his authoritarian instincts many years ago. It is up to opposition parties and other stakeholders to write to the Nobel Committee and offer them the mountain of facts on Mr. Jagdeo’s terrible governance.
For all we know, David Dabydeen may have been asked to join the third term bandwagon. Knowing Dabydeen, he is made of that kind of stuff so he will join. Is it possible that this nomination will feature prominently in the third term campaign that is planned for mid next year?
Finally, isn’t there any scholar in the UK that could protest to the University of Warwick on Dabydeen’s embrace of elected dictatorship in Guyana? There must be. Where are the radical Warwick students to hold a picket line outside his office protesting his hypocrisy – praising Mr. Jagdeo but refusing to come home.

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David Dabydeen did what he wanted to do. What about us?

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