Latest update January 14th, 2025 3:35 AM

Guyana's largest selling daily and New York's most popular weekly

Latest News

We must confront this ‘war’ against our children

Jun 15, 2010 Letters

Dear Editor,
It has now become common for the PPP/C regime and its agencies to behave as though some segments of the Guyanese population have no rights that they are obligated or duty bound to respect.
This attitude was poignantly illustrated in the regime’s silence during the spate of extra-judicial killings that shocked many in Guyana and across the globe.
It recently attracted international attention in the issue involving the Bauxite Workers Union and an expatriate Corporation, where the Government of the day was clearly in the corner of that Corporation attempts to destroy the current union representation for Linden Workers. The torture of several persons, who were in police custody, including a 14-year-old, and the recent brutal slaying of Kelvin Fraser, adds to the pile of evidence that unequivocally attests to the PPP/C regime’s complete disassociation from established local and international laws and customs governing the treatment of citizens.
Someone has to muster the courage to stand up and say enough in this nation where the fear of reprisal for speaking out has become so thick it can figuratively be cut with a knife, and the expression of such courage result in atrocities like journalists being assaulted with cans of feces being thrown in their faces.
The total majority of Guyanese, based on the contribution of their ancestors, have earned the right to speak out and challenge abuses of the constitutional rights of their fellow citizens. In this context, when the parents, relatives and sundry members of the community from which the deceased Kelvin Fraser hails, petitioned for our support in their decision to take their protest to the capital city, we were more than willing to accommodate them.
How could we refuse and look at ourselves in a mirror afterwards. Martin Luther King said, “Man is man because he is free to operate within the framework of his destiny. He is free to deliberate, to make decisions, and to choose between alternatives. He is distinguished from animals by his freedom to do evil or to do good, and to walk the high road of beauty or tread the low road of ugly degeneracy”.
For me, Freddie Kissoon, David Hinds and Lincoln Lewis, there was no hesitation in our decision to walk the high road of ethical activism in order to bring attention to the ugly degeneracy that is rapidly taking over the operations of virtually every enforcing agency in our country.
Yes, I have been arrested, thrown in jail, and will now have to face a criminal court for daring to be there for a young man who was brutally cut down in the embryonic stages of his growth as a human being.
No parent expects to out live their children, and as a parent who has had that experience, I could empathize with the emotions that inundated every nerve centre of the mother and relatives of Kelvin Fraser. To paraphrase the late martyr Martin Luther King again, “If we will courageously, and yet with dignity and Christian love, protest these atrocities that have become endemic to our existence, when the history books of Guyana are written in future generations, the historians will have to pause and say, There lived a great people – a Guyanese people -who injected new meaning and dignity into the veins of their civilization.
Guyanese need to take back their country from those seemingly bent on taking it down the road to perdition. We must summon the courage and intestinal fortitude to confront this ‘war’ that is being waged against our kids.
Mark A. Benschop

Similar Articles

The Glenn Lall Show | January, 10th, 2025

Follow on Tik Tok @Glennlall

THE BLUNT OF THE DAY

Sports

Pakistan targets West Indies’ vulnerability with spin-heavy squad for Test series

Pakistan targets West Indies’ vulnerability with spin-heavy squad...

Jan 14, 2025

SportsMax – Pakistan has unveiled a spin-dominant squad for the upcoming two-match home Test series against West Indies, aiming to exploit the visitors’ well-documented struggles against spin...
Read More
West Indies U-19 Women defeat Nepal by nine runs in first ICC U-19 Women’s T20 World Cup Warm-up match

West Indies U-19 Women defeat Nepal by nine runs...

Jan 14, 2025

Sir Clive Lloyd to Lead Operations at proposed Cricket Academy

Sir Clive Lloyd to Lead Operations at proposed...

Jan 14, 2025

Savory, Anderson batting form a good sign for Harpy Eagles, following first practice match 

Savory, Anderson batting form a good sign for...

Jan 14, 2025

GFF/Racing Madrid partnership brings new head coach and two technical experts to Junior Jaguars U17 team

GFF/Racing Madrid partnership brings new head...

Jan 14, 2025

Chatargum, Persaud headline Senior National Indoor Barebow Archery Championships 

Chatargum, Persaud headline Senior National...

Jan 14, 2025

Features/Columnists

Publisher’s Note

Freedom of speech is our core value at Kaieteur News. If the letter/e-mail you sent was not published, and you believe that its contents were not libellous, let us know, please contact us by phone or email.

Feel free to send us your comments and/or criticisms.
Contact: 624-6456; 225-8452; 225-8458; 225-8463; 225-8465; 225-8473 or 225-8491.
Or by Email: [email protected] / [email protected]

Weekend Cartoon

Bridge Watch

Demerara Harbour Bridge

> Berbice Bridge […]