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Why is the Indian political critic a traitor?

Jul 10, 2010 Letters

Dear Editor,
At every turn, a powerful truth is emerging in this nation. Simply put, any political critic of the PPP of Indian descent is castigated by the PPP and branded as a betrayer and traitor. And the attacks do not stop with words. They are getting bolder and more maniacal by the day.
Freddie Kissoon was the latest example. The PPP claims an attack against the PPP by an Indian critic is an attack against Indians. Couching this issue in race is expected of the PPP just like the PNC did to Africans like Walter Rodney.
But I am still trying to comprehend the audacity of the PPP speaking for all Indians in Guyana.
The PPP obviously sees and holds itself as the godhead of all things Indian in Guyana. The voting patterns on Election Day have encouraged that perception within the PPP.
But why is speaking out against wrongdoing by the PPP government a betrayal of the Indian race? It is as if Indians must approve of the PPP including its wrongdoing in silence in order to remain part of their race. The traitor angle is easy to sell.
The legitimacy of the truth is dispensable when it comes to tarnishing that individual as a Benedict Arnold to his own people. It does not matter that the Indian critic also criticised the PNC and other political groups.
It does not matter that the Indian critic is pursuing his right to freedom of expression. For some freedom of expression is tantamount to betrayal. It is as if Indians must bear the transgressions of the PPP in silence.
But the PPP did not want Indians to bear the transgressions of the PNC in silence for 28 years.
The traitor is likened to an African or PNC collaborator simply because he condemns the PPP. The critic is also portrayed as trying to split Indians who according to the PPP should be this monolithic group in total obedience to the PPP mantra.
Indians cannot afford to think for themselves, for independent Indian political thinkers are traitors to the Indian people. This simplistic race-based conveyance is dynamite. It spreads like wildfire among the masses.
In the end, it is fear that drives this cancerous conduct. The PPP has done well driving this engine of fear in the hearts of Indians.
Fear that the Indian people must not look bad in front of Africans as it is a sign of weakness. Fear that the African will realise that Indians engage in skulduggery too.
Fear that they will be shamed before their own race if exposed. Fear that Africans will get angry if too much dirty laundry is aired.
Every major action of Indians is now being dictated by this fear. A people under psychological siege. A group gripped in the Kool-Aid of groupthink.
A strong people of struggle cannot live in perpetual fear of another. A majority cannot live in fear of a minority. The perpetuation of fear is a dirty political shame saddled on the backs of Indians by the PPP.
Why reprehend the fearless Indian now when there was no deprecation of the fearless Indian when the African-dominated PNC ran the nation? Why the double standard now?
Is it because they are standing up to the PPP and speaking their mind and the minds of many silent tongues within the Indian ethnic group? Indians love this country too. They are not prepared to see anyone steal, rob, rape, plunder and pillage it and shut their mouths.
This very phenomenon of earmarking traitors occurred under Burnham’s PNC albeit on a larger scale with the WPA. What the PPP has encouraged is the philosophy that Indian political opposition is wrong if such opposition is against the PPP.
It means the PPP should not be opposed by Indians. It means the Indian race, group and ethnic community belong to the PPP which has sole authority to speak for its political choices and direction.
From a people who have a remarkable history of struggle against repression and who endured the struggle of indentureship, the PPP expects them to bear witness to atrocities in silence.
From a people who frequent mosques, mandirs and churches to confirm their morality on a daily basis, the ball is in their court. There is nothing truer than truth. Some truths require immense struggle, sacrifice and strength to attain.
What is wrong with an Indian speaking out against his fellow Indians in the PPP? What is wrong with an Indian castigating the PPP for paying Africans a few shekels to intimidate Indians who are speaking the truth? At some point, some must say enough is enough.
Michael Maxwell

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