An abuse of power

Dec 23, 2010 Editorial

The reaction of people to issues that affect their very lives varies from person to person. Some people merely give up and prepare for any outcome. These are the malleable in the society and considered the most docile of the population.
Others object but only in groups in which they speak in whispers and wish for someone to take up their fight. These are the people who prefer to remain in the background and give tacit support to anyone who offers a challenge.
Then there are those who would stand up and fight rather than roll over and die. These are the people who are prepared to sacrifice their very freedom and sometimes their lives. The history of this country is full of such people. There were those whom we now refer to as the Enmore Martyrs who gave their very lives in protest against conditions on the sugar plantations.
There was Kowsilla who sat in the path of a tractor in a vain bid to shut down a sugar factory as part of a protest against conditions in the sugar industry. There were the slaves who revolted against the harsh economic system that condemned to a life little better than the animals they reared in their spare time.
There were the political leaders who helped the shape of the country today—the people who challenged the colonial bullets. There were those who sat and blocked the entrance to Public Buildings to protest against the rulers and what they wanted to determine for the locals.
Protest has always been an integral part of national life. During the 1960s this country came to the brink of destruction because a protest became a political issue and pitted the major races against each other. For three years this country saw the worst violence it ever did and all because some waterfront workers decided to protest what they perceived to be an injustice.
At the start of the last decade there were protests over the political situation. People took to the streets because one political party was opposed to the other. People marched through the streets of the city and attracted the attention of the police. Political leaders were arrested and the tension heightened.
This time around at the centre of the most recent protest is the Mandela dumpsite. It started as a temporary measure but grew to proportions that boggle the imagination. A few years ago it became unmanageable. It burst into flames repeatedly and caused tremendous suffering to the people on the leeside.
When the breeze shifted the people in the so-called residential areas understood what their less fortunate colleagues had to endure. A decision was taken to close the dumpsite but this is Guyana. Sometimes we take decisions that we are often forced to abandon because we were precipitate.
And so it was that the Mandela dumpsite is once more an object of focus. The startling thing, though, is that the people who are the most affected remain passive. And so it is that a self-described social activist mounted a protest and has been locked up for his efforts.
He saw the suffering the dumpsite caused and he decided to do something about it. But the people themselves remained aloof from the protest. Needless to say, the authorities do not take too kindly to protests, especially those led by some people known to be hostile to the administration.
The self-styled social activist, Mark Benschop, may have blocked a passageway but that is not a criminal offence and is immensely bailable. The authorities have decided to deny bail to him and to Freddie Kissoon, a known critic of the government.
The authorities are using their authority to stifle protest. The police seem to be acting in a manner designed to please the ruling politicians who abhor both Benschop and Kissoon. They are also sending a message to the lesser people that the jail is ready to accommodate anyone who dares to protest any condition in the country.
To highlight the ridiculous nature of Benschop’s detention one only needs to recognize that he never blocked a public thoroughfare and therefore committed no crime. That there was a back up of traffic due to Benschop’s action is incidental.
Are we witnessing the birth of rampant dictatorship?

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An abuse of power

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