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Ramjattan should not respond to this ridiculous charge

Jan 27, 2011 Letters

Dear Editor,
In a previous letter, I cautioned politicians against viewing everything through racist lens; but it seems that old habits die hard.
In a letter, “Khemraj Ramjattan’s Bath Settlement call was ill-advised” (Kaieteur News January 22), PNCR Central Executive Committee member Lurlene Nestor cleverly tries to lure Alliance for Change (AFC) Presidential Candidate Khemraj Ramjattan into a direct confrontation with Guyanese of African descent, in what appears to be a cunning attempt at winning back the Black support they had lost to the AFC in 2006.
Referring to a statement reportedly made by Mr. Ramjattan at Bath Settlement in Berbice, in which he made an appeal to Guyanese of East Indian descent not to fear Guyanese of African descent; Ms. Nestor wrote that a cursory examination of Ramjattan’s comments would raise serious issues, and added, “Mr. Khemraj Ramjattan and the AFC seem to have taken a position that our East Indian Brothers and Sisters are afraid of Afro-Guyanese. Since this appears to be the general position of the AFC I wish to ask whether Ramjattan or his party is in position of any empirical evidence, on which their presumption might be based. For too long those masquerading as leaders among us have been allowed to make ill-advised statements and comments, which have gone unchallenged or questioned.”
How ironic that Nestor’s last sentence perfectly describes the leader of her party, but she is too loyal a supporter to admit that.
Lurlene Nestor is well aware that documented statistics may not exist in Guyana for crimes committed by ethnicity; but “empirical evidence” can easily be obtained if she takes off the blinders she’s wearing. In an era when everything a politician says must be ‘politically correct’, Khemraj Ramjattan should not take the bait by responding to this ridiculous charge, for whatever he says, Nestor or Corbin or one of the PNCR candidates will find a way to spin it to their advantage.
I truly believe that this statement by the AFC candidate may have been an attempt to reduce tension among the races, something that is unfortunately all too common leading up to General Election. Because he was addressing an audience of mostly Guyanese of Indian descent, Ramjattan did the right thing as a leader, to encourage a peaceful process during the election and beyond. Black leaders should do the same when addressing Guyanese of African descent as a way to promote racial unity. If our leaders fail to assure Guyanese that they have nothing to fear of each other’s ethnicity, racism will always prevail.
Lurlene Nestor can continue to live in denial, but as the second President of the United States, John Adams famously said, “Facts are stubborn things.”
If we are to seriously address the problem of race relations in Guyana, politicians must take a leadership role as Khemraj Ramjattan appears to be doing, and others must avoid taking cheap shots in order to win votes.
Harry Gill

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