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Goodbye Maniram! Sorry for what happened!

Feb 21, 2011 Features / Columnists, Freddie Kissoon

If God should speak to me, and ask me what I desire most at the moment, though it would be either a reconditioned or second hand car, I would put country before self and say, I want to see the removal of the entire PPP presence from my country. Those who read this page understand fully that my interpretation of the exercise of power is based on my conclusion that the Guyanese people are enduring evil. And I mean evil. There are evil forces at work in the corridors of power that are going to destroy this tragic nation sooner than later
If you are familiar with just a tiny bit of my evolution as a human rights activist, then you know I fought both the Burnham and the Hoyte presidencies and suffered terribly under the former. But not in my wildest imagination could I (and millions like me in and out of Guyana) have envisaged back then what we would have had to stomach in this land since the PPP came to power in 1992, but more importantly under Mr. Jagdeo.
I could rattle off my head hundreds of venal, perverted policies of the present fascist cabal that Mr. Burnham would never have contemplated much less implemented. There is no way Mr. Burnham would have treated his wife in a dehumanizing manner. He wasn’t made of that unbecoming stuff. Prime Ministers and Presidents of countries no matter how small, have a philosophical obligation to instill on the nation’s fabric some semblance of civilized conduct. Today, this territory can easily be defined as the worst English-speaking country in the West Indies in terms of how it is being administered
Let me be the first to say if we are going to employ foreign based teachers they are going to come from places like Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Cuba and Somalia, not the CARICOM region. Caribbean people look down upon Guyana. They think our leaders are uncouth, unschooled in urbane culture and Guyana is a run-down grocery shop. The only CARICOM state that was mistreated by BWIA and now Caribbean Airlines is Guyana. Grenada was demolished by a hurricane yet the high school students there snubbed us when we invited them to come here and complete their studies for CAPE exams. Go to any Caribbean island and see how people will laugh when you tell them to come and work here. I haven’t met a Caribbean national working at the CARICOM Secretariat that had a nice word to say about our politics
What has all of this got to do with the caption above? On Friday, the political harassment of Mr. Maniram (one name only) came to an end. It marked yet another episode of the destruction of Guyana, but it also marked yet another level of decline in the quality of this tragic land. Quietly, this unassuming man who owns a canter-truck that brings him his only source income was made a victim of the only social structure this country has known since colonial times –dictatorship. He was charged with assisting me and Mark Benschop in escorting protesting school children in June last year. The police, on the instruction of the monsters that have hijacked Guyana’s democracy, seized his truck even though he was on bail. Only a successful court order returned his vehicle to him
Maniram and his family are among the world’s most reticent and frightened persons. Since June, Mark Benschop and I have attended court more than ten times and Maniram spoke not even ten words to us. To date, Maniram cannot come to grips with what has happened to him. I doubt he ever will. On Friday, his hell came to an end. He was freed on two charges (both trumped up) fined $10, 000 for breach of insurance in transporting the protesting school children.
I don’t know if I will ever see Maniram and family again. As I said goodbye on the court steps, I looked back at them one more time, and said; “Remember I told you that I’m expecting you to vote against the PPP in the election.” It was the first time I saw him smile as he nodded his head. The monsters have scared Manniram but they have another thing coming if they think they can shut up me and Mark Benschop. In closing on behalf of Mark Benschop, I would like to thank lead counsel Mortimer Coddette. Also Robert Corbin who moved to the High Court for the return of the truck and attorneys Jerome Khan and Michael Sommersall who on occasions were helpful. Goodbye Maniram! Take care!

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