Kissoon’s obsession with the state information machinery

Mar 06, 2011 Letters

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Dear Editor,
I refer to Mr. Freddie Kissoon’s column, “The failure of the propaganda machine of elected dictatorship in Guyana” in Kaieteur News of March 4, 2011.
It is clear that my recent pieces focusing on Guyana is free and democratic have begun to seep into the inner recesses of Kissoon’s weak propaganda. The pieces are as follows: “The Truth is Guyana is democratic and free”, “Guyana is Free!”, and “Democracy in Guyana: the PNC’s Callous Legacy”.
I want to joyfully reiterate Guyana is democratic and free, and I will persist in this remark until some people cognitively assimilate this truth. The international Freedom House consistently has documented Guyana as free since 1993. The Democracy Index of the Economist places Guyana as democratic among a number of countries as, Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica, Greece, Italy, France, Israel, Slovakia, Brazil, Hungary, Panama, Mexico, Argentina, Suriname, Indonesia, El Salvador, Paraguay, Peru, Dominican Republic, Ukraine, Malaysia, Philippines, among others.
I must say that I am amazed and flattered that Kissoon would expend an entire column on me. Kissoon should stick to the facts of the matter, and not degenerate to personal attacks, as personal attacks are usually a sign that the writer is intellectually bankrupt. I am quite happy writing for the Guyana Chronicle. In fact, I have my support base and receive feedbacks regularly.
I have no reservations to persist in emphasising the fact that there is democracy in Guyana; and am happy that proclaiming the truth about Guyana’s evolving democracy unnerves Kissoon because this point about the growing democracy in Guyana seems to have ‘teeth’ in the new opposition camp. And consistently proclaiming this truth about Guyana’s evolving democracy requires a reengagement of the PNC’s callous legacy of political repression. The truth does not equal propaganda.
Kissoon goes on ad nauseum about Guyana being an elected dictatorship, but the mere fact that he can spew his weak propaganda daily, attests to this truth that Guyana is indeed free and democratic. What makes Kissoon’s propaganda juvenile is the fact that there is growing democracy in Guyana; this, and his infantile journalism, is what forfeited his credibility many moons ago.
The fact that for 28 years the PPP was in opposition, while the PNC fraudulently remained in power through rigged elections and societal-wide political repression, strongly substantiates the fact that the PNC commandeered a dictatorship. During the PNC’s ruling years, the National Security Act suspended the right to Habeas Corpus; and enabled the PNC regime to restrict and detain Guyanese without trial for an indefinite period. Part II of the National Security Act was reenacted in 1977 to indefinitely detain Guyanese without bail and trial. After the rigged elections of 1976, this Act was amended, further arming that repressive government with the right to make regulations in any warlike or emergency situation, and censoring and repressing publications, photographs, and communication modes and aspects.
It is critical that all Guyanese acknowledge and assimilate the implications of the sacrosanct fundamental human rights that this government protects: press freedom, freedom of speech, freedom of movement, among others; some
fundamental freedoms that people take for granted.
Kissoon should be overjoyed about the fragility of the state’s information machine; instead, his obsession with that machinery further implies that the state propaganda has ‘teeth’. And Kissoon’s attempt to create frenzy within the PPP membership malfunctions and will never work, because he fails to understand the profundity of the camaraderie that exists within the PPP.
Kissoon is being disingenuous in stating that newspapers were not banned; he claims to know the history, but his content suggests otherwise.
The PNC dictatorship denied the Opposition papers access to newsprint, ink, etc. Kissoon should relish in the sacrosanct fundamental freedoms of press, speech, and movement that are constitutionally protected by this Government, which enable Kissoon to enjoy the fruits of the PPP/C Administration’s democracy and these associated freedoms.
I will say it again that the PPP/C brought democracy to Guyana, and the PNC commandeered a dictatorship.
This is the truth, and will prevail even with distortions that abound among some journalists, or should I say columnists, of Kissoon’s ilk; and nothing that Kissoon spews will eliminate this truth.
In fact, in his quest to show that the PNC was not a dictatorship and to conceal this truth, Kissoon employed a pack of distortions. Let me now expose these distortions.
Kissoon wants to know what modus operandi the PPP used to sustain itself for 28 years under the PNC dictatorship; the PPP held together because of the effective stewardship of Dr. Cheddi Jagan. If necessary, I can elaborate on the elements of stewardship and effective leader behaviour. Also, several party members and party supporters (Dr. Cheddi Jagan, Arnold Rampersaud, Loki Narine, Sakichand, and others) were harassed on many occasions on spurious allegations.
Kissoon wants to know how the Mirror newspaper survived the onslaught of the PNC dictatorship. Kissoon is being disingenuous in stating that the mirror newspaper was not banned; The Mirror was denied access to newsprint, ink, etc., so in a sense, it suffered the implications of a ban (there are many ways to skin a cat). Burnham issued two special trade orders in December 1971 and February 1972. The PNC Government outlawed the importation of newsprint, book binding machinery, and press equipment.
The New Guyana Company Limited (Mirror) was subsequently denied a licence to bring in a printing press from the United States, where it made a down payment of G$32,000 (about US$16,000); it later lost that down payment.
The publication of Mirror ceased over a two-month period in 1972-73 and for nearly two months in 1974. Catholic Standard also suffered a similar fate under the PNC dictatorship.
Kissoon wants to know why there was no treason charge for a Corentyne incident. He did not indicate the year in which the incident occurred; I suspect he is referring to an incident circa 1970; for this incident, the record will show that the court freed the accused because of a blatant case of no evidence; even a dictatorship has to bite the bullet in some cases when the odds are against them, as happened in this court case. There also was, indeed, the case of PPP activist Arnold Rampersaud who was framed and faced three court trials, ultimately freed on the third occasion.
And then, Kissoon wants to know how I obtained a UG position under a PNC dictatorship. Well, while in England, I applied for a Research Fellow position at IDS, UG, and was successful in my application; at IDS, I worked under Dr. Maurice Odle, and completed a published Working Paper “Aspirations of Teachers in Guyana”.
In England, I was not a member of any of Guyana’s political parties; nonetheless, I was a member of the British Labour Party.
As I previously remarked in other settings, Guyana unhappily bears the misfortune of accommodating a growing false journalism. Nevertheless, the bottom line is that today, the multiplicity of views and opinions that the unregulated mass media indiscriminately present is an undisputed testimony to the functionality of democracy in this land.
Prem Misir

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