PNC/R deems Jagdeo’s statement at Babu John ‘A national disgrace’

Mar 12, 2011 News

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Leader of the People’s National Congress Reform Robert Corbin has regarded President’s Bharrat Jagdeo’s recent statement at Babu John as racist, inflammatory, untruthful and a national disgrace.
The PNC/R leader made the statement at his party’s weekly cabinet briefing yesterday. Corbin noted that while Guyanese have become accustomed to the disgraceful utterances of the President on public occasions, his at Babu John on Sunday last has serious implications.
It was noted that the statements have implication for peace, race relations and national security, particularly in an Election Year. “In addition to lying about events which occurred during the General Elections of 1973 in Berbice, he made an unwarranted and provocative attack on the Presidential Candidate of the PNCR, Brigadier (ret.), David Granger, who gave dedicated and distinguished service to the nation and people of Guyana: a distinction that President Jagdeo will never achieve”.
The opposition leader noted that the president in his address to his supporters on the commemoration of Cheddi Jagan’s death anniversary, demonstrated his obvious fear that the PPP will lose the next elections.
Making reference to the president’s speech Corbin quoted, “Someone like Granger will succeed or could succeed  and they are counting on him succeeding because young people in this country don’t have a memory of the 70s and the 80s,”
The PNC/R leader added that, to hopefully, avoid a loss, the president sought to resort to the old PPP tactics of creating racial insecurity in the hope of keeping Guyana polarised during the period of elections. “President Jagdeo then told his audience of a few hundred that had been transported at state expense to the site, using state vehicles and Guysuco trucks,”.

Again making reference to the president’s speech Corbin quoted “… to educate younger persons about the hard political and economic times when the PNCR was in power and guard against those returning under the guise of democrats.”
To this the opposition leader stated that the president may have been fed a diet of distortions by PPP supporters at Mahaica about the facts surrounding the death of two persons in July 1973, since he was a little boy of nine years in short pants at that time.
“He is, however, not only an adult now, but the President of Guyana and cannot claim to be misinformed…It is, therefore, obvious that he wishes those distorted accounts of our history to be spread by PPP faithfuls to “younger generations” in the hope that racial animosity would prevail to guarantee the PPP the votes of the East Indian community of Guyana”.
“His specific use of words, such as “… blood on his hands because the people in Berbice; just here- the people who were killed … in full knowledge of people like Granger and the others who controlled the political directions of the country at that time,” was deliberately contrived to create public mischief,” the opposition leader lamented.
According to Corbin at the time of the incident Mr. Granger was not an Army Officer assigned to any responsibility in Berbice in 1973 as he was then stationed at Atkinson Field, now Timehri Airport. He went on to  state that, Mr. Granger was not at that time in the management and control of the Guyana Defence Force and he was not a member of the Directorate of the PNCR or the Government.
“President Jagdeo, therefore, deliberately lied to his supporters when he tried to link Mr. Granger to events in Berbice in 1973, more significantly, Jagdeo also lied to his supporters about the events in Berbice when he failed to tell them that the incident at No 64 Village on the 16th July 1973 was directly organised by the PPP as part of their plan to create disturbances after the 1973 Elections”.
Corbin further stated that the Report of the Commission of Inquiry, appointed on the 15th September 1973 to inquire into the incidents and conducted by the Honourable Mr. Justice Dhanessar Jhappan, a Judge of the High Court, was very specific on this matter.
According to Page 19, of the said report which was seen by this publication “The events at No. 64, on the 16th July 1973, that led up to the shot Lieutenant Henry fired at the crowd, have some direct bearing to the speeches made at political meetings held by the People’s Progressive Party in the Corentyne, in June 1973 when Dr. Jagan in particular told his supporters what they were to do after the close of the polls on polling day … The behaviour of the crowd that assembled at the beach road and in the school compound, followed the same pattern advocated by Dr. Jagan, I have already dealt with this.

Further in the Judge’s findings at Page 21 the Honourable Justice Dhanessar Jhappan stated,
“Taking all these circumstances into consideration especially the   important task of escorting the ballot boxes with so few men under his command, I find that Lieutenant Henry acted with consideration and thought under those very difficult situations, and when he fired at the crowd it was both necessary and reasonable, and that he was justified in so doing”.
“The PPP has attempted over the years to distort the events of 1973 as they have done in distorting their role in the stimulation of racial strife in 1964 prior to the Elections, as part of their Campaign entitled, “NO PRI OR DEATH”.
Corbin noted too that the PPP continually emphasises the death of two persons at No 64 Village, Jagan Ramessar and Bholanauth Parmanand, while suppressing the fact that another person, Vernon Campbell who was working with the security forces, was also killed.
“They have also always painted this incident in a racial context by deliberately withholding information that both the security personnel and the Election officials were of various ethnic groups. For example, the report at page seven identifies that Sergeant Ross and Police Constable Seecharran were members of Lt. Henry’s party at No 64 Village”.
In addition the opposition leader stated that the statements made by the head of state must be condemned by all.
“Such a matter would have been appropriate for the attention of a duly constituted and constitutional Ethnic Relations Commission (ERC) under the Law, but regrettably that too is a toothless poodle under the control of President Jagdeo. President Bharrat Jagdeo is a disgrace and an embarrassment to Guyana…his days are, indeed, numbered”.
Meanwhile the Presidential candidate in his own defense said that Guyanese must be reminded of the fact that this is an election year. “The Government’s intention is to divert attention from the real issues. They need to focus on their record over the last 18 years”.
Granger said he expects talks about the 1977 election rigging to continue but they will not succeed.  According to Granger the Government’s attention should be on the piracy issues in the Corentyne, the failing sugar industry and other important issues as oppose to incidence that occurred more than 18 years ago.

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