Ravi Dev should educate Indians about racism

May 11, 2011 Letters

Dear Editor,

Kindly allow me to respond to Mr Ravi Dev’s column, “Flawed Premises,” (KN 05-08-11). For some strange reason Mr Dev has taken it upon himself to rebut the recent contributions of Mr Tacuma Ogunseye and Dr David Hinds on the issue of African marginalization by the PPP regime rather than calling upon the PPP to defend itself. Perhaps Mr Dev sees the corrupt, immoral and evil PPP cabal as being representative of Indians and he felt compelled to come to their defence.

What is further disturbing to me is that my friend, Ravi, persists in explaining Indian support of the PPP as rational because Indians fear another party would not address their ethnic security concerns. This is now Ravi’s major weakness in his argument.

The empirical evidence after 19 years of continuous PPP power and domination of all sectors of Guyanese society is that the PPP has refused to take even one little step in allaying the fears of Indians.

In fact, the PPP has kept the Indians in a state of fear of the Africans as this is the PPP’s only election tool of mobilizing and rallying Indians to vote the PPP back into power. Although I have been writing about this blatant exploitation of Indian fears for the past 10 years, the PPP leadership still resorted to the same scare tactic for the 2011 elections by painting the PNC’s candidate as “an African with blood on his hands.”

It is time Ravi uses his immense intellectual gifts to educate Indians about the true nature of the PPP. No party that so callously uses and abuses Indians can be said to be a party representing Indians.

And this is where Ravi has to deconstruct the PPP leadership. Whilst the vast majority of Indians have remained poor, the PPP elite have amassed vast fortunes and huge mansions.

What is further disturbing is that almost all the PPP nouveau riches were Indians who supported the PNC before the PPP regained power in 1992. And whilst these plunderers were supporting the PNC, and the PPP was engaged in power sharing talks with the PNC, many Africans actively opposed the PNC regime and suffered imprisonment.

I want young Indians to know that the Burnham regime jailed Tacuma Ogunseye and David Hinds for their anti-dictatorship struggles. I can attest to the fact that David Hinds and another youth from Buxton were members of the PPP’s People’s Culture Corps and that they went around with PPP Indian youths playing the African Drums.

Ogunseye and Hinds were not struggling to replace the African PNC government with another African one. In fact they were fully aware that their efforts would result in an Indian PPP Government. Like everyone else they thought the PPP would respect democratic values and govern fairly in the interest of all Guyanese.

Most of all it was felt in those days that the PPP leaders were sincere in their calls for a National Front Government that would include all parties and ethnic groups.

Unfortunately the PPP has turned out to be worse than Burnham’s government, and it cannot even begin to compare with Hoyte’s PNC of 1985 to 1992. The PPP leaders have been embroiled in scandals. This is Jagdeo/PPP’s legacy after 19 years.

Why hasn’t the PPP, after 19 years, balanced the Army and Police, and revamped the Militia in all regions? In 1992 I personally made such proposals to Dr Cheddi Jagan. Yet the PPP did nothing. Now in 2011 the PNC is making similar proposals. I was right in 1992. And I am right in 2011. David Granger is the best Candidate for President of Guyana.

Malcolm Harripaul

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