Lowe’s convictions are precipitate

Nov 09, 2012 Letters

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Dear Editor,
I agree with Mr. Lionel Lowe’s “Excusing illegality in one sphere while condemning it in another is folly” (KN Nov 6).  But that is exactly the sin Lowe has committed.  Worse, Lowe convicts EZJet and Mr. Sonny Ramdeo (without a trial) all the while condoning and excusing flagrant election rigging which the world has condemned.
Allegations of illegal acts were leveled at Ramdeo.  But as best as I am informed, he was not convicted and by treating him like a convict is enough evidence of inherent folly in Lowe’s thinking. Also, by referring to my condemnations of election riggings and using it to judge me or to justify rigging is another of Lowe’s folly.  So instead of accusing me of engaging in folly, it is Lowe who has been exposed with his many folly acts and writings.
It is imperative that writings (letters in particular) be fair, balanced and objective and substantiated with facts. Neither of Mr. Lowe’s two letters have met those criteria. For the record, in my response to his letter, I never attacked Lowe who I do not know and never met. Until he brought it my attention, I didn’t even remember that I responded to Lowe in his defense of PNC election rigging.
Thus, it is Mr. Lowe who is “eminently qualified to be greeted with opprobrium and suspicion” because of his views on Sonny Ramdeo and the PPP Government and in using personality attacks to defend his position.
Instead of focusing on the contents of my response (Nov 1) to his missive (Oct 30) in which he cheers the financial and scheduling problems of EZ Jet, Lowe attacks me, painting me as a person Lowe described me as engaging in “self serving” acts. Contrary to what Lowe feels, I don’t take self serving positions and I don’t serve a master except God and the public (I spend a lot of my time engaging in voluntary service, not serving myself including hundreds of hours during Hurricane Sandy helping evacuees at a shelter and hundreds of hours in political campaigns including for Obama).
Lowe writes that Bisram seems obliged to respond to his letters. I don’t respond to people but contents.  The purpose behind my writings are to inform, elucidate, educate, correct misinformation, and provide knowledge, etc. It is never to attack people or provide responses based on personality.
Unfortunately, Lowe fails to see the unfairness of his missive attacking Ramdeo and EZ Jet. Not surprisingly, he now engages in vitriolic personality attacks against me and the PPP government to defend his contentions.
Also, Lowe raises unrelated issues (of PNC election riggings and PPP rule) as a defence of his condemnation of Ramdeo who is not convicted in any court – not even in the court of public opinion. In fact, the traveling public loves the man for initiating a charter service to Guyana and Trinidad that has led to lowered fares.
Unlike Lowe who has been an enabler of the PNC and who has taken self serving positions, I am not an enabler of the PPP.  I take positions contrary to the PPP’s and I critiqued the party and its leaders numerous times.  I disagree with Lowe and his PNC friends and government critics that the PPP is a dictatorship.
The mere description of the PPP as a dictatorship leads one to conclude that Lowe is a biased commentator and this may be one factor that motivated Lowe to go after EZjet. No academic worth his salt would characterize the PPP as dictatorial. It is an abuse of the usage of the word.
The PPP is the first and only democratic government we have had in Guyana since the 1950s and that was (has been) elected by the people in free and fair elections.  Since 1992, the PPP has not violated basic norms of democratic rule – the country still has free and fair elections as well as individual, religious and press freedoms, and goods have not been banned – the basic hallmarks of democracy.
I disagree with various aspects of PPP governance but these and blunders it made don’t rise to the status of a dictatorship.
I do not know Ramdeo and his finances and as such I am “no enabler of his alleged fraudulent acts”.  If Ramdeo or EZ Jet has engaged in wrongdoing, they should be punished. But neither one has been convicted in public opinion much less the court. It is therefore wrong to demonize them as Lowe has been doing.
When one writes that “Guyanese are not interested in EZ Jet Funding …” it does not mean all Guyanese have that position.  There are expected to be those with opposing or neutral views.  The overwhelming number back EZ Jet and there is no way they could have known about impending allegations of embezzled funds used to finance the carrier.
In no way am I condoning the usage of questionable funding of any business if indeed the allegations are proven.  I spoke with several travel agents over the last two weeks on the recent allegations embroiling Ramdeo and EZ Jet EZ and they all said passengers showed confidence in the carrier by purchasing tickets.
In sum, I don’t condone any form of wrongdoing – not rigging, not embezzlement, not attacking people – and I most certainly have not glorified any wrongdoing of Ramdeo as alleged by his former employer. But Lowe is glorifying the problems facing the airline and the man.
I do support reasonable critiques and suggestions for improvements of the airline. Instead of attacking Ramdeo, EZ Jet and Bisram, Lowe could have offered suggestions on how to improve the airline service. Cheering the carrier’s problem and praying for its demise are wrong. I wait for the court before I pass judgment on the man.
Like Gandhi and King, I wait for the court’s judgment and the goodness of Ramdeo and EZ Jet.  And so far, both have been good to the Guyanese nation.
Vishnu Bisram

 

 

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