Speaking candidly and civilly is a first step towards ethnic healing and harmony in our beloved Guyana

Mar 05, 2013 Letters

Dear Editor,
I wish to thank Mr. Barrington Braithwaite for his letter, “Ignorance, or distortion by intent?” which has had prominence in the KN letter column for quite a few days. Though obviously hurt by my comments, Mr. Braithwaite did not manifest any of the venom, acrimony, acidity and belligerence that is typical of certain letter writers; I feel a compulsion to respond to his bona fide and passionate letter.
The letter writer is obviously offended and hurt by my comment in my KN letter of Feb. 11, 2013, “Freddie’s sensationalist column was typically partial and unbalanced.” The offensive comments in question were, “While some are asleep from their late-night dance, they get up early in the morning and start to wuk haad to feed themselves and families”.
It is essential and imperative to take those comments (and the whole letter, in fact) in the context of discussion. The letter was in response to Mr. Freddie Kissoon’s Feb. 2nd column, “In physics and dialectics, there is the concept of balance”.
In that column, Mr. Kissoon was grousing and nagging about the disproportionate (Indian) ownership of land, finance, business, etc. I was simply underscoring that many Indians in Guyana (like many Indians elsewhere) worked very hard to acquire what they did. The ownership and possessions of the Indians have not been a result of a gifting, largesse or benefaction from a government or political party. And when you consider that Indians comprise 43% of the population (compared to 33% for Africans), one can apprehend the ethnic equation imbalance better. (The interesting development in this furor is that none of the detractors has commented on the ethnic composition factor in my letters)
Suffice it to say that that sentence was never meant to offend, cause consternation or cast aspersion on any ethnic group. There is a wide range of nuances in that sentence, and one can make mincemeat out of it, or appreciate it for what it is meant to be. However, it is indispensable to read that sentence (and letter) in its frame of reference; only then one can more appreciate its ambience.
Mr. Braithwaite implored me to read M. Maxwell’s KN Feb. 5th letter, “The struggle for dominance will destroy this nation”. Please note that KN did print my response to M. Maxwell’s letter on Feb. 8, 2013; it was titled, “Beware the racial brush”. Unfortunately, the letter has not been listed in the online KN Letters column for some reason. However, the Guyana Chronicle printed that letter on Feb. 11, titled, “We need to listen to each other”.
I am grateful to Mr. Braithwaite for his comment on the “Indian Patriation Fund” as it relates to the building of the National Cultural Centre. This is a topic that I know little of, and the lowdown has come only thru hearsay.
I was told that the British had established a Fund as part of the arrangement for their emigration from and to India. This (no doubt accumulated) fund was apparently placed in a British bank for many years, and Burnham hoodwinked his “supporters” (African and Indian) to use that Fund to build The National Cultural Centre.
My blood boils if the above assumptions are true! It was June 2003, when I arranged for a Christian music group, Aradhna, to sing bhajans and other Hindi songs at the National Cultural Centre. What I experienced as I was making administrative and practical preparations for the concert was hideous and revolting.
One of the staff, all of which were African, was pelting away racist comments right in front of the acting manager and me – on foundation built by the blood, sweat and tears of our forefathers and foremothers!
Yes, Mr. Braithwaite, you and I could be victims of “Ignorance, or distortion by intent”. We therefore need to sit at a table, and I would like to hear about your disquiet and deportment about Indian domination and racism. I also would like to air my concerns about one-sidedness and discrimination in Guyana – past and present.
Instead of brushing the (racial) problem under the carpet, speaking candidly, civilly and conciliatingly is a first step towards ethnic healing and harmony in our beloved Guyana.
Devanand Bhagwan

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