When decency prevails

Apr 09, 2013 Editorial

Death will come to everyone at some time although no one will accept this fact. Such a statement is as profound as death itself but remains as nebulous as a dream. The fact that no one expects it causes people to be shocked when there are reports of a death.
And so it was that people were stunned when the news came that Rev Dale Bisnauth had died. Dr Bisnauth earned his doctorate in Jamaica way back in 1977 from the United Theological College in Jamaica. Back then he was a young man who played cricket for the Guyana students who were pursuing studies in Jamaica.
To see him bat, bowl and field was to see a man far from death. That phenomenon was not even contemplated, not even when he took the oath of office of Minister of Education back in 1992. He understood what was needed in the education system and using the resources at his disposal sought to fashion something that would ensure that young Guyanese continued to enjoy the right to make a meaningful contribution to national life.
The shock of his death had barely passed when news came that Pandit Reepu Daman Persaud had also died.
It is not that Dr Bisnauth and Pandit Reepu Daman Persaud were the only people to die. Many others would have died at the same time. Three miners died, one by his own hand after killing his workmate. Then a truck heading into the interior toppled on a hinterland trail and caused the death of four people. And hours later, a teenager lost his life on the seawalls, the victim of a vicious stabbing.
While each death was something to stun the nation, the deaths of the two Ministers were on every tongue. They were prominent people; more Guyanese knew of them and knew then that any number would have known some of the others who died. That is what makes an event significant. As was noted in George Orwell’s Animal Farm some animals are more equal than others.
Yesterday, there was another death. This time the person was none other than former British Prime Minister, Margaret Thatcher. The whole world sat up and took notice because this was one woman who had indeed made her mark. For starters, to this day she remains the only woman to serve as a Prime Minister of Britain.
Her achievements go further; she was also the longest serving Prime Minister of Britain in the 20th Century. She stood up to some of the powerful men who ruled nations at the same time she did. When General Leopoldo Fortunato Galtieri Castelli decided to test the resolve of the British over the Falkland Islands, he did not bargain for the fact that Margaret Thatcher would send her warships and troops to that corner of the South Atlantic.
Galteiri paid a heavy price, one that cost him the leadership of his country, when Thatcher’s troops beat him. Both are dead and at the passing of each individual the world took notice.
Tradition dictates that one speaks no ill of the dead. Indeed the fallen might not have been loved by many but people in the civilized world try their utmost to refrain from saying anything untoward. Even enemies tone down the rhetoric. The Americans were not unnecessarily caustic about the death of Venezuela’s Hugo Chavez.
But such niceties are not always observed by some in society. There were many blistering comments when Forbes Burnham died. The boors were out in their numbers. There was no such boorish behaviour. Similarly, they were not around for the death of some of the other people who would have made enemies among the population but who were indeed national leaders.
The tributes are being paid to two men who served this country in critical areas and at crucial times. Their relatives are hurting and the nation is mourning. Guyana is now recalling the significant contributions that Dr Bisnauth and Pandit Reepu Daman Persaud would have made. And in the not too distant future, the National Assembly would be gathered to pay tribute to these two men and one of their colleagues who died a few weeks earlier.