Kissoon should face the music and dance with it instead of escaping

Jan 31, 2014 Letters

Dear Editor,
Freddie Kissoon’s KN letter “You get nothing of literary or intellectual value in exchanges with these people” (26-01-14) is an infantile excuse to escape from addressing issues by his detractors. Giving readers reasons for not replying to letter writers’ concerns because “They are dishonest or extremely racist, simply want to say something nasty about me, or downright close-minded so nothing will be learned from them” will not cut it. The columnist is a coward in not wanting to confront the issues.
Mr. Kissoon has called me names such as “Indian supremacist”, propagandizer (“for an Indian dominated government in Guyana”), and “clown”. I categorically deny the first two. However, I must admit that Freddie does get it right sometimes; my wife and son often tell me that I am like a first class clown!
My last letter about Mr. Kissoon “One can only take Freddie Kissoon’s daily rhapsody with a grain of salt” (14-01-14) spoke of the lies and deceit in the columnist’s daily rants. So I find it very ironic that Mr. Kissoon again lied in his Jan. 26 letter – to state that I misquoted him. Every quotation attributed to the columnist was copied letter for letter – character for character, from the missive in question. You’d think that the former U.G. lecturer would cite at least one reference where I misquoted him.
It is rather ludicrous and entertaining to read Mr. Kissoon’s “graphic evidence” to prove that I am a clown, by quoting from my letter (which differs significantly from the columnist’s version!). So… has this (Kissoon’s) hyperbole proved anything?
The question begs, who is right? Is it Devanand Bhagwan’s quest to be a racist, dishonest or say nasty things about Frederick Kissoon, or is the columnist the one who is dishonest and lying? Was Mr. Kissoon’s referenced quotation “What I saw made me embarrassed to be a human being.” (KN, 12-01-14) referring to the mental health centre, or to the country of Guyana?
The answer to the above questions is found in Dr. Leblanc’s blog on Oct. 28, 2013, titled “My saddest day”. Allow me to quote the entire blog for that day so that readers could appreciate the truth of the matter: “Today we got up early to go down to the nursing school on the hospital compound we live and work on, to meet up with our 17 students for a “field trip”. The destination was the town of New Amsterdam to visit Guyana’s only psychiatric hospital for the day (known by the locals as “the Berbice Mad House”). I thought I was prepared for it, by a great deal of experience in working at Fairview Hospital in Salem, Oregon and Fernald State Hospital in Massachusetts (the oldest hospital for mental retardation mental illness in the country) in my early years, and visiting sundry others over the years. Well, sit down for this — “I was WRONG, dead wrong!!!
What we saw there defies description, and so I have few words coming to me right now. But I will say that what I did see made me embarrassed to be a part of the human race. That we can warehouse people in such a fashion, and hide them away so that no one knows who they are, where they are, how they are doing, is a travesty. And to bring a smile to their face or show comfort and compassion for a few moments, does little to soothe my sadness — which is just as well, because if it were that easy, it would feel cheap.
There is saying out there somewhere about “Tears are good for your soul”. If that be true, my soul is getting much attention, because I can’t contain all the tears right now. So I must stop, and try to find words at a future time.”
Fortunately, the blog is still available on the internet for all to see at http://revjoc.blogspot.ca/2013_11_01_archive.html. Again, readers could read the entire blog and decide how truthful is the columnist in question. Can we truly take his rants seriously?
Mr. Kissoon has been exposed again, and caught in a corner, with no place to hide. Instead of insulting the intelligence of readers by making comical excuses for not replying to his detractors’ letters, he should face the music (which he dishes out day in and day out), and dance with it.
Devanand Bhagwan

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