Manickchand’s manipulanda and mannalichen

Apr 15, 2014 Features / Columnists, Freddie Kissoon

In this country, libel is quick to follow critics. Even if people don’t know the meaning of words they assume they are libelous and you get a lawsuit. I had fun with Bharrat Jagdeo when I referred to his politics as derived ultimately from his bennettitaceous style. (see my May 17, 2010 column, “Benn’s benthoscope and Guyana’s bennettitaceous dictatorship.”
I learned that a libel writ was to be filed but they could not come up with a definition of “bennettitaceous.” The little dictators are funny people. They do not know how to do elementary research. They probably checked the dictionary instead of a science encyclopedia for the word and couldn’t find it. Of course the little dictators don’t know that you can pull a word from science and contextualize it in political or journalistic writings.
I used “bennettitaceous” about three times in my columns to denote the source of Jagdeo’s excesses and I believe that style holds the key to explaining why he became so intolerant of the population.
Let me assure my editor that the two words above that are supposed to rhyme with Manickchand are not used in any libelous sense at all. I found them appropriate after her explanation as to why she would not apologize directly to Jaipaul Sharma. Manipulanda is the plural of manipulandum. Definition- something that is to be manipulated. In Manickchand’s case, the manipulandum was public opinion.
In claiming that she could not apologize to Sharma because of her sympathy with rape victims, Manickchand was hoping to bend and shape public opinion in her favour away from the fact that Mr. CN Sharma is not convicted off rape, that the case is still in the courts and it was highly injudicious to pronounce on something that is sub judice. Manickchand’s mannequin did not make the showcase.
The public believed, then and still think, that Manickchand was way out of line and an apology should have been made to Jaipaul Sharma. The Speaker provided a safety net for Manickchand by a faulty ruling, a decision he ought to apologize for. That error by the Speaker has not stopped the outrage against this lady, the latest being a devastating Stabroek News column.
Mannalichen is another example of mine where I lift a word from science and apply it to social analysis. It refers to a type of lichen that is crustaceous and scaly and blows all over the place in the African and Arabian deserts. For this purpose, it refers to those colleagues of Manickchand that roam all over Guyana doing things that should meet with the revulsion of Manickchand.
Was it not under Manickchand’s watch at the Ministry of Social Services that Kwame McCoy was appointed to the Rights of the Child Commission? Is there any published document or unpublished document available to researchers to ascertain how Manickchand felt about this appointment? Is it too late for her to comment on McKoy’s membership? Was Manickchand not a Minister when one of the most shocking episodes in politics anywhere in the world occurred when Varshnie Singh went public with horrible accusations against a sitting President?
It is the most inflexible stance of this columnist that the Varshnie Singh/Bharrat Jagdeo scandal has no parallel in modern world politics.
Those accusations would have caused the downfall of any President or Prime Minister in all, I say, all the democratic states in the world. To date, Mr. Jagdeo has not answered even one of the claims made by Ms. Singh. Looked at from any angle, it was abuse, mistreatment and psychological mauling of a woman by a President who used his office to achieve his plan.
None of the women in the PPP Government, who constantly see public opinion as their manipulanda, have come out in support of Varsnie Singh,
I will give Manickchand the benefit of the doubt that she is not aware of the PPP’s mannalichen but the information is out there. She can get it if she wants. But if she does, will she mention the names as she did with Sharma? The list includes the beating of a wife in a night club in my hometown of Wortmanville, by the lecherous bandit/pandit whose life would make an interesting Lifetime movie.
Which brings me to a question; as a practising Hindu, did Manchickchand ever host a ceremony over which this Pandit presided? After a ceremony at a renal clinic up the East Coast, all the young female journalists declined the offer of a ride to Georgetown from a PPPite.
Interestingly the Stabroek says Ms. Manickchand and Jagdeo belong to the same school. Wow!

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