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Rohee unaware of former First Lady’s claim of abuse
– ”Me and my wife have an excellent relationship”- Rohee
General Secretary of the People’s Progressive Party Clement Rohee says he is unaware of any claim by former First Lady, Varshnie Singh, about suffering “hi-tech” abuse by the hands of former President Bharrat Jagdeo.
Clement Rohee
Rohee was yesterday asked to weigh in on Government’s staunch defence of Education Minister Priya Manickchand’s ‘feral blast’ against former US Ambassador to Guyana, Brendt Hardt, versus the party’s deafening silence when the former First Lady made public claims against Jagdeo back in 2009.
The Alliance for Change (AFC) had called out the Administration on what they described as sheer “hypocrisy” in defending Manickchand’s behavior, when she was delivering a speech last week at the US Ambassador Brent Hardt’s home.
The AFC had likened Manickchand’s behavior to that of “Sitira Gal” which Presidential Advisor Gail Teixeira called “sexist and racial”.
Minister Rohee told Kaieteur News yesterday that he does not know about Varshnie Singh making claims of abuse. Rohee then inquired from the reporter whether Singh had made the claim “recently”. The reporter pointed out to the Minister that Singh had made the claims several years ago.
Rohee then went on to say that it was a private matter between husband and wife.
When the reporter pointed out that the claims were against someone who isn’t considered private since Jagdeo was President of the country at the time the allegations were made against him, Rohee in an offhanded manner noted that “he (Rohee) and his wife have an excellent relationship.”
Teixeira had said on national television that the opposition has a history of being “racial and sexist” towards women of East Indian decent. She alluded to AFC’s characterization of Manickchand as “Sitira Gal” as part of a “racist and sexist” pattern. “It’s really saying basically …that Indian women in this country must know their place. They mustn’t come out of their confines and suddenly be out there speaking.”
The senior public servant said the women’s movement has not been defending Indian women like Acting Town Clerk, Carol Sooba, Finance Minister’s wife, Gitanjali Singh and former Supreme Court Registrar, Sita Ramlall.
Via a press statement released yesterday, the AFC said that it has noted the “lame” attempt by the Presidential Advisor on Governance to turn criticism of Manickchand’s “uncouth behaviour” at the residence of the US Ambassador by labeling such criticism, “racist and sexist”.
The party said that Teixeira’s attempt to do so is an insult to women of all ethnicities.
The statement added that “coming from the PPP Government, it is just a spin and distraction from their exploitation of racism to procure back the support they are rapidly losing in all their strongholds.”
The AFC said that the ferocity with which the Minister has attempted to drag the dignity of Indian womanhood into ruckus over the defence of her “boorish behavior” discloses a depravity of mind too frequently displayed by the Government when purporting to speak on behalf of the country.
The AFC stated that no woman; regardless of ethnicity, who aids and abets improprieties and illegalities must feel she is immune to criticism.
The opposition party, in a seemingly sincere attempt to guide the government officials along the right path, advised that “if Manickchand and Teixeira want to be taken seriously representing East Indian women or any woman, they should start by addressing the most dastardly abuse of our East Indian sister, Varshnie Singh who was deceived into thinking she was married to Jagdeo (former President.) “While they are at it, they ought to publicly clarify their role in that cruel hoax and comment on the mental and emotional abuse Varshnie Singh suffered at the hands of the man who, in her mind, was her husband but who threw her out after he had abused and misused her to his satisfaction.”
The Party said that it will refrain from further comment on this matter.
When information was made public about the extent to which the then Head of State, Bharrat Jagdeo had reportedly ill-treated his wife, Kaieteur News had sought comments on the issue from both Manickchand and Teixeira, both of whom refused to give any. At the time, Manickchand was the Minister of Human Services and Social Security, a portfolio that demanded her protection of all victims of abuse, particularly women.
Manickchand, on July 2, launched into an attack on US Ambassador, Dr. D. Brent Hardt. And for her efforts she was soundly booed by the invitees.
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