Jagdeo’s coolie remark and something I never told my lawyers in the libel trial

Mar 11, 2015 Features / Columnists, Freddie Kissoon

Bharrat Jagdeo descended to the base, to the lowest level of nasty instincts when he chose not to use the word “East Indian” but the term, “coolie” in his vile, perverted attempts to wipe up race poison in Berbice last Sunday.
Mr. Jagdeo has never been a smart person. If he was he would not have sued for libel and run away after the trial began. Mr. Jagdeo was an intellectually very poor person and that made it impossible for him to have even a modest legacy as President. Jagdeo thinks he was being smart when he used his “coolie” remark.
He told his audience that it was the opposition that said, “…Let’s throw out those coolie people.” Really, Jagdeo is in love with himself. He thinks that he can pass on that idiocy and people will believe him? There are a billion ways you can effect a racist saying without you composing the utterance yourself.
So are we to hear tomorrow that Jagdeo will tell Guyanese that in 2012 during the budget cuts, he heard opposition politicians said, “Cut down dem coolie people budget?” Will we read next week that Jagdeo wrote that during the protest against the prorogation, he heard APNU politicians saying, “Dem coolie people must not close down the Parliament?”
Jagdeo thinks he is so smart. He creates a crescendo of racist cyanide and he can say that the words are not coming from him, but he is relating what he heard. The truth is what he heard he never heard and his “race baiting” is nothing but a faggoted bundle of lies.
I monitored every scathing criticism from the PPP during the 2011 election campaign.
I never heard the story of the early morning beating of drums to the chants of “chase dem coolie people out of office.” Not one PPP leader from the top right down to the bottom ever made reference to that incident during the election campaign of 2011. Now Bharrat Jagdeo in 2015 told his Berbician followers that he knew about that incident.
There was never such an incident. This was a pure invention of race-baiting by Jagdeo. The people of this nation of every religion, every ethnicity, every culture, and from every station in life must stop what Bharrat Jagdeo intends to do. I don’t feel this is the end of it. This man intends to invoke at every PPP meeting the poltergeist of race and this entire nation must confront him.
Jagdeo descended to the base when he used his “coolie” remark. Basic decency should have driven Mr. Jagdeo to use the word, “East Indian.” I remember when the Jagdeo libel trial had started, I could have told my lawyers about an incident I witnessed for which I have a credible witness who is a respected former public servant and military officer.
I just didn’t have the stomach to recall such an incident. Those words could not come out of my mouth even though I heard them and they would have helped my defence.
One night in 1994, my long time friend, Malcolm Harripaul, took me swimming at Castellani House. Malcolm and I have been friends since teenage days. He is a fine Guyanese citizen. At that time, Malcolm held a high position at Customs and Excise. He was an officer in the army.
While we were in the sauna, this man who later became the “Big Man” in Guyana came in. He was with a certain MBA relative and also a person who currently holds a high position in the Bank of Guyana. Once I was there, the discussion had to turn to UG. The Big Man said in front of all of us; “Ya’ll gat dem Bla…. men fu…. dem Indian girls at UG.” He did not say “coolie.” He said “Indian.”
I thought long and hard about telling Khemraj Ramjattan and Nigel Hughes about this incident during the libel trial. But I knew both men would have been uncomfortable with that piece of evidence. I know that would not have come across as elegant evidence. Deep down I felt mentally uncomfortable going on a witness stand and uttering scatology that should never be remarked in a court of law in such a sensitive libel case involving the sensitive issue of race discrimination.
There is the definite likelihood that Mr. Jagdeo will repeat the “coolie” thing. I am certain in my mind about that. I am certain that the PPP on the campaign trail can only survive using the weapon of race invocation. This country has to put a stop to this monstrosity which destroyed this country sixty years ago.

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Jagdeo’s coolie remark and something I never told my lawyers in the libel trial

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