An inaccurate and politically dangerous narrative of a sensitive issue

Aug 04, 2015 Letters

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DEAR EDITOR,
Mr. Ralph Ramkarran in his column published in Stabroek News’ Sunday Edition of July 26, 2015, under the caption, “Sean Hinds,” gave his narrative of what gave rise to the death squads. His account is not accurate and it is politically dangerous, given the sensitive nature of this issue.
I am disappointed that the learned attorney, political leader and opinion maker has pretended to be unaware of the damming revelations that surfaced locally of governmental sponsorship and control of state-sponsored killers and killings that surfaced locally. These allegations about the involvement of a high level government minister in the activities of the killers of the state were initially made by George Bacchus.
It is widely accepted that it was as a result of him making these allegations that Bacchus was eventually executed on the orders of high officials of the ruling PPPC which controlled the government at that time. Subsequently, in the US courts, in the trials of Roger Khan and his attorney Mr. Simels, more damning evidence came to light about the extent of the involvement of other high officials of the PPPC government in the operations of Roger Khan’s death squad, which operated in Guyana with impunity.
It is an indication of the state of comrade Ramkarran’s mind that he has conveniently ignored these matters and has chosen to stick with the discredited script of the PPPC and some Indian Rights Activists whose only concern was and still is, to portray every Indian person who was killed during the so-called “crime spree” of 2002 to 2006, as victims of African criminal elements operating under the political control of the African political leadership.
I and other letter writers have previously debunked this irresponsible interpretation of this tragic period in our recent history. I wrote many letters on these killings and called for an objective and forensic examination of this sensitive matter. It seems that even the noble among us, even in light of new information, continue to have great difficulty dealing evenhandedly with this period of our history. Until the nation is able to summon the necessary maturity, to deal with our political and social reality with a degree of honesty, we will continue to find political and racial reconciliation a difficult goal.
Mr. Ramkarran’s narrative is unhelpful, since he made no reference to the role the PPPC leadership, some businessmen and the narcotics trade played in the evolution of the  crisis. His script is also devoid of any mention of the role of state-sponsored death squads.
Let me remind the nation of what many among us will like to erase from our historical memory: (1) The PPPC came to power in 1992 in a political situation in which PNC urban African supporters took to the streets in a last-minute attempt to stave off the PPPC coming to power. In response, the PPPC, after it came to office, took a decision to neutralize the PNC’s political influence among the urban lumpen. That decision led to the setting-up of a special committee/think tank to work out and implement the necessary measures.
This committee over time evolved into what in some circles became known as the “dirty tricks committee”, which began to recruit African criminal elements and encouraged them to engage in crime with the assurance of state protection. The “Blackie “episode and his revelations of his connections with elements in the ruling party, stand out as a grim reminder. To protect themselves, the rulers ordered their killers in the police death squad to murder him even after he surrendered to the GDF officers.
(2) The PPPC inherited a police force steeped in rogue behavior, but instead of using its newly acquired political power to curtail this negative behaviour they instead chose to encourage and embrace it. The spectre of young African men killed extra-judicially were daily occurrences in the newspapers, the cry for justice fell on deaf ears, picketing, marches, petitions to regional and international organizations – Caricom, OAS and the UN – brought no redress.
Meetings with President Jagan and other PPPC Presidents had no positive effect on the police killings – the PPPC leadership encouraged and exploited the situation. African policemen killing African young men for an Indian-led government politically destabilized the African collective. This worked for awhile but it eventually backfired;
(3) Beating and shooting by the police of public servants and nurses involved in legitimate industrial action, helped to radicalize African politics. African women demanded justice and they questioned the manhood of our men who seemed impotent to respond to this state aggression
(4) Businessmen who recruited African lumpen elements in their economic crimes, paid members of the police force to kill their African allies whenever they felt they were cheated of their share of the spoils;
(5) The unprecedented rise in the narcotic trade brought its own cycle of violence and murder;(
6) As it relates to Buxton, the execution of Shaka Blair in his home and the failure of the PPPC government to bring to justice his killers was a turning point in the political history of that village;
(7) The Mash Day 2002 jailbreak was not the brainchild of the African political leadership – formal or informal, the evidence will show that elements close to the ruling party were the intellectual authors, but elements in the African community invoked the “Blackie” experience and convinced the five escapees to go to Buxton – the rest is history;
(8) Faced with a crisis situation of its own making, the rulers then entered a criminal alliance with drug lords, to join the state in its so-called, “war on crime”. Hundreds of young African men became victims of these state-sponsored criminals, the Roger Khans of this world were untouchable and were seen in the Indian community as a hero, to quote Mr. Ramkarran,..” had the tacit support of Indians….” . To compound matters, the rulers developed their own gang and planted it in Buxton as part of the regime’s so-called counter-insurgency tactics, this worsened an already bad situation.
Mr. Ramkarran mentioned the failure of the security forces to deal with the situation and suggested collaboration, it seems not to strike him that the security forces had knowledge of the government and ruling party’s role in the crisis and felt constrained to act in the circumstances.
I had previously made the point that the Indian community called on their leaders who controlled the state for justice. They got justice, both formally and informally. All those accused by the state are either dead or in jail awaiting trial. On the other hand, the PPPC regime did not bring to justice one person, police or phantom, to answer for any of the hundreds of extra-judicial executions. And it is worth noting that they left office without laying before the nation and the world an iota of credible evidence against the African political leadership.
I rest my case.
Tacuma Ogunseye

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