The offensive remarks of Juan Edghill

Jun 08, 2016 Letters

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Dear Editor,

A little over a week ago on Sunday evening (May 29th) I was casually browsing the television channels looking for something interesting to relieve my boredom when, by chance, I came upon a program that was just about to begin on TVG Channel 28, titled “The Factor” hosted by Mr. Neaz Subhan. My attention was immediately drawn to the program because of the personalities being interviewed by Mr. Subhan, namely Mr. Ravi Dev, Mr. David Hinds, and Mr. Juan Edghill. It is not often that one gets to see the likes of Dev and Hinds together sharing the same space discussing the salient ethnic issues that are negatively affecting the country’s development, so I thought to myself that it was going to be worth my while to listen in, especially since they were going to discuss the interrelated vogue issues of race, ethnicity and national unity.
Predictably, the exchange of ideas and opinions amongst the discussants was invigorating and thought-provoking and had me glued to my television set. However, coming down to the tail-end of the program, what was up until then an engrossing discussion was spoilt by remarks made by Mr. Edghill. In sum, he stated that Afro-Guyanese believe that they have the God-given right to rule and this belief is being fostered by the Christian charismatic churches. I couldn’t believe my ears. I actually pinched myself to ensure I wasn’t having a surreal experience.
Editor, I encourage you to view the program to confirm what I’m reporting here is true, accurate and correct. Better yet, I implore you to make contact with any of the other persons who were on the program to validate that what I’ve stated herein is factual and not fictional. The statement made by Mr. Edghill was unambiguous, unequivocal and pellucid. There can be no misinterpretation of what he said.
I’ve patiently waited a whole week to see if the wider society would have zeroed in on Edghill’s remarks and use the formal media or social media to roundly condemn it, but having not seen any movement in this direction, I decided to pen this missive.
First off, I wish to state that as an evangelical Christian, I take extreme umbrage at Mr. Edghill’s unflattering misrepresentation, traducement and denigration of the charismatic community here in Guyana. Worst still, that he would seek to controversially infer that the church propagates and executes a racist agenda is palpably slanderous and mischievous This is a most mean-spirited and diabolical attack on the church by an apostate that I’ve ever encountered in my Christian life so far, and should not go unchallenged, since reticence on the matter can embolden him and others of his ilk to make even more scurrilous allegations against the evangelical movement. Here, I pause to advise that I have not, by any stretch of the imagination, appointed myself as the evangelical representative on this matter; I am just responding as an aggrieved member. Hopefully, my more spiritually-grounded and informed brethren in the evangelical churches will take this issue on board and give it the serious attention it deserves.
Secondly, the callous assertion made by Mr. Edghill that Black people think that they have the God-given right to rule over all the other races, though risible, is also racially inciting. Every Guyanese knows that race-relations in this country, especially between Africans and Indians, are being skillfully balanced on a knife’s edge; it’s a powder-keg waiting to explode at any time given the right conditions. In the circumstance, Mr. Edghill’s remarks are akin to throwing gasoline on a smoldering fire. I guess, right now, he is probably smugly sitting back waiting for the conflagration.
Without prompting, I take the position that Mr. Edghill, the politician, knows what he is doing. He is deliberately fanning the flames of racial hatred, bigotry and discord in this country, in an undisguised attempt to ingratiate himself with the PPP’s Indian-support base. The public will recall that it was only last year during an event organized by the Indian Arrival Committee to commemorate the anniversary of the Lusignan killings which occurred on January 26, 2008, that he made similarly racist remarks for which he was pilloried in the media. So, this is not the first time that Mr. Edghill has publicly espoused racist demagoguery.
For the good of this nation and in the furtherance of the goals of social cohesion, unity, and the peaceful coexistence of all the races, more so, Africans and Indians, someone has to put a muzzle on Edghill, and all the other racial entrepreneurs who seek by their pronouncements and actions to create racial strife in this country. Where is the Ethnic Relations Commission? Is it still hibernating? Based on his pattern of behavior, I am strongly advocating for Juan Edghill to be summoned before the ERC and banned from all political activity in this country. This man is divisive and dangerously so.
In conclusion, I would like to use this afforded opportunity to posit the view that the powers-that-be need to get their act together and fast. There must be no further hesitation in dealing condignly with the race-baiters in our society, lest we unwittingly re-create the Rwanda experience right here. God forbid!
Osafo Lynch

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