Political violence in Guyana has come from both sides

Jun 08, 2017 Letters

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Dear Editor,
Columnist Frederick Kissoon’s piece, “Trump’s head: Dangerous, deadly moment in politics,” (KN, June 7, 2017), which used US comedian, Kathy Griffin’s recent political faux pas, perhaps even a gaffe, featuring US President Donald Trump’s head in a gory image, certainly underscored the importance of recognizing and respecting the boundaries that prevent violence or even death in politics.
Mr. Kissoon went on to highlight episodes of inflammatory rhetoric by the late Ronald Waddell and physical attacks on the late Dr. Cheddi Jagan during a speech to augment his point of both the cause and effects of politically inspired violence.
Mr. Waddell would eventually be gunned down, as Selwyn Vaughn’s New York Court testimony would reveal, after an arranged hit that was arranged by Roger Khan, now serving time for shipping drugs from Guyana to America. This gunning down obviously perpetuated the ugliness of politically inspired violence, and I thought it would have been mentioned in Mr. Kissoon’s piece.
In fact, I think there are many episodes of political violence in Guyana, from both sides of the ethnic divide, with the political fingerprints of both the PPP and PNC in their battle to rule Guyana. If we were to enumerate each one, it could fill pages of Kaieteur News, but the point must be reinforced against individuals who cross the red line in the sand by either spewing rhetoric capable of inciting or inviting violence and death, or those willing to play the role of executors of the violence and death.
In New York, a stranger was looking at the front page of one of the tabloids (New York Daily News) that featured Griffin’s story, and I casually took a peek, when the stranger said, “She may be wrong, but the funny thing is, she expressed a thought being held secretly by many.” I looked at the guy, smiled and shuffled on.
For many people, both in and out of America, President Trump, when he was candidate Trump, literally promoted violence on the campaign trail, so what Griffin did was in line with Trump’s own rhetoric. At the outset of his campaign, he actually boasted that he could kill someone on 5th Avenue, in Manhattan, and get away with it. What presidential candidate uses that kind of deadly language to boost his personal profile?
On the campaign trail, things heated up to the point where Trump supporters at rallies started physically attacking people, and he even encouraged his supporters to deal with hecklers. Then came a dark, disturbing moment when Trump suggested that the Secret Service detail assigned to protect Democratic candidate, Hillary Clinton, should have their guns taken away and then everyone will see what will happen to Mrs. Clinton. He was advocating violence against Mrs. Clinton.
Trump went a step farther when, on August 10, 2016, the Guardian newspaper headlined, “Donald Trump hints at assassination of Hillary Clinton by gun rights supporters.” He was using the hot button Second Amendment issue over gun restrictions in the wake of violent gun attacks in America to argue that if Clinton were to be elected President, she will appoint a US Supreme Court judge who would undermine gun owners’ rights.
So, when Griffin made her faux pas and many responded in anger, some actually viewed the anger as not about protecting Trump, the person, but about protecting Trump, the President or the holder of the office of the presidency of the United States, and that’s where some continue to draw a distinction. But make no mistake about it when I say that President Donald Trump crossed many red lines separating civility from criminality on his way to the presidency.
Getting back to Guyana, I think what happened to Mr. Kissoon the night of the fecal matter attack on his person crossed a line that never existed, and there were other acts of intimidation and violence perpetrated by PPP agents, including the use of a vehicle as a weapon during the putting up of campaign posters, the discharge of a firearm by a minister, the receipt of a phone call by another minister to confirm that Ronald Waddell was assassinated, and the complaint lodged with the police by the late Courtney Crum-Ewing that a middle level Office of the President employee threatened his life. Crum-Ewing would be eventually gunned down in an obvious hit job.
So, while it was not always the big, bad wolf PNC that perpetrated acts of violence or utilized intimidatory tactics against opponents, the point about crossing clearly demarcated red lines in the political sphere cannot be overemphasized by Mr. Kissoon or anyone. Kaieteur News, itself, has been the target of deadly violence when it lost five workers in a gun attack. Then it was threatened with violence by the former Attorney-General whose remarks were caught on tape.
During the 2015 campaign, Bharrat Jagdeo told a gathering of PPP supporters at Babu Jaan that if the Coalition got elected, then army officers will go kicking down their doors and the PPP cannot save such supporters. How was that not an invitation to not only vote for the PPP but to caricature the army as enemies of Indian Guyanese, and expose army officers to hate and worse?
When it comes to political violence anywhere in this world, political leaders are just as guilty as ordinary players. Even media houses and commentators’ rhetoric can inspire violence by facilitating ad hominem attacks against public and private persons, other media houses and proponents of a different view. The only antidote is to dial back the caustic rhetoric, which is totally different from calling out public officials whose office demand they be subjected to scrutiny, resulting in either complimentary or critical remarks.
Emile Mervin

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