Govt. and its agents must cease being spiteful and small-minded

Govt. and its agents must cease being spiteful and small-minded – Dr. Hinds

Mar 15, 2018 News

…says Chronicle should stop being an uncritical propaganda sheet

WPA Executive Member, Dr. David Hinds

“The very fact that the agents of the Chronicle Newspaper can decide to discontinue columns on the basis of partisan political views is not only an act that is politically motivated, but one that also amounts to a human rights violation.”
Those were the words of Executive Member of the Working People’s Alliance (WPA) Dr. David Hinds. He has also called upon the government and its agents to “cease being small-minded and spiteful”.
Such sentiments were expressed by the political activist yesterday after learning recently that several members of the Guyana Chronicle Board agreed with the decision to have his column discontinued as well as that of Public Service Activist Lincoln Lewis.
Dr. Hinds said the move by some Board members has not stunned him. He said that he understands that not many people in high places in Guyana have the courage to stand up for principle, especially when it involves decisions sanctioned by political overlords.
The activist commented that maybe someday, those members would come to the realization that principle is bigger that political expediency and other such considerations.
Dr. Hinds said, “I have become known for both my strong support for the present government and my criticism when I feel it has not acted properly. That kind of independence is not tolerated in our elite political culture which demands uncritical loyalty from supporters.”
As such, the WPA Executive Member said that some government leaders have privately and not so privately, expressed discomfort and outrage at his criticisms. He said that they have been particularly outraged that his critical comments are carried in the State-owned newspaper, which they view as a medium for only the views of government members and supporters.
Dr. Hinds continued, “I am aware that there has always been lots of pressure on the Editor (Nigel Williams) from higher-up to stop the column. Those feeble attempts in this direction have been made in the past. I suppose they have now decided to make a definitive move. I strongly believe that the Editor of the Chronicle would not make such a decision on his own. It is a political decision…That is why I think those who gave him the directive should come out into the open and let the public know that they are the real authors of the move.”
The WPA Executive Member said that he has no personal stake in this matter. He emphasized that the Hinds’ Sight column was not his bread and butter job, but part of his political activism.
Dr. Hinds said, “I have no entitlement to a column in the Chronicle or any other newspaper. But I feel very strongly that a state-owned entity should not summarily deny me or any other citizen the right to express our views solely because of our partisan political views. That amounts to a clear human rights violation of a sacred civil liberty.”
The University Professor said that there is no evidence that he and Lewis exposed the newspaper to libel, have undermined the country’s sovereignty, ridiculed anyone personally or bought the paper into disrepute.
Dr. Hinds also reminded that it was the Editor of the Chronicle who said that the columns were being discontinued to facilitate the rebranding of the paper. He noted however that the Editor has not shown how the columns will hinder this rebranding.
The WPA Executive Member said, “The major rebranding that needs to happen at the Chronicle is the freeing up of the paper from the partisan control of the government. The paper should stop being an uncritical propaganda sheet of the government and become a normal newspaper that reflects the face and dignity of Guyana and the variety of political and other views that reside in our country.”
Dr. Hinds said that this is the second time that this government or its agents have seen it fit to “relieve” him from a position in the government sector because of his perceived outspokenness. He also noted that he would not be functioning in any other editorial capacity at the newspaper.
He said, too, that he would not be asking for any favours on the matter.
“All I ask of this government as a whole and its individual members is to clean up your act; cease being spiteful and small-minded. There are more pressing problems to be addressed and solved than to worry about two columns by Hinds and Lewis. We have been down this road from 1966 and I thought with this government we had turned the corner. But apparently, we have not. This government seems determined to go the unkind and ugly way of those before it.”