No one has a right to think for me

Jan 06, 2020 Features / Columnists, Peeping Tom

People have a right to think for themselves. The Creator gave every person a brain and a mind to decide for themselves.
Every person should be free to listen to all sides of an issue and then to make their own decision. This is what free of conscience is about – you consider an issue make your own decision in accordance with your conscience.
The elections campaign has started off on the wrong footing. Political instigators are bent on shielding persons from opposing viewpoints. They want to do the thinking for them.
It is an insult and disparaging to suggest to someone that listening to what a rival politician has to say is not advisable. People are not easily fooled in this country. The ordinary man and woman have a good understanding of what is right from wrong and what makes sense and what is nonsense. And they can make decisions for themselves.
The actions of the obstructionists in Laing Avenue are ironic. Many of them would not have been living there had the PPPC not built that scheme in the 1950s and had not also sold the homes to the owners at rock-bottom prices when it returned to office in 1992.

The PPP has also complained about their agents being attacked in Sophia last Friday. They have filed a complaint to the police.
Agent provocateurs, I believe, were behind these incidents in Laing Avenue and at Sophia. They however would want the public to believe that it was the people who of their own volition set upon those PPPC personnel.
They are protecting their positions and the benefits they are receiving or are seeking to find favour with their political masters by showing how fervent they are in supporting their party.
And they are creating mischief. It is no different from the last election when persons were sent to disrupt a PPPC rally in Buxton.

Guyanese are decent people regardless of their political differences. They know how to treat people civilly. But there are quite a few rascals who would allow themselves to be used by their political masters to attack their political rivals.
Tensions are high during election season and it is easy for the political instigators to find persons whom will do their dirty work. But by and large the vast majority of people do not support such actions.
A few months ago, I was sitting in a minibus when a radio broadcast of a press conference by the Leader of the Opposition was being aired. He was making some points about the state of the economy and was providing statistics to support what he was saying. An African-Guyanese man in the bus was listening intensely and nodding in approval. He murmured for everyone to hear that while he never voted for Jagdeo he agreed with the points which Jagdeo was making. Here was someone who was prepared to listen and to think for himself and not be guided by blind political or ethnic loyalty.
Another time, I was in another minibus on a long journey. The President of Guyana was addressing some gathering and was making the point about the need for free university education. An Indo-Guyanese remarked that even though she was a PPP she agreed with this policy since it allow for many poor students whose parents cannot afford to send them to UG to now do so. Again, here was someone who recognized, in her estimation, the merit of something which the President was proposing.
The political elites, however, do not wish persons to think for themselves. And this happens in both political camps. It is not confined to APNU+AFC. A few years ago, there was a PPPC Congress on the Corentyne and when the delegates were discussing issues, the PPPC leaders sent agents into the room to guide the discussions and if the delegates were not entitled to think for themselves. The PPP leadership wanted to control the script.
In a country that is divided as Guyana is, it is dangerous for political instigators to be inciting problems within communities. We have gone down this road before. After the 1997 elections, political instigators, including some of whom are still alive and kicking, created mayhem in the city.
One poor man who collected empty drinks bottles was falsely accused of hiding ballot boxes in his house in Albouystown. He was kidnapped and taken to Congress Place and grilled by no less than Desmond Hoyte who was unbothered that he was complicit in an act of kidnapping.
During the last elections, a silly rumour was spread that a residence in Sophia, which the PPPC was using as an area command center, was storing ballot boxes. An agitated mob gathered outside. Despite AFC leaders rushing to the scene and going into to the premises and confirming that there was no truth in the allegations, the situation escalated into violence.
The owner – who for years had enjoyed good relations with his community – had his residence burnt to the ground. And the APNU nor the AFC ever offered to assist that man who was forced to relocate. That is the danger of last Saturday’s incident.
People should be free to decide for themselves. They should be free to listen to all sides and then to make up their minds. But the political instigators do not want that happening. Guyana is headed for trouble.