Kaieteur News’ editorial of Sunday, November 1 was psychotic

Nov 04, 2020 Features / Columnists, Freddie Kissoon

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Kaieteur News – Every newspaper in the world has persons outside of the house writing editorials. At one time, the Stabroek News carried two editorials at different times, with one being the opposite of the other.
Time can cause these things to happen. You can have an editorial describing Toby Soby as the best voice in songs in the 20th century, then years after the editor forgets that and another guest editorial says Barry Sarry was the best singer for that century.
There is no question in my mind that the person who wrote that editorial is a gentleman with grave issues with the world. I have been around a long time so I think I know who that person is because I am familiar with the style. I have absolutely no respect for that person who I think is inherently a dangerous opportunist. That editorial is the second most pernicious, vicious, sick and immoral editorial, which I have ever read in my life after one that was carried in the Chronicle of July 3, 2012.
I was part of a picket exercise outside the Chronicle protesting the racist venom in that editorial purported to be written by an Indian woman, Parvati Persaud. In its edition of July 11, Kaieteur News reported that Ms. Persaud was fired and then editor, Rashid Osman, suspended.
Here is the part of that editorial that makes it the most demented thing, which I ever read in my life living in this country, “Black youths are socialized by opposition leaders to think that Indians robbed them to get rich, so they automatically feel that they have to wrest by force, even murder, anything Indians have. Hatred of Indians is ingrained into their psyche. Many Indian persons, who grew up in the arms of black people in rural communities have today become fearful anytime a black youth gets too close to them.”
I feel the same moral revulsion at the KN editorial. I rang the publisher, Mr. Glenn Lall to express my vociferous rejection. He agreed to this commentary. I honestly feel ashamed of myself to repeat some of the words in that editorial. What I will do is to look at its themes and sub-themes and offer my rebuttals.
The commentary was extremely insulting to the embassies of the EU, Canada, Britain and the USA. It casts aspersions on the representatives of those countries and questions their motives for supporting the election results of 2020. Here is my rebuttal, which is an extract from my column about the efforts of those countries and their diplomats in saving Guyana.
It is taken from my article of Wednesday July 29. I wrote back then these words, “I appealed to the next PPP government to erect a bust of the following persons: Bruce Golding, Owen Arthur; American Ambassador, Sarah-Ann Lynch; Canadian High Commission, Lilian Chatterjee; British High Commissioner, Greg Quinn; and EU Ambassador, Fernando Ponz Cantó.”
Here is what I wrote earlier, Wednesday, April 15, 2020, “Do you realize that once these six persons had accepted GECOM’s conspiracy to alter the votes for Region Four on that fateful day of March 4, 2020 through the antics of Clairmont Mingo then Guyana would no longer have had free and fair elections and the People’s National Congress would have ruled Guyana for decades to come?”
To describe the ABC countries, the EU and OAS as interfering in the 2020 national elections for their own narrow, selfish reasons is miasma that could only come from a sick mind. These people saw the worst electoral vulgarity in the past 50 years in any part of the world taking place before their very eyes and conscience allowed them to denounce election rigging.
Here now is a sub-theme of the editorial. It refers to ethnic genocide (pogroms) taking place against African Guyanese in the public service. Context is everything in life. In the context of what took place in Region Five recently and the dangerous minds waiting to incite more of this, Guyana and its young people do not deserve to endure that kind of violent rhetoric.
That editorial was penned by a frustrated mind still reeling from the shock of the APNU+AFC defeat. That person probably lost his or her perks and his or her importance and, perhaps, plans to find emotional solace in writing pathetic nonsense. Let me end with a part of what I told Mr. Lall. I believe deep down in my heart that despite his political preferences, Adam Harris would never have penned such feted thrash. This gentleman is a sad, pathetic figure and we all have a duty to our young Guyanese population not to let such sickness go unanswered. He hasn’t heard the last of me.

(The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of this newspaper.)

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