How do family, relatives and friends react to naked, ugly minds?

Dec 27, 2020 Features / Columnists, Freddie Kissoon

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Kaieteur News – One of the things that have always bothered me about life is what do the family members, relatives and friends say to humans who do ugly, vile things, things that are so unbearable, that it calls into question their value as humans and whether they are worthy of being humans.
This thing has rested on my mind since I became a husband, then father. I married a very decent woman that was interested in doing good for others. Then I fathered a kid whose concern for justice and equality among people is solid. Throughout the years of marriage and parenthood, I have had interventions from both wife and daughter about things I indicated I wanted to do and say.
I have always been fascinated with how family members, relatives and friends deal with wrong things that their loved ones do. I remember a few years ago, the daughter of a well-known lawyer, Vic Puran, wrote a nasty letter on me in this newspaper. Puran died in mysterious circumstances with one of his daughters publicly proclaiming that he was murdered. When I wrote about the sordid side of Puran’s transactions that may have caused his death, the daughter was angry and penned her letter.
I would never know if she was aware of certain aspects of her father’s life. The daughter of the Iraqi dictator, Saddam Hussein, cried profusely when he was executed but she didn’t cry for those her father murdered. Maybe he would have become an international hero if she had persuaded him to be a democrat and not a dictator. See my article of 10 years ago on the subject with more examples; Wednesday, February 10, 2010, “Parents and victims: The injustices of life.”
One night, years ago, when Dr. David Hinds and I were friends before he showed his true colours (in both senses of the word) we were having plantain chips and fried fish at Nicky’s Fish Shop on Drury Lane, Campbellville. He mentioned something about knowing the youngest daughter of President Burnham. I immediately jumped on him about her silence on what her father did to Guyana. I recall vividly, David’s expression, he intoned; “Freddie how can she do that?” Of course, she can still acknowledge the horrible things her father did to this country for which he should have been toppled and put in prison. But she wouldn’t.
So I guess this particular mystery about life will never end. We will never know why family members, relatives and friends do not confront their loved ones when they do wrong things. I was moved to write this piece here after I witnessed another manifestation of some ugly minds in the Stabroek News of December 24 captioned, “We call on the President and Police to enable EAAF team to carry out forensic probe into murders of Henry cousins, Haresh Singh.”
This is one of several letters written, since the rigging of the March 2020 election was stopped by the Caribbean Court of Justice, the Chief Justice and the Court of Appeal. One of the missives was condemnatory of the visit to Guyana by Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo. Another was about the detained Haitians. Now this one on the three murdered youths.
This country passed through one of its most terrible moments since the three counties were united to become British Guiana. That moment took the shape of five months of a series of sickening attempts to rig the March 2020 election that if succeeded would have created mayhem and destruction so intense and extensive that Guyana could not have survived and the placid zone of peace that the Caribbean is would have exploded.
Yet other less exigent situations seem to preoccupy the minds of some of those who wrote those three letters than the five months of rigging. I could understand some of those who sign those three letters (alluded to above) are not parents or have spouses so there is no one in their lives to talk to them about their double standards, morbid hypocrisy and psychic contortion. But others do have children and spouses.
Why can’t these family members ask their loved ones how they feel about what took place from March 3 until August 1? Can’t these family members tell their loved ones that in writing those three letters and not one comment on the election rigging it shows what horrible minds they put on display in shamelessly avoiding the denouncing of rigged election in Guyana? Sadly, there is no quarter in Guyana that wants to expose these hypocrites. When I read about these things, believe me, on each occasion I love my pets far, far more than humans.

(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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