Activists with consistent record should be honoured with Order of Democracy

Mar 10, 2021 Letters

DEAR EDITOR,

I endorse the view expressed by Dr. Bisram (KN March 9) that Kaieteur News and other media houses that exposed electoral frauds should be honoured for their role. I also agree that Freddie Kissoon championed democracy in Guyana but he did so in ways different from others. And as I stated before he was not consistent. He admitted he supported AFC in 2011 and APNU+AFC in 2015 only to regret his role in getting the coalition elected.
Freddie penned an almost daily commentary on the attempted electoral fraud from March 4 onwards. Others like Dr. Vishnu Bisram and Chris Ram also penned countless articles condemning electoral malfeasance between March 2 and August 2. I do not think anyone has written more on the Guyanese diaspora or about Guyana in the international and Guyanese media than Dr. Bisram. He knows and understands the diaspora more than anyone else. Furthermore, I do not think anyone has come even close to publishing in the global media as many articles as him on electoral fraud in Guyana.
Freddie’s role was and is not activist oriented in protecting democracy or combating electoral fraud. His role was/is more writing oriented or academic or arm chair driven as compared with Dr. Baytoram Ramharack and Dr. Vishnu Bisram whose contributions were not only academic (writings) but also activist driven meeting policymakers from the US and other countries; also, the duo were out on the streets in grass roots activism in America and other countries exposing electoral fraud and championing democracy for Guyana.
Speaking about the role of the diaspora in championing democracy in Guyana, can anyone tell who has done more than Drs. Ramharack and Bisram in terms of writings and grass roots activism? Drs. Ramharack and Bisram, like Arjune Karshan, Flattie Singh, Munir (forgot his last name), and myself, among a few others were deeply involved in the struggle since the 1970s to restore democratic governance in Guyana. We were later joined by Ravi Dev, Randy Depoo, Raj Singh, Ruben Khusial, Joe Kanhai, Samad Ally, and others in the mid 1980s and 1990s. After a couple years of activism, Depoo left to work with the US government as a diplomat that prohibited political activism. He re-surfaced in Trinidad around 2000, becoming active in Guyanese affairs long after democracy was established in 1992. He did play an important role in 2020 combating fraud with organizing a petition to the US government in which other activists also played a role.
I saw some media recommendations for the Order of Democracy (OD). Beyond issuing a couple statements to the media condemning the electoral fraud of 2020, some of them played no active role in combating or foiling fraud or getting world leaders and diplomats to take a stand against the riggers. Also, some of them are known to have committed electoral misdeeds between 1965 and 1992. Should we forget their role in rigging during that era and reward them with OD for suddenly turning the page and becoming democrats in 2020? Some of them were authors of the physical brutality of pro-democracy activists. And should we belittle the contributions of Flattie, Munir, Ramharack, Bisram, Dev, Kanhai and others who consistently and courageously championed democracy from the 1970s? Only those with a consistent record on championing democracy should be honoured, not overnight converts.

Yours truly,
Vassan Ramracha

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