Tacuma errs about Freddie, not an Indian Bad man

May 27, 2021 Letters

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DEAR EDITOR,

Tacuma Ogunseye pens (KN May 19) that “Kissoon’s motive is not objective or fair, but driven by his unending desire to be recognised as an Indian ‘Bad man’ and to satisfy his lust for public attention amid an inability to write beyond a few narrow and repetitive topics.” I totally disagree. He is bold, courageous, objective and independent. He is not partisan. His articles revolve around every day Guyanese and critical issues. His writings gather significant acclaim for shedding light on previously unreported issues. Most of the columns are a pleasure to read. He is perhaps the most iconic newspaper columnist in a generation. No columnist writes more than he does and no columnist is more read. He is deserving of journalistic awards in Guyana.
Freddie has never seen or considers himself as an Indian writer. This is in sharp contrast with say Ogunseye or David Hinds or Vincent Alexander or Lincoln Lewis or other Black writers, who see themselves as African rights activists and write from an African perspective. Nothing is wrong with that. I salute their work on behalf of Africans. There is no Indian equivalent.
Freddie never took up or defended Indian causes or write on “Indian issues.” He has made it abundantly clear that he does not see issue or people in terms of colour. He sees things or arguments in terms of intrinsic value or lack thereof. He grew up in a mixed neighbourhood. His siblings are married to Africans. He has criticised Indians for not holding their political leaders accountable. His writings have been very objective, far more objective than any Africanist writers. Many don’t agree with some of his claims, arguments and positions. But he supports them with evidence. One can’t argue against evidence.
Freddie is an intellectual who taught at the university and is so regarded by many. He is widely read. His knowledge of history and philosophy is second to none in Guyana. I don’t think any Guyanese has mastered the philosophies of so many global thinkers.
There is nothing inconsistent about his writings. He still subscribes to long held position against fraud. Freddie always stood up for democracy during the period of the PNC dictatorship. He called a spade a spade. He has a knack for saying things the way they are. When Freddie criticised PPP for decades, there were no ‘racist’ allegations against him by African rights activists; he was seen as a hero by Africanists. When he campaigned for the AFC in 2011 and the coalition in 2015, he was a hero. His work was cheered. During PPP tenure, Indians opposed his position while Africans loved him. When he criticised coalition rule, Africans disliked him and Indians liked him. When he started criticising the coalition from 2016, he became an enemy of theirs. When he spoke out against attempted electoral fraud in 2020, he has become an Indian bad man for Ogunseye. But Freddie took a principled position, consistent with his own standing with respect to the election, where he saw first-hand the PNC attempt to perform a coup that was corroborated by so many international and local observers. Others like the African rights activists were silent, condoning the rigging. Now he is deemed an Indian bad man, a code word for racism, for opposing fraud.
Freddie was truthful about the attempted rigging. It was writers like David, Ogunseye, Vincent and Lincoln who were all defiant about the rigging. Not once, did they condemn rigging. I also note that not once did they call for sharing power on March 4. They and the coalition defenders claimed victory in the first week after the election and then fraud thereafter when it became evident that the coalition lost. Only on August 2 when GECOM was about to declare PPP the winner, they called for power sharing. Their argument is the White Man engaged in fraud to put the PPP in office. That could not sell when the whole world knew the coalition lost fairly.
Freddie is a celebrated writer. He has the greatest number of readers. People look forward to reading his articles. He presents truths, and he gets to the facts. Random sampling of people I spoke with reveals that almost everyone has great respect for Freddie’s writings. They say he gets to the bottom of issues. That is why people like him. Even Africans like him.
Ogunseye says Roshan Khan and others who were critical of Amanza Walton-Desir for denigrating Indians developed a wrong a strong attitude. He has it completely wrong. That is typical of the perpetrator claiming to be the victim. It is Ogunseye and AWD who are behaving wrong and strong.

Yours truly,
Vishnu Bisram

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