Indians live in fear – a generational problem

Jul 11, 2021 Letters

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DEAR EDITOR,

In “The inscrutable East Indian mind from Guyana” (Jul. 02), Freddie asks for an explanation of “the mind (thinking) of the East Indian.” They express fearfulness of their own shadows. Because I travel extensively in the Indian diaspora, study, and write on Indians, he asks for my take on their fear to publicly identify with struggles to combat injustice.
Freddie is right that Indians “live in fear” (and unjustifiably so) not only in Guyana but in other diaspora countries as well. Guyana is a case in point. Just look at the Indian response to physical and media attacks on them over the last several decades. Even politicians avoid defending Indians when they are attacked; politicians don’t even want the attacks to make news. Only a few Indians defend the community from unprovoked attacks. Like Freddie, I get emails, texts, and phone calls on varied forms of injustice or alleged corruption or wrongdoing, pleading on me to write on or expose them. And it is always accompanied by “Please doc, don’t mention my name.” I received similar appeals on matters pertaining to Trinidad. Even Indian politicians and community leaders in Trinidad would appeal to me to expose wrongdoings in that island; they want me “to buss a mark.” The Indian politicians are afraid to speak their mind, especially on matters pertaining to leadership or to truly represent the interests of constituents. They fear they would lose their perks and privileges or that government or leaders would come after them. They would appeal to me to fight their struggles.
The people who are afraid of exposing their identity have nothing to fear. Their basis of fear is irrational, as Freddie puts it. Many are aged and long retired. They don’t depend on government for contracts or jobs or food on the table. Some don’t live in Guyana. Some don’t even plan to visit or live in Guyana. Yet, they are afraid to lend their name as the source of information to give greater credibility to investigative reporting or commentaries. The government or opposition or police force would welcome comments on problems the public faces and recommendations on improvement in governance or delivery of service. President Ali and Vice President Jagdeo constantly urge the public to remain interactive with the government. Whenever the public bring complaints to the government, President Ali responds almost instantly. The government of opposition or police is not going to kill anyone for critiquing their performance; critiques may result in improvements.
Freddie is absolutely right that “the fear of authority is deeply lodged in the psyche of Indians.” He asks, “Why Indians behave like this?” I spoke with psychologists to offer an explanation of this psychosis of fear. They relate it to Burnhamism, the period of tyrannical rule of the late dictator, who instilled fear in the mind of Indians to prevent dissension. The psychologists say that Indian fear was transferred from generation to generation, even though the last couple generations did not experience Burnhamism. The Indians suffered from political violence and being jeered on, experiencing trauma. Neville Kalicharan from West Coast was beaten in G/town; an instrument was pushed into his eye losing sight in one eye. He packed up and left for England. Students attending Indian Trust College were mauled and ridiculed “for their cowardice.” After GCE, most packed up and left the country. It was a pastime to beat up Indians or victimise them; many were terminated from their government jobs. Fear pervaded the society. Social scientists say that Indians were prosecuted and persecuted as a result of their ethnicity. They don’t wish to come forward publicly as a source of information for fear of being victimised. Also, since most Indians tend to work hard, culturally engage in savings, and acquire property, they feel any public discourse on political issues would inevitably lead to victimisation. But it does not explain why Indians are also fearful of expressing their views on injustice in countries where they experience virtually no significant forms of violence like Mauritius, Singapore, Suriname, Trinidad, Ghana, etc. As my research found, Indians in other countries fear their business or property interests and or physical safety would be affected should they express public views on issues.
As psychologists explain, Indians subscribe to and extol Gandhian non-violence. They don’t respond in kind. They feel violence begets violence. They subscribe to a victim mentality. The movie Gandhi showed how the mahatma instructed Indians to accept violence. Other cultures stress resistance to violence. Indians also engage in self-violence as in suicides, with the Indo-Guyanese suicide rate in Guyana the highest globally. Not many resources have been expended in addressing this problem. All Guyanese, regardless of ethnic origins, should freely speak their mind on issues in the public sphere.

Yours truly,
Vishnu Bisram

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