Peace must begin with our purported leaders

Jun 30, 2022 Letters

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Dear Editor,

The news of persons being robbed, beaten and their goods destroyed or vandalised at Mon Repos and other parts of the East Coast, my heart went out to them and as every decent fair-minded citizen should, I offer sympathy to those who suffered and are still experiencing the trauma of the events of Tuesday on the East Coast.
Of course of concern are the pain of the young man Quindon Bacchus who was shot and killed by the Police. Reminiscent of the Dartmouth incident earlier.
Everywhere, unfortunately the tragedy and injustice of human experience shows that the innocent pays the horrible price for the deeds and machinations of others and unless our political leaders, religious leaders and community leaders recognise their duty to create and maintain an environment where every citizen feels that those who hold high office are faithful to the oath that they should at all times execute their duties without fear or favour, affection or ill will, that what happened Tuesday will likely be repeated in other areas of our country.
Words from our leaders remain hollow and shallow unless everyday citizens irrespective of race, colour, creed or financial status can feel confident that the law is applied justly and evenly.
This means that our police and security forces must be allowed, and I stress allowed to be true to the motto for service and protection. Our judicial system must be headed by persons of integrity and competence.
Guyana today for reasons which are deep and historical is divided and polarised. The irony of this of course is that I am satisfied beyond all doubt that this generation of Guyanese wish to live in peace and harmony.
Where the measure of men should be their willingness to study, accumulate knowledge, work hard and therefore the only measuring rod should be the content of their character.
After 56 years of Constitutional Independence our leaders on both sides of the political divide seemed unable or the damning prospect of being unwilling to learn the lessons of recent history, and I am talking about what the present and recent century has to offer and where tensions exist there is always the potential for explosion fuelled by human hubris.
When one incident in a small society like ours is magnified and there is therefore the perception of distrust exacerbated by images of each other created by our years of imperial and colonial influence, our leaders must understand that the dream for One People, One Nation, One Destiny cannot be realised unless those who purportedly lead and have been elected as leaders have the good sense and deep patriotism to get rid of extant arrogance, pomposity and pride and sit down as civilised people should and tell this nation, young, old and those with one foot in the grave that these are our policies and programmes for the Police, Judiciary and the expenditure of this new bounty of money available to the Government.
The big question is, are our present crop of leaders capable of learning from lessons of the past?
June 28, marks the Anniversary of the spark that led to the tragedy of World War I.
On June 28, shock waves were felt all over the civilised world when a Serbian Extremist assassinated Archduke Francis Ferdinand – Heir to the throne of Austria – Hungary and his wife, the Duchess of Hohenberg.
This incident led to the start of World War I and the loss of millions of lives including innocent civilians who only wished to get him out of their lives, in peace and tranquility.
This is a lesson for Guyana of how the innocents suffered when an environment of distrust and hostility exists.
June 28, Editor reminds us that history has a puckish way of repeating itself.
When people get the feeling that our law enforcing agencies are not allowed to faithfully carry out their mandate you have a situation where one spark can cause a massive explosion.
When we treat certain communities as though their children are giving them handouts, as we give toddlers sweets to suck while the massive sums are in the pockets of a chosen few we create conditions that are explosive.
When a well-placed person can describe an ordinary woman as a black monkey and the powers that be, withdraw even a private charge, we create conditions for disharmony.
Beyond that I leave this message and advice for the members of the Opposition; whenever a march or protest activity is organised you must get your activists on the ground to ensure that paid provocateurs by the enemy do not get among the protestors and create the kind of mayhem we saw on the East Coast on Tuesday.
Opposition parties must lean on the experience of those who have been around a long time. The use of provocateurs and mercenaries are not new in Guyana but to blunt the edge requires being vigilant and alert, so that those who suffered losses and were traumatised should be spared such experiences.
Let there be peace and let it begin with our purported leaders.

Hamilton Green
Elder

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