Political violence – why the silence

Jul 07, 2025 Features / Columnists, The GHK Lall Column

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Hard Truths by GHK Lall

Kaieteur News – No judgment is made of Mohamed the Younger.  For then those who may have facilitated his alleged activities will have to be named also.  I cast no vote, since I am still undecided about exercising that sacred right.  But I claim the right of a citizen, and speak out against violence.  Domestic violence.  Cyber violence.  Lobbyist violence.  Criminal violence.  Political violence.  The last two share the same mother and father in Guyana.

In proceeding, the first concern is what has happened to all those characters who pose as concerned citizens when there is political violence.  Where have they disappeared when blatant political violence in the city and villages, and hamlets of Guyana?  Part of Guyana’s history, which is related to its hypocrisy, is the rush to condemn and stereotype political violence when it rears its ugly head.  All violence is repugnant.  PNC violence, I kick in the gutter.  PPP violence I toss on its head.  It is a skirt that those in the PPP who are usually loud in crying against don’t want to lift up now.  Nobody wants to see what is beneath.  Everybody (in the PPP) is fearful of what could be exposed.  Political violence is not limited to the PNC.  Did the Commissioner hear me?  Political violence is now a standing feature of the PPP whenever Mohamed the Younger dares to move freely, associate freely, and speak freely across the avenues and backroads of Guyana, as permitted by this country’s constitution.  Those freedoms still are allowed, Mr. Attorney General, aren’t they?

All and sundry, particularly those in the PPP, raise a hue and cry when political violence makes an appearance.  I endorse that cry; don’t look for another endorsement.  The violence around the Mon Repos Market a few years back, as orchestrated by the PPP, provided ample fodder to mash the PNC and massage the stereotypes.  Who is a thug?  Which citizen is a hooligan?  Who like fuh teef an raab…?  The faithful fell in line and wrote their lines in the independent media, social media.  For me, a thug is a thug, whatever their colour, whether they wear a suit or jeans, carry a briefcase or a two-by-four.  In other words, white-collar violence, or the street-encited mercenary variety.  Whether the Mon Repos rampage was arranged or a repeat of what has plagued this country, it had to be condemned in the harshest terms.  Using the identical standards, those also apply to the hostility that followed in the aftermath of the autopsy for Adriana Younge.  The politicians had their say, the outraged had their say.

Where are they now?  Where is that army of pundits and propagandists that springs into action to highlight violence whenever it takes shape?  Mohamed the Younger is stepping on toes, that much is clear, rubbing raw the nerves of jittery PPP heads, who see a spoiler in his mere presence.  It is not yet time for voting, and the PPP is a swarm of overreaction.  The newcomer is pushed and shoved, backed into a corner, in different ways whenever he shows his face.  What happened in Belle West was a replay of other places, except the intensity and menace were palpable, could be sensed through the video images.  How come this is not a problem, commented about in the most unsparing terms?  Honest ones?  Surely, this is not another instance of the opposition’s protester being a gangster and terrorist, but mine is a guardian of democracy, a freedom fighter.

What is good for the PPP and its campaigners must also be the exact same good for Mohamed the Younger, sanctions or no sanctions.  Violence at any time from any quarter by any means is violence, and should not be looked away from, suddenly not everybody’s business.  So, too, the violence of government-engaged and paid lobbyists.  The last time I checked, Mohamed the Younger is not a convicted felon.  Though allegations have been made, and sanctions are in effect, he is still entitled to as many rights as any other citizen, including those enjoyed by the PPP agents hounding him.  I would hope that no one insults Guyanese by telling them that the people confronting the new kid on the political block are PNC plants.  That is, dressed up in red clothes, complete with banners and such, to smear the PPP.

When Guyanese are not comfortable speaking against what is happening to a contender on the campaign trail, then Guyana is still languishing in that old Bulgaria and Czechoslovakia mode.  The PPP can prattle as much as it desires about Burnham and rough times, but what sets Guyana apart under the ruling party?  How are Guyanese now fearful of speaking and associating, not a reflection of Stalinist and Putinesque techniques to neutralise those opposing?  This is Guyana’s prejudice, poverty, and tragedy.

(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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• Criminal, Cyber violence, GHK Lall, Lobbyist violence, Political violence

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