Dear Editor,
I write in relation to Ms Gitanjali Persaud’s letter captioned, ‘No published accounts of evidence of communist funding of the PPP prior to 1969,’ in the Stabroek News of June 19. I note her use of the term ‘Apan Jhaat,’ likely in reference to the voting along racial lines that emerged in Guyana. I wish to draw attention to the provenance of the term, as described by a respected leader who was there from the beginning, as it will provide useful insight to the point I wish to highlight.
In an Internet article of November 30, 2003, titled ‘Cycling to a better place’ which is a review of one of Dr Kean Gibson’s books, Mr Eusi Kwayana writes, “Dr Gibson made the point that in 1957 the Jagan faction used race. There was no need to place the ‘apan jaat’ poster in the PPP hands. That was a specific slogan used by DP Debidin mainly against the PPP. So westernized was Debidin, that he did not at first pronounce the Hindi correctly.”
The above quote is insightful for a number of reasons, but two are relevant to my writing. In the first instance, we see that Mr Kwayana’s spelling of the term is ‘apan jaat,’ and secondly, he mentioned that Debidin did not pronounce the Hindi correctly. Hindi is a phonetic language and correct pronunciation is critical. According to Kwayana’s spelling (apan jaat) the term translates to something like ‘your kith and kin’ or ‘your clan.’ Ms Persaud’s spelling (apan jhaat) translates to an inelegant, if not indecent expression, not likely the meaning intended.
Yours faithfully,
Harry Hergash
