Dear Editor,
Vic Puran’s sudden passing came as a shock to me. I believe an outstanding legal mind has been taken from the Guyanese people and I join his family and friends in grieving his death. He had a wonderful and simple personality and despite his brilliance did not show any ego. He deserves the highest praise for carrying out his professional responsibilities and for interacting with people of all classes and ethnicities.
I knew of this gentleman’s political and legal activism long before we met about 10 years ago at a Hindu wedding ceremony in Georgetown. After our chance encounter, he invited me for dinner one Xmas at his lovely home and on a couple of other occasions for lunch. His wife was most charming and a most gracious host and the children were very respectful and humble.
Vic was one of the most brilliant legal minds and Guyanese political analysts I met and I always looked forward to engaging him in conversation (whenever I visited Guyana and I even phoned him a few times from New York) and he always looked forward to meeting me. He was always interested in my polling activities and once asked me how he was faring in the polls right after he launched a political movement. He would leave his home and come to town to meet me for a chat on political issues facing our nation as well as on legal matters (corruption and drug trafficking that related to my studies). I regret I did not call him when I was in Guyana last July as I subsequently learnt he wanted to engage me and discuss his view on current political developments.
Vic had a passion for law and politics and in our first meeting and subsequent encounters we discussed a number of topics dealing with Guyanese political history including his association with Cheddi Jagan and Forbes Burnham including his decision to cross over from the PPP to Burnham. We also talked about the formation of the AFC and why he felt the PPP was the most trusted among the three political outfits.
In our first encounter at the wedding, then President Bharrat Jagdeo walked over to Vic and offered to appear on his TV programme (on CNS TV 6) to debunk a lot of criticisms levelled at Bharrat by Vic and callers.
I don’t know if Jagdeo ever appeared on his TV programme but I was told it was a very popular programme, perhaps not as popular as Voice of the People.
Vic was specially renowned for his knowledge and scholarship of law.
His writings were eloquent and he made his arguments seem simple.
Everywhere people spoke of his persuasive and convincing arguments.
They saw him as a lawyer par excellence. I recognize that with the aid of his own study and his upright nature, he had attained sufficient mastery over legal issues. He has placed current and future generations under a debt of gratitude for his legalisms.
Once again, I join others in condoling the sudden and untimely death of a wonderful person and a man of extraordinary political insights. To the family, please accept my deep and sincere sympathy in your great affliction and regret for being unable to attend the funeral of such a wonderful human.
Yours faithfully,
Vishnu Bisram
