A wider search for the truths of Guyanese history is necessary

Dear Editor,

President Granger’s recent announcement of an enquiry into the killings in the first decade of this century suggests a welcome development in his thinking. He was previously quoted as saying “the truth doesn’t always bring reconciliation… Sometimes, it can do more damage.” No one has ever suggested that the truth would automatically lead to reconciliation; they have only suggested that truth is a necessary starting point. His new view is especially pleasing after his partial, in both main senses of the word, account of Forbes Burnham and the previous abrupt termination of the Rodney enquiry when at least two very important witnesses were to give evidence—we were first told it was on cost grounds and more recently that the Attorney General claimed the commission was wholly political in intention. One might just comment here that what people intend is not always what they get, political intentions being especially prone to failure. Even a commission of enquiry tainted in its conception might get us close to the truth.

A wider search, however, for the truths of Guyanese history since the early 1960s is necessary. President Granger as a student of history knows this.

Both major political parties have refused to apologise for their actions as government or opposition, and there is much to apologise for. Any rare concession of wrongdoing is accompanied by claims that the other side has been guilty too. This is a curious position to adopt; it appears to imply that one’s actions are only really culpable if they are unprecedented in human history. Were this to be accepted, responsibility would then become a meaningless term. This sort of excuse has been trotted out by the most senior people in both parties about presidents, elections since 1992 and practically everything. One awaits its use in the law courts.

Without honesty about public events half-truths and myths flourish. The people of Guyana deserve better of a political elite that has only pretended to take them seriously. The truth may cause hurt and anger, but the people are probably wiser, more mature and more forgiving than their political leaders. They could hardly be less.

Yours faithfully,
Peter D Fraser