Dear Editor,
The question of an Indian security dilemma has been raised by Guyanese Indian rights activists on many occasions. It informs a discourse which states that the Indian fear in Guyana is partly founded on the premise that the Guyana Disciplined Services (GDS) do not reflect the composition of Guyana’s population. In other words, Indian Guyanese are not evenly represented in the GDS. This Indian security dilemma question was raised recently by one of its most ardent proponents, Mr. Ravi Dev, in an article in Sunday Kaieteur News, captioned, Guyanese Friction, dated March 18, 2007. Were I to have captioned that article, I would have captioned it ‘Ravi Dev’s Fiction.’
Mr.Dev’s missive, on the location of power, which is part of an ongoing and useful dialogue with Mr. Clarence Ellis, states “The Disciplined Forces are the ultimate repositories of the power of the Guyanese state: the PPP in being elected to government may accede to “authority” to deploy those forces – but when the loyalty of the latter is suspect, their authority rests on very shaky foundations.” Mr. Dev went on, “The PNC, on the other hand, because of the “kith and kin” element, exercises some real power over the PPP because the latter is forced to observe “the principle of anticipated reactions” of the forces in all confrontations with the former.”
What Mr. Dev is contending is that, since the composition of the GDS is made up of mostly African Guyanese, and since the members of the GDS vote overwhelmingly for the PNC then the GDS loyalty lie with the PNC/R and African Guyanese. This is a fundamental racial fear in a racialised state. This is also a type of thinking that has informed the PPP/C government’s attitude and policies towards the GDS and has ultimately jeopardized the security of not only Indian Guyanese for which Mr. Dev speaks but for all Guyanese.
But one should note that there is no Indian security dilemma that is not an African security dilemma that is not an Amerindian security dilemma that is not a Guyanese security dilemma. Security is a fundamental national good that no racial group should be denied.
However, a close examination of the activities of the GDS would find that this fear is not only unfounded but it ignores other realities in the Guyanese society. Since the coming to power of the PPP/C led government in 1992, there has not been an instant where the GDS has shown disloyalty and or has posed a threat to the elected government. During the 1992, 1997 and 2000 PNC led demonstrations where there were pockets of racial attacks on PPP/C supporters, it was the GDS that were deployed by the PPP/C government to quell the disturbances. These forces during that time were unfairly brutal to the protestors, not discriminating against legitimate demonstrators and violent perpetrators, most of whom were African Guyanese. According to Mr. Dev’s logic, if the loyalty of the GDS were to the PNC and African Guyanese, which he terms “Kith and Kin elements,” one would have expected that the GDS would have stood by and allowed these demonstrators to run amok. But Mr. Dev’s logic does not take into account that for decades the Guyana Police Force has been extra-judically killing African Guyanese men. It has been demonstrated that the loyalty of this coercive apparatus of the state lies with those who control state power, in this case, the PPP/C Government.
This unfounded racial fear dictates the policies of the government as it relates to adequate funding of the GDS, which would give them the resources necessary to fight crime that is a constant threat to Guyana. You see this fear has allowed the government since it came to power to grossly underfund the GDS. Members of the GPF operates under the poorest conditions in the Caribbean. They are grossly underpaid; operate from dilapidated police stations throughout the country; lack adequate facilities, which include vehicles, modern weaponry, body armour, communication devices etc., to properly enforce the law.
With the increase in drug activities and other criminal enterprises, the GPF has become no match for the criminals in terms of weaponry, mobile facilities and technology. It is under these poor conditions that the men and women of the GDS operate. For example, the criminals in some cases are armed with the AK-47 assault rifle, firing 7.62x39mm rounds. The GPF essentially use the same firearms and its derivative the M70 Assault Rifle (Yugoslavia), other firearms available to GPF are the 9mm Beretta, PM12s submachine gun (SMG, Italy), which give the police no range advantage over the criminals. The 2005 Roger Khan vs. the Police Commissioner debacle revealed that the criminals have surveillance advantage over the GPF. Moreover, the government is yet to implement the Guyana National Drug Strategy Master Plan for the period 2005 – 2009, which calls for increased funding for fighting crime. Drug activities and the gun for drug trade are on the increase. While the President boasts that the budgetary allocation for the GDS has increased since the PPP came to power to the amount of $3.5 billion this amount is US $17.5 million. Jamaica spends US $40 million and Trinidad spends US $66 million. But US $17.5 million is only a budgetary allocation, how much of this amount is actually spent is anyone’s guess. Judging from the conditions under which the GFP operates I would venture to say a mere fraction.
Yet instead of raising these concerns some Indian rights activists like Mr. Dev sees it fit to complain about the composition of the GDS. It is true, and I have written about this, that Indian Guyanese are under constant threat from criminals, especially on the East Coast. Notwithstanding, there is no evidence that if the composition of the GDS changes this threat would be avoided. Without adequate funding and proper facilities, in an era of increased criminal activities, it is nearly impossible to effectively fight crime in any part of the world. The results in Guyana are that some members of GPF are on sale to the highest criminal bidder.
Indian Guyanese have been silent on this reality. The fact is that the government of Guyana is allowed to get away with anything since its constituency does not hold it accountable for anything, not even its own security. The Indian security dilemma is a question for the PPP/C led government which receives most of its votes from Indian Guyanese. It is time that Indian rights activists lead a demonstration against the government on the issue of Indian security and stop using false arguments to deflect the real issue.
And please, anyone who decides to reply to this letter, do not tell me about what went on under the PNC. I am not a historian. The PPP/C has been in power for almost 17 years.
Yours faithfully,
Dennis Wiggins
