Dear Editor,
The greatest, most-renowned freedom-fighter in the world was a proponent of peaceful initiatives. Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi is arguably the world’s most famous example of a passionate man who sublimated his passions to wage war on the inhumane and the unjust. And he won his war – without ever lifting a finger to hurt a fly. For that he was accorded the appellation of Mahatma (the great-souled one).
Indian Hindu Gandhi first rebelled against apartheid in Africa and his most famous admirer was Martin Luther King Jnr. King never recognized Gandhi’s race, nor his religion. He himself was a great soul who could transcend these petty dynamics to embrace the ideologies and philosophies that strove to enhance the human condition – so much so that he eschewed his initial bent for confrontational agitation and instead adopted Gandhi’s methods of peaceful conflict resolution -which he unashamedly and unapologetically admitted was as a result of Gandhi’s influence; but I posit that it was because he himself was a great soul that he chose to tread that path on his freedom march. The venom with which Shri Prakash Gossai has been attacked has appalled every right-thinking person who can differentiate between the hat of an exemplary religious leader and the hat of a highly-respected, eminently-qualified Guyanese who is prepared to leave the luxuries of the land in which he is comfortably domiciled in order to serve his country. He has had a trial by fire even before he has been formally appointed, only on the bases of his race and religion.
This letter is not written in defence of the PPP government, in which I have lost faith; nor is it written in defence of Hinduism – because Hinduism is pure, sublime, perennial and enduring and subject to no sublimation.
It is not even written in defence of Pt. Prakash Gossai, because his life is an open book and he needs no vindication. I write this letter as a Guyanese concerned about the downward spiral and degradation of most of what once contributed into making this land of diversities into the great nation that it once was. I once refused to leave Guyana because I loved this country with passion; but today I no longer feel a sense of belonging because families like mine are caught in a race war. My once-beautiful homeland is becoming submerged in race-hate; and families like mine have become statistics of the GIFTs and the ROARS and the ACDAs, executives of which organisations do not teach tolerance and love, but instead brainwash those who are vulnerable to their peculiar brands of psycho-analyses.
Identifying with our ancestral traditions is important; but also essential to our quintessential identity are our uniquely Guyanese experiences. Attacking other human beings on the basis of their ancestry corrodes the soul and bestializes our own ancestry. We should embrace the traditional mores of others even as we celebrate our own, because every civilization boasts great experiences and achievements.
It is time that we, as a united Guyanese nation, take back our country from the hate-mongers and recognise that most politicians – across the divides, agitate issues for their own aggrandizement.
We should divert our collective energies into engaging our youths into productive pursuits, into empowering our women, into saving our children from the ravages of dysfunctional families and predatory perverts, into building strong communities in a united effort to really save our nation and restore pride and prosperity. Every once in a while the government expend large amounts of monies into the social sector, with negligible, if any, success. We need to make them accountable to the nation for these monies spent.
And we need to recognise that good and decent human beings can serve our country with sincerity and commitment and not let their race or religion prove to be barriers to their ability to do so, then maybe, in some minute way, we can aspire to reach the realms of humanity of Martin Luther King and Mahatma Gandhi.
The basic tenet of Hinduism is “Service Thy Duty: Reward Not Thy Concern” Shri Prakash Gossai can contribute only good things to our nation. Please let us exercise tolerance and give him a chance to serve.
Yours faithfully,
Parvati Persaud-
Edwards
