Dear Editor,
I refer to the letter by Mr. Donald Ramotar entitled, “The PPP held Arthur Abraham in high esteem” (07.11.01). It is such a pity that Guyana is saddled with incomprehensible and hopeless incompetence that dominate the corridors of power. Even in military governments and brutal dictatorships, the power of the intellect is more pronounced than in the PPP leadership. Even the most elementary intellectual response to a critic PPP leaders are incapable of adumbrating. No country deserves such governorship. We must strive even at great personal sacrifice to have a Velvet Revolution in Guyana.
Let us use a simple step by step account involving no stylistic language to prove to readers the intellectual bankruptcy of the PPP leaders. Step one – It began when I wrote in a KN column that from what I have learnt over the years, Mr Arthur Abraham and his family of nine were attacked by arsonists in 1964 in a tit for tat situation involving the struggle for power between the UF/PNC and the PPP. Seven members of the Abraham family were murdered including Mr. Arthur Abraham himself. During my adult life, I departed from the explanation I received when I was small. I believed that Mr. Abraham was targeted because he had a relationship with Mr. Peter d’Aguiar of the UF and perhaps shared information with him. Mr. Abraham was Premier Jagan’s Permanent Secretary in 1964
Step two – Surviving family member, Diana Abraham, in Canada wrote me, through the Stabroek News to inform me that her father had no political connections and I must retract what I wrote in my KN column. I refused since I cannot take her word as gospel, especially in the light that she writes me to “correct” me whenever I reflect on the Abraham tragedy but never pens even a line on the tragedy itself though she must know more about it than me. I called upon Diana Abraham to tell us what she knew back then in 1964. She has since gone silent.
Step three- Mrs. Jagan wrote in support of Ms. Diana Abraham. In her Mirror piece, she confirmed that he was above politics and was a dedicated PS to Premier Jagan. She asserted that she admired and respected Mr. Abraham.
Step four- An editorial in the Stabroek News proved that Mrs. Jagan’s memory had some problems. Under Mrs. Jagan as Home Affairs Minister, Mr. Abraham’s home, the very home that was torched, was searched by the police. Then, Mr. Abraham was removed as Dr. Jagan’s PS, and demoted.
Step five – I fired back, and requested Mrs. Jagan to explain. The whole country knows that Mrs. Jagan would not see the responsibility of defending her theories by offering explanation. That has never been her style.
Step six – Mr. Ramotar jumps in with extremely irrelevant arguments that are going to seriously hurt his presidential ambitions because he shows us his poor intellect. He completely refrained from answering the query of Stabroek News and I – why if the Jagans so admired, respected and loved Arthur Abraham, was he demoted by Cheddi Jagan? Strange how the Jagans show their love for people.
In the meantime, I am still ready to tell Mr. Ramotar what the poetic essence of history means. That has not been done because he is yet to reply to tell me if he would answer a few questions from me as part of the question and answer correspondence between us.
Yours faithfully,
Frederick Kissoon
