Dear Editor,
The Ethnic Relations Commission (ERC) met with both the Stabroek News and the Indian Arrival Committee (IAC) on Friday, July 04, 2008 to deliver its ruling to a complaint made by the IAC regarding the paper’s cartoon of Sunday, June 15, 2008.
The ERC cautioned against the seemingly natural reaction of the party which may find the said ruling favourable to its cause, to claim victory. Both the Stabroek News and the IAC agreed that this would be taken into consideration when making subsequent statements.
Whilst we cannot speak for the Stabroek News, our concurrence to the ERC’s request was based on our awareness of the potentially dangerous implications of the sensitivities depicted in the said cartoon.
It is in this context that the IAC has found the caption ‘ERC rules against IAC cartoon complaint’ of an article pertaining to the ERC’s ruling in Stabroek News of 5.7.08, not only to imply that the newspaper was victorious, but to be in breach of this ‘gentleman’s’ agreement.
The impression conveyed in the first sentence of the first paragraph of article in Stabroek News 5.7.08 mentioned, is that the ERC has disagreed with all of the issues raised by the IAC. The IAC views this as a gross misrepresentation of the ERC’s findings.
It is therefore unfortunate that the Stabroek News has reneged on its commitment not to publish statements which can be interpreted as being victorious. The IAC now feels compelled to comment on the said ruling.
Whilst the Commission did not find favour with some of our interpretations of the said cartoon, the IAC feels vindicated on points it raised during the discussions and caucus held with both the ERC and the Stabroek News. One such point which the IAC vehemently argued was that the freedom of expression which was the beacon of the Stabroek News’s argument is not a freedom to offend.
In this regard the ERC noted that this freedom is not absolute and must be practised in a responsible manner. The ERC noted that Article 143 (3) says that freedom of expression does not relate to hate speeches or other types of expression which can excite ill-will against any person or class of persons.
The IAC held its position that while it fully supports freedom of expression; it is of the opinion that the Stabroek News acted irresponsibly by exercising poor editorial judgment by publishing the cartoon which it still believes is politically and racially offensive.
By this argument alone, the IAC can claim victory based on the findings of the ERC which expressed disappointment with the “cavalier and high-handed approach taken by the Stabroek News at the said meetings.” The ERC further noted that a statement by the Stabroek News in clarifying its intention “was not seen as helpful by the newspaper in bridging the divide.”
The ERC also noted in its ruling that the IAC might be correct in its interpretation that the cartoon may have unfairly typified one ethnic group as a racist group and this may be a false premise that needs to qualified.
Herein lies another opportunity for the IAC to so claim victory on the point that it interpreted the cartoon to be racially offensive.
The IAC wishes to note that it was never its intention to use the findings of the ERC to imply that it may or may not have been victorious in relation to the objections raised against the said cartoon. If this were so, a statement would have been released almost immediately following the ERC’s ruling.
Being a responsible organisation and one which promotes Indian culture and deals with issues and concerns of persons of Indo-Guyanese origin, the IAC feels satisfied with its efforts in bringing the subliminal messages of the said cartoon to the fore.
Yours faithfully,
Felicia Persaud
Executive Member
Indian Arrival Committee
Editor’s note
The Stabroek News treated the report from the Ethnic Relations Commission in the same way as it would any other news report.
