Dear Editor,
I have followed the exchanges between Mr Rohee and David Hinds in the Stabroek News and wish to make a few comments regarding race in Guyana. Mr. Rohee appears to be expressing an Indian angst that has existed since the first batch of Indians arrived in Guyana in 1838, that is, that they are viewed with suspicion and outright hostility by sections of the black community, typically, black politicians and others who proclaim black power, black rights, black this and black that. Yes, blacks have been oppressed during slavery all over the world and had it not been for the civil rights movement in the 1960s in the US for equal rights for all, people of colour (including Indians) would not enjoy the freedoms they have today, and are all indebted to the struggle for equality led and championed by the black liberation movement.
However, this rhetoric for black equality has become a lightning rod in Guyana, and has been used to stoke racial violence, racial animosity, racial tensions, racial insecurity, among blacks, directed at the Indian community.
It is this misplaced anger that Mr Rohee is focusing on. Blacks around the world have valid reasons for their grouse, but not in Guyana, and certainly not against Indians. Indians have been oppressed, disenfranchised, ostracised, side-lined, along racial and religious lines, since we landed in 1838. Even today, despite Indians being a majority racial group in Guyana, and despite having an “Indian” government in power, our religion and our security (of person, property, culture etc.) are constantly under threat.
There is an extreme amount of angst regarding our existence in Guyana, one that has existed during colonial times (when we were discriminated against because of our religion etc.) and continues today. Unless this is acknowledged and steps taken to remedy it, there can be no movement forward. All groups should feel safe and equally important and have equal claim to Guyana.
Yours faithfully,
Mohan Singh
