Dear Editor,
I refer to the article captioned ‘Granger denies ballot box allegations’ published in your edition of October 1, where you quoted me as stating that Granger was the officer responsible for “seizing the ballot boxes on the Corentyne” and the shooting of two PPP citizens in the July 1973 general elections.
I do accept the correction made by David Granger that he was not there and was therefore not the officer who gave the order to shoot or take the ballot boxes away on that fateful night when two of our bravest citizens were brutally murdered.
Those of us who faced the bullets of the army and the other repressive institutions of the state will never forget and forgive the repression of our country’s democracy and people. No compensation has been given to the relatives who lost their breadwinners. Worst yet, there seems to be no remorse, even now, on the part of the Brigadier.
I further maintain that the explanation offered by the former army officer does not exonerate him from collective responsibility as a senior military officer in the GDF. He has made it very clear to all that the PNC has nothing to apologise for. He should note that the former military leader of Pakistan, Pervez Musharraf, just recently made a public apology to the people of his country for the mistakes that he made during his repressive rule.
Mr Granger said in his response to what happened on the Corentyne that the orders to the GDF were “passed by the Guyana Defence Board; just like orders are passed by the Defence Board for the soldiers to go into Buxton or for soldiers to go behind Fineman.”
Mr Granger has revealed a lot in his interview with this newspaper, but cannot deny the fact that he was a senior officer at the time in the Guyana Defence Force. What did he have to say at the time? We may never know. In his response to my allegations, he has not made any apology for the involvement of the GDF in the massive rigging of the elections in Guyana in 1973 under Burnham and the record-breaking rigging under Hoyte, when he was a security adviser.
As a reminder, Mr Granger and others who have not acknowledged the massive rigging of elections in Guyana will be better informed by reading Moses Nagamootoo and Janet Jagan’s respective publications on how the PNC was able to stay in power for 28 miserable years.
I am opposed to Mr Granger leading this country, as well as Joe Singh, now touted by Rupert Roopnaraine and others. They are not Hugo Chávez who came from a similar background.
Mr Granger, like other army officers can continue to serve our country in a professional manner, but leadership at the national level must reside in people who have no known connection with the repression of our democracy and the ruin of our country.
Mr Granger cannot deny the fact that he and those who controlled the army helped, directly or indirectly, to create an environment which violated the fundamental principle that our country was built on – the right to elect a government of our choice, freedom of speech and freedom of movement. People seem to forget the past too easily.
He sought to defend himself by saying that the Guyana Defence Force (GDF) was at the time only seeking to prevent ballot boxes from being seized. It is not true that anyone was trying to seize the ballot boxes. Mr Granger, who admires the Western democracies, is well aware that the armies of those countries do not intervene in the electoral process.
One thing is very clear: since Mr Granger expressed his wish to contest the upcoming elections as the PNC presidential candidate, the PNC will never be the same again. The same is happening inside the ruling Peoples’ Progressive Party (PPP).
Mr Granger should know that taking the mantle of the PNC is not the main task; winning the hearts and minds of the rest of the Guyanese people who suffered under the PNC dictatorship is, and that will be a herculean battle. Guyana needs leaders whom our people can trust.
Mr Granger in this situation has an impossible task on his hands. He must bear in mind that no single political organisation or group will be able to resolve the current crises that face our nation. Mr Granger has no political experience and one cannot gain such skills overnight.
Yours faithfully,
Jinnah Rahman
