Dear Editor,
One of the tragedies of Guyana’s political culture is the absence of any space for discourse and dialogue. Those in power continue to sustain their power, and those who might question that power are cursed and scandalised, while others remain fearful.
In the last two weeks, we have become targets of attacks on the Liveinguyana blog which supports the government. In addition to the name calling, we are accused of being authors on an anti-government blog – Propaganda Press. In our view the latter blog engages in similar activities to the Liveinguyana. Other government officials and citizens have been similarly attacked.
We recognise all of this is probably meaningless to the thousands of Guyanese who do not know about or have no interest in blogs.
We are not authors on the Propaganda Press blog. We are not interested in the use of the Internet or in being anonymous to engage in character assassinations. What is of concern though, is that the attack on Liveinguyana has gone a bit more personal in that a photograph of the home of one of us has been posted on the Liveinguyana blog.
We are citizens who have expressed our views and our affiliations in public ways, and we can be held accountable for our views. The Liveinguyana blog seems to be concerned with our association with SASOD as well.
On Saturday, April 30, the Kaieteur News and the Stabroek News printed a letter calling for sanctions from the supporters of the government who are concerned about Mr Ramotar’s appointment as presidential advisor. In that letter, the issues of fear and silence were discussed. We write this letter to remind those who are afraid of the abuse of their loved ones, that being silent while knowing about the abuse will not protect you because your fears and concern will remain.
One of the things we have learnt from being with SASOD, is that speaking out has shown that it is possible to have conversations and dialogue. In 2003, during the ‘sexual orientation debate,’ there were many instances when conversations took place, which though heated, were often respectful. In June 2001, the Inter Religious Organisation condemned the SASOD Film Festival. At that time, a retired St Lucian trade unionist and activist, told us of his horror that Guyana seems to be a place where it is not possible to debate or discuss without humiliating or condemning. He encouraged the SASOD members to articulate a vision for Guyana which he said he found depressingly absent in any public discussion. The SASOD Film Festival will continue in June this year, and it will be a site for discussion, debate and education – but not of intimidation or harassment.
So, to the authors of Liveinguyana, Propaganda Press and other persons who are fearful of owning their views, we are glad that we can articulate our vision for a Guyana in which all citizens are given a chance of achieving their potential and where social justice is a value which is recognised as key to our development. We value the freedom of expression as much as we condemn the inability to disagree without descending into intimidation.
Rabindranth Tagore’s piece has been quoted many times in reference to Guyana, and we think at this time,
“Where the mind is without fear and the head is held high;
Where knowledge is free;
Where the world has not been broken up into fragments by narrow domestic walls;
Where words come out from the depth of truth;
Where tireless striving stretches its arms towards perfection:
Where the clear stream of reason has not lost its way into the dreary desert sand of dead habit;
Where the mind is led forward by thee into ever-widening thought and action —
Into that heaven of freedom, my Father, let my country awake.”
We encourage those who believe that Guyana can be that heaven of freedom, to speak out against the wrongdoings which you witness, and to speak with others in ways to bridge the divides which we have in our society.
Yours faithfully,
Sherlina Nageer
Vidyaratha Kissoon
