Dear Editor,
I applaud the government and opposition for expediting the inquiry into the Linden shooting agreeing to its terms of reference and the composition of the Commission of Inquiry. It is heartening to see the opposition and government coming together to address the issue that has saddened the nation over of loss of lives and injuries. We have hardly had such agreements in our nation for the last 55 years on disasters. The nation needs to know urgently what really happened in Linden and I hope eyewitnesses will come forward (as the Chairman urged) and state truthfully what they saw and the Commission would recommend judicial actions against the guilty. As the Commission Chair said the inquiry will be thorough examining all aspect of events and issues that led to the shootings and what transpired subsequently and will also question the Minister of Home Affairs and Police Commissioner if necessary.
In the meanwhile, there were calls for the Minister of Home Affairs who is in charge of the police to resign. In a democratic society, it is a tradition for an official (minister) to submit his or her resignation if a serious tragedy occurs under his watch. But in Guyana, politicians (not since British times), have not consistently adhered to convention. If the shooting were in India, Canada, US, etc, the politicians would resign.
In Guyana, politicians on both sides of the divide violate the law and exploit gullible people for their own political ends. So we can’t blame Mr Rohee alone.
But blame has been cast on the Police Commissioner and on the line Minister with the combined opposition demanding Minister’s Rohee head. A no confidence motion against Mr Rohee was passed with the opposition’s majority. But the Minister has held on. Generally speaking in democratic societies, the Minister would step aside while an investigation is carried out to determine culpability. This has not occurred in the Guyana tragedy as the Minister maintains he did not order the shooting. The Police Commissioner said he did not order the shooting. And the commanding office in the area said he did not order the shooting. I spoke with many individuals about the shooting. Very few are of the view that the government, or Police Commissioner, or Home Affairs Minister was or is directly responsible for the shootings. Virtually no one is of the view, and no sane or rational thinking person would conclude that the Minister or Police Commissioner or President gave orders to open live deadly rounds of fire on protesters. But live fire was used and we need to know why and who ordered the shooting. We also need to know what really happened during the protest in Linden.
Who should be held accountable for it? We need to know the roles of the Minister and the PC in the shooting and in their handling of the protest on the day of the shooting. This would come out in a hearing.
If either one (and anyone else) is culpable, then they should demit office and even be charged.
It should be noted that while it is true that in British parliamentary tradition, it is the convention to hold an inquiry into such grave incidents, there were many disasters and tragedies in Guyana under the British (during the early 1960s) and under PNC rule and no inquiry was held. So President Ramotar deserves kudos for ordering an inquiry and agreeing to the terms of the combined APNU and AFC opposition. The nation awaits the findings of the COI with bated breath.
Yours faithfully,
Vishnu Bisram
