Dear Editor,
I learn that there are significant steps afoot regarding social cohesion. There is to be some seven hundred individuals identified and trained to fan across communities to address this vital realm, and to initiate a different kind of thinking, a new view and appreciation for what has been lost, and what could be possible. I think it is a positive development, but only if certain components are present.
These seven hundred soothers, eye openers, counselors, pacifiers, and much more must, of necessity and as a matter of sheer pragmatism, include a substantial number of PPP grassroots people as helpers and partners. If not, the whole social cohesion vision runs the risk of being neither meaningful nor likely to attract traces of traction across the board. Further, this groundbreaking group has to be diverse, and a real rainbow reflecting the hues (if not the cries) of torn local society that will demand a lot of patient careful mending, intricate mending.
Additionally, members of this domestic 700 Club have to be credible citizens capable of diminishing suspicion and generating trust. It is going to be a hard long grind. They themselves must believe in the special and sacrosanct nature of the task and the pointed responsibilities and sensitivities attached. They must see themselves as pioneers in a rare undertaking in strange terrain, amidst alien mentalities. Moreover, they must be tough individuals: psychologically, emotionally, and mentally. Reluctance, resentment, and resistance are spectres that could dog their every step. The reception can range from polite indifference to outright hostility, and in formidable chunks. In the next instance, and even worse, they can be the objects of now smooth Guyanese salesmanship in the form of being told what is inoffensive, signals receptivity, and is believed that is desired to be heard. This must be guarded against, as nothing at the core would have changed, and with the usual deception prevailing against winds of change.
Then when the exercises contemplated have made the first rounds, there has to be frank and accurate reporting on the atmospherics and the probability of building on what exists, if anything. There must be no ducking the results of what is an initial probe through political correctness and presenting what is digestible. This demon has to be faced head-on and fearlessly.
Editor, I thought I had written my last words, for some time to come, on social cohesion. Clearly, I misjudged, as this issue is too close to my heart to be left unattended for too long. Good wishes are extended to the workers (and those who send them) as they prepare to go forth on their delicate mission.
Yours faithfully,
GHK Lall
