Dear Editor,
George Orwell was certainly right in his political satirical book “Animal Farm” that malicious groups of people would use propaganda continuously to usurp power, to exploit the vulnerable, and to control the masses, unless courageous individuals spread the truth and stand up for those who cannot fight for themselves.
Woman Constable Shawnette Bollers, who after allegedly suffering verbal abuse and racial slurs at the hands of a lawyer, the son of a retired prominent jurist, reported the matter to her superiors at the Guyana Police Force and dared to speak out publicly, when apparently justice was not forthcoming. This, no doubt, is a very courageous act.
The silence from the Guyana Police Force on the matter is deafening and strange, given that not so long ago when a Parliamentarian allegedly used inappropriate words on social media, he was promptly arrested and charged. More so, charges were dropped against members of the elite without reasons being given even though the Courts had determined that the charges had merits. This now seems to be selective justice, because certain functionaries and their cohorts have repeatedly shown disrespect for not only the Laws of Guyana, but also persons in officialdom, without any Police reaction or intervention. So, in the context of Animal Farm, “all animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others.”
The Guyana Public Service Union is of the opinion that there are professional members of the Guyana Police Force, who are very embarrassed by the silence and inaction in the Shawnette Bollers matter, given that the Force has independence and autonomy to take appropriate action, without any restraint. It therefore seems that this independence, guaranteed under the Constitution, has dissipated under the pressures of a small elite, to the extent that it has become servile to that group. Guyana would be better off without those self-serving components of the Guyana Police Force that acquiesce easily to the dictates of the small elite, to the detriment of taxpayers, who annually meet their salary in exchange for much desired independence and professionalism. The fact that the Guyana Police Force finds difficulty in dealing with a matter that concerns its own, begs the question as to its usefulness to the nation.
That unfortunate incidents against Guyana’s women in particular have seen no redress from the high seat of Government, the Constitutional Office of the Commissioner of Police and the much exalted Ethnic Relations Commission, is appalling. First, it was the unprovoked attack by a Minister of Government on learned female Appellate Court Judges, including no less than the Acting Chancellor of the Judiciary, which of course had had the support of other functionaries of Government. Next, it was the “dildo” affair in Parliament that saw no redress from the Speaker or Prime Minister. Now, it’s a humble hard-working female citizen.
Editor, for the record these “mud-slinging” bigots must remember their history and strive to be noble citizens of the land that offers them opportunity, rather than make uncomfortable those who are also “independent and free.” If they happen to emigrate from this country of ours, they would find that all that was dished out here, cannot be stomached, even if it was to the land of their forefathers they fled. The “proof of the pudding is in the eating.”
Yours sincerely,
Dawn Gardener
1st Vice President
