Dear Editor,
The PPP government’s decision to have the Guyana Police Force (GPF) put out wanted bulletins for several citizens accused of terrorism for participating in a protest demonstration nine months ago against the police execution of Quindon Bacchus, resident of the Golden Grove area is a provocation directed to the African community. It is a deliberate and calculated escalation by the PPP/government to criminalize African protest.
Guyana’s history is one of protest and resistance that ended slavery, indenture and colonialism. Our present rulers are the beneficiaries of these struggles. In any country, developed or undeveloped, protest activities, unfortunately, get violent at times, a reality of human social/political engagement. I have delayed this response for a few days to check my history books to see if the white colonial masters in our post-slavery period charged protestors with terrorism. I found nothing. There has been a law for a charge of public terror and the reading of the Riot Act for specific mass disturbances of the people, as in the case of the 1905 riots. And even then in 1906 two senior police officers, Lushington and De Rinzey were charged with overreach of their powers, inclusive of a charge of manslaughter in the wake of their repression on the streets against the people.
Now, in 2023 we have the unprecedented charge of terrorism currently in the law, with heavy penalties if the citizens are convicted. Our new rulers in Freedom House, drunk with power and oil money, have introduced a new level of oppression unprecedented in the country’s modern history, and I venture to say, the Anglophone Caribbean. They did so in a bold and barefaced manner even before all the distinguished participants of the government-sponsored energy conference had left the shores. This is the irony of power and oil.
My contention is the PPP/Ali/Jagdeo/Nandlall regime have targeted protests, and their attempt to drive fear in Africans by signaling that protest in this period of oil has a very high personal price. They forget that we are a people who resisted slavery, despite the arbitrary death penalty at the fancies of the slave masters. The singling out of African protest for “special” treatment is another manifestation of their discriminatory reflexes and policies. As is now the norm, there is a wall of silence on this new aggression on our community. The disciples of democracy local and foreign, have long gone to sleep. There is not a word of concern, much less condemnation. We Africans have taken heed of this contradiction.
The events in Suriname coming a few days after the PPP threats of terrorism charges for protestors is our ancestors’ intervention on the issue of protest. It is no accident that the rulers chose the Mon Repos incident to introduce their draconian charges demonstrating their sinister and criminal mindset. They revealed their devious repressive tactics in support of police killings. There is footage on social media which showed that the protestors passed through communities, Indian and African, and no one or any property was attacked. The police were present and did not intervene as the demonstration moved miles from Golden Grove. Why? Were they instructed to stand down?
Allowing the protesters to arrive at Mon Repos market signaled their intent was entrapment. Unfortunately, some protestors fell prey to the Machiavellian tactics of the PPP government. Within minutes the rulers were on the spot sharing out money as compensation for damage and losses. The conspirator’s zeal could not allow them to wait for an assessment of damage before pumping out the money. But their cheque books were ready at hand.
Our ruler’s resort to Machiavellian’s tactics, that is inflicting wounds and accusing others, and using the force of the state to perpetuate political repression, while nasty and wicked, is not new in the annals of history. But the world also knows, from the historical records, the consequences of these tactics. Readers should note I have refrained from addressing the recent incident at Woodley Park.
Sincerely,
Tacuma Ogunseye
