Marriot protest: Agents provocateur at work

I was part of the protest at the Marriott opening. I am still enraged at what the PPP did. The PPP through one of its high-class thugs, who has an African first name and last name, virtually killed street protest after 2011 through the placement of Agents Provocateur among the demonstrators.

During demonstrations between 1997 and 2001, these agents beat up Indian citizens, damaged Indian stores and even bombed the Pegasus, Ministry of Finance and the Labour Ministry. The objective was to create Indian resentment against the opposition, label street protestors as violent and paint the opposition as violently racist.

Through this guy with the African name, street protests virtually came to a halt. He picked up unemployed youths from the ghettoes and placed them in the protests and they created havoc. When the people of Linden were rebelling in July 2012 against the electricity hike, the PNC leadership was asked to support the uprising with strong demonstrations in the heart of the city.

The PNC declined because the logistics needed meticulous planning. One PNC leader was heard saying; “Once we take to the streets, the PPP’s goons will attack an Indian girl and you know what will happen then.” In a country riveted with ethnic suspicion, agents provocateur are on the prowl. By the time you catch them they would have achieved their objective of creating mayhem and violence.

Yesterday an agent provocateur was inserted into the demonstration. We didn’t give him any notice at the time. How can you? He appeared normal and wore the green colours of APNU. He had WPA pamphlets which he gave out to passersby. But something wasn’t right about his deportment and language. He talked about bombing and killing. We ignored him because in a crowd we cater for some crazy people. Crazy people always find themselves in the picket line and they make all kinds of mad utterances. When the Mayor arrived at the entrance of the Pegasus, he began to proceed west in the direction of the Marriott. The police stopped him.

We then forced our way through the human cordon of policemen and succeeded in getting the Mayor through. By this time, this man in green had pushed down the barricades and had physical confrontations with the policemen. He was arrested by three policemen. The crowd forgot about him and marched towards the entrance of the Marriott.

I felt we couldn’t leave him to the mercy of police so I turned back with him and urged other demonstrators to come with me. Only African rights activist, Penda Guyan and Gerhard Ramsaroop accompanied me. We got him released and asked him to go peacefully with us back into the crowd but he declined.

After the protest was over, the demonstrators were gone and the man in green arrived in a car and picked up two policemen. This was an agent provocateur. His job was to incite innocent people into saying violent things.

This is how the three treason accused were charged. Major Bruce Munroe of the army, his wife, Carol-Ann and Mr. Leonard Wharton were innocently manipulated and taped by a soldier named Critchlow known to the accused. The three were lucky in that they did not make treasonable statements.

What the man in green wanted to do was to detect those in the crowd who were supportive of bombing and killing. But he was ignored. Had he succeeded in getting other demonstrators to mouth off, then we would have had more treason accused. He also wanted the demonstrators to emulate his violent attacks on the police. In other words, this man was looking to tarnish the reputation of the picketers and get people arrested.

It is an unwritten law that when you are in a demonstration you have to be extremely careful what you say to strangers. Only mouth off to people who are your trusted comrades. Do not respond to people who come next to you and tell you it is time to bomb and kill because they are ready to die for the cause. They are not ready to die for any cause but to get you in jail.

Agents provocateur are easy to spot. They always talk about violence and about attacking the state. Their language is centered most of the time on violence. In the case of the man in green at the Marriott protest, I suspect that protestors just dismissed him as a loony and ignored him. My advice is that up to May 12 when the ballots are counted, just remain calm and not be deceived into doing anything foolish.