Mr. KISSOON spent much of his letter: “The ethnic supremacists are going to maul Bhagwan over his admission” (KN, 11-03-13) deriding me about my line: “While some are asleep from their late-night dance, they get up early in the morning and start to wuk haad to feed themselves and their families”. (That letter writer sounds like a first-class cuss bird street brawler!  I shall not lower myself to such depth in name calling, etc.).

Indeed, my pronouncement in that sentence was not meant to offend or cast aspersions.  However, I do stand by the statement; I think that those who have lived in the countryside would pretty much agree with that comment, if they were honest. Mr. Kissoon has gone ad nauseam to focus only on the "THEY” in that riveting statement and has spent virtually no time on the “SOME.”  I echo what Bob Marley said"and who the cap fit, let them wear it"! No matter how ridiculous, no matter how preposterous, no matter what the innuendo is or transparency of that sentence is, it is disappointing and unbecoming of the academic, to say the least, for deliberately misquoting me, and giving readers the impression that he was quoting me verbatim.  I maintain that the writer is treading choppy waters in this aberration. Mr. Kissoon has repeatedly queried the theme of “Where is the balance in commerce; import-export trade; financial houses; land ownership; property ownership; investments in business ventures; agricultural projects; engineering firms; the construction industry; the retail trade in downtown Georgetown, etc?”  Man, this sounds like communism to me!  Maybe Mr. Kissoon would be running on a PPP ticket come next elections, as I think that the jumbie of Karl Marx recently ‘hold’ Freddie baad! The letter writer made reference to the letter by Leonard Craig.  Please note I appreciated Mr. Craig airing his sentiments; I replied to Mr. Craig et al, which was printed by the Guyana Chronicle on 05-03-13, titled, “Hey, can I join that group?”  That is an important testimonial in addressing why I do not consider myself an “Indian Supremacist” nor a racist. Mr. Kissoon is full of glee that Bhagwan’s ‘blunder’ is exposed, to the chagrin of other “Indian supremacists.”  Listen, folks, as the big man unfurled his thunder: “Here is the self-destruction rant from Bhagwan that got him into trouble. Every Indian supremacist must be looking for Bhagwan. Here goes: “When you consider that Indians comprise 43% of the population (compared to 33% for Africans), one can apprehend the ethnic equation imbalance better.” That's it - end of the thunderbolt and fulmination! I have sent at least seven letters to the editor in  which I stated that the ethnic composition of Indians is either 43% or 43.5%, and the African makeup is either 30% or 30.2%.  Yet this former lecturer in Social Science who probably taught statistics at the university has latched onto the latest (inaccurate) figures that I gave in that last KN letter.  Believe it or not, but the “33%” figure for Africans was a typo.  In my computer, the ‘0’ and the ‘3’ are adjacent to each other, and me juk de wrang key! I am surprised and disappointed that eminent recent lecturer would completely ignore my previous stats references, and hone in only on that one figure (33%).  It is essential, however, that we go by facts, not fiction or feelings.  The ethnic composition data have been taken from statistics provided by Statistics Guyana, and is backed up by NGOs in the country, as well as respected international outfits.  So have your merry way, Fred; enjoy your voyeurism! Mr. Kissoon has listed some stunning figures about Indian ownership of financial and other resources. In any event, we must take the letter writer’s data with a grain of salt, after his apparent “research” which was done in 2010, where he stated “almost 99.99 percent” are owned by East Indians; in other words, out of 10,000 businesses or so, about 9,999 are owned by East Indians!  (What research tool did Mr. Kissoon use to calibrate his figures?  Were his sources primary or secondary?) Now, let us give Mr. Kissoon the benefit of the doubt for a moment, and accept his figures.  Is the (Indian) ownership as result of favouritism?  If so, I agree 100% with Mr. Kissoon in condemning such goings-on, as I join with him and all Guyanese in working towards a fairer and just society.  However, I am not surprised by some of the stats presented by Mr. Kissoon, where he claimed, “Almost 90% of downtown businesses are owned by Indians. Almost 90% of the import-export trade is controlled by Indians. Almost 90% of commercial transactions in Guyana are done by Indians.”  In Idi Amin’s days in Uganda, about 75,000 Indians had control of 90% of the economy – so the dictator kicked them out of the country.  Shortly after they were cajoled back into Uganda, so the burgeoning business is propelled again almost solely by the Indians.  As I type this letter, a massive shopping mall that would employ thousands of Africans is being built in Kampala – you’ve guessed it – by an Indian! Indians make up about 1.5% of the U.S. population, yet they account for more than 38% of the doctors in the country.  Similarly, 36% of NASA scientists and 34% of Microsoft employees are Indians.  And guess what, Freddie – Indians own more than 50% of the motels in the U.S.!   Can you imagine what the ethnic business ownership would be like if Indians were 5% or 10% of the population?  If the business and professional patterns continue in the U.S., sooner or later one might see a similar ninety something percentage of Indian ownership in that country! Mr. Kissoon gleefully declared that he’d use my (ethnic composition) figures as a “model” to argue and demand ethnic balance.  My (figure) statement was just that – a comment; it is not a “model”; a model is a representation to show construction or appearance of an entity.  This reminds me of Mr. Kissoon’s super “Plural” (comical!) model which he described as working well before the PPP came to power; these days the only supermodel that continues to move me is Aishwarya Rai Bachan! The letter writer surmises that advocates of the Indian cause would be out to get my blood by what I have written regarding ethnic numbers. I am proud to have brought to the open the facts of ethnic composition in Guyana.  Many Indians have become conscience stricken; they cringe, and become apologetic when they hear that in Guyana more scholarships, more contracts, more jobs are given to Indians.  Indians, instead of pulling their tail under, they could now hold their heads high and assert their rights to more jobs, contracts, etc., simply on the basis that they are almost one-third more of the population compared to Africans (44% vs. 30%, if you round those figures to the nearest whole number).  In addition to Indians and Africans, Amerindians, our indigenous, native peoples (9.2%) should also be mentioned in this equation. In the last three missives addressed to me, Mr. Kissoon (finally!) conceded the need for ethnic balance in the disciplined forces and the public service.  When cornered about the question of balance, Mr. Kissoon had nowhere to go; he had no choice but to capitulate!