Guyana should applaud No 48 villagers, but why were Lindeners treated differently?
Dear Editor,
I hereby give full solidarity to the people of Number 48 for taking the simple, democratic and non-violent stance to block the road, their road, the people’s road to dramatize their disgust at the extreme criminality and inaction of the police. All Guyana should applaud those villagers. I also commend the PPP and the government for supporting the right of citizens to block the roadways when they feel that the authorities are not listening to and defending them. I commend the police, even in the face of abuse by the protestors, for not shooting down ordinary people who block the roadways in self-defence.
But I recall when the people of Linden blocked the road/bridge to democratically dramatize their grievance, they were criminalized and three of them were killed and many others wounded. I recall when the people of Agricola democratically blocked the road to dramatize their disgust against police overreach they were criminalized and beaten off the streets and Nigel Hughes was lynched by the PPP, the government and their acolytes, while the opposition remained silent.
I recall just a few weeks ago when the Colwyn Harding story broke, the government and its police hierarchy sought to cast doubt on the victim’s story. I recall when one David Hinds, in the face of the killing of three Lindeners, asserted that should other communities be visited with the same violence by the state, they should follow the example of Lindeners and block the roadway, he was challenged by the Commissioner of Police to meet him on the frontlines. The PPP, the government and their acolytes lynched him, while the opposition remained silent.
Maybe, the people of Number 48 are heeding David Hinds’ call. Maybe they have learned from the people of Linden and AgricoIa. Or, maybe they have learned from the people of Albion who took to the streets some years ago to demonstrate their disgust against the police. Then, government ministers rushed to the scene and swift action was taken against the ranks. Now at Number 48, PPP leaders rush to the scene to associate themselves with blocking the roads. And the Minister of Home Affairs and the Commissioner of Police have taken swift action against the police.
I have waited two days and more for the experts on violence to condemn the actions of the people of Number 48 as violent, unpatriotic and aimed at overthrowing the government. Not a word. Only Wintress White, an ordinary sufferer has the courage to speak up and out on what she sees as “two Guyanas.” She said in her letter that she would no longer stand when the national anthem is being played. She speaks for me and I hereby join her simple act of protest.
As an African Guyanese I am angry that Africans are criminalized and killed for doing what other ethnic groups are celebrated for. I continue to believe that this government gets away with using the government and the state to practise institutional discrimination because the society, particularly the leadership of African Guyanese, allows it to do so. The current African Guyanese leadership, all of them, is the most timid, confused and un-African that Guyana has witnessed since the Middle Passage. And the current PPP leadership and government are the most unfair and discriminatory towards Africans since the colonialists left Guyana.
Yours faithfully,
David Hinds
