In unprovoked attack at # 51 village… Several PPP/C supporters injured – as unknown assailants bombard vehicles with missiles, corrosive substance
SEVERAL persons were injured by missiles thrown by unknown assailants at two vehicles transporting supporters returning from a People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) Rally that was held at Albion, Corentyne on Sunday night.The scurrilous attack occurred between Numbers 50 and 51 villages on the Corentyne Coast in Berbice, and information received indicates that the vehicles came under bombardment of bottles that contained sand, rocks and a corrosive substance.
The injured were all rushed to the Skeldon Hospital, where they were treated.
DAVID ARMOGAN
Members of the ruling party leadership, including former president Dr. Bharrat Jagdeo, met with those hurt in the incident on Sunday night. Among those injured are 13-year-old Kamini Khan, 32-year-old Babita Zabar, an unidentified 14-year-old boy, and a male sugar worker said to be in his 50s. Injured passengers in the second vehicle included 18-year-old Valita Adams, 18-year-old Saradha Persaud, and 20-year-old Cindy Persaud.
An occupant of the second vehicle, Dian Ramsamuj, told the Chronicle yesterday that missiles of stone, sand and rotten eggs had been hurled at the vehicle after it had approached Number 50 Village.
“They throw the eggs first and it hit Valita, and is when she start crying that we realised what happening,” Ramsamuj said.
The youngest person injured, Kamini Khan, was in the first vehicle. In an interview with this newspaper, she complained of still being in pain.
“Last night, while we coming back from the rally, whoever it was throw something — acid like thing. My left arm get burn. I went to the doctor last night (Sunday night) and this morning (Monday morning) and get medication, but my hand still blazing,” the teen said.
INJURIES EXAMINED
Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Berbice Regional Health Authority, Dr Vishwa Mahadeo, confirmed that the teen had visited the Skeldon Hospital.
In an invited comment, he told the Guyana Chronicle that the 13-year-old lass had sustained chemical burns to her upper left arm, the 14-year-old lad had suffered a haematoma to the left side of his head, and the 32-year-old woman had suffered a bruised right shoulder.
“The sugar worker had first-degree burns, secondary to the corrosive substance,” Dr Mahadeo disclosed. He added that, in addition to the 13-year-old, at least three other persons had returned to the hospital yesterday morning for additional checkup.
Chairman of Region 6 (East Berbice/Corentyne), Mr David Armogan, when contacted, related a similar series of events. “They were pelted with bottles that contained different substances and hot boiled eggs…We have not been able to find the bottle that contained the corrosive substance, so we have not been able to identify what the substance was,” he said.
Former President Bharrat Jagdeo
Both Dr Mahadeo and Mr Armogan noted that the injured persons had been traumatised.
PROVOCATION
General Secretary of the People’s Progressive Party (PPP), Mr Clement Rohee, yesterday vehemently condemned Sunday night’s attack on supporters of the ruling party, but made it clear that the PPP/C would not be provoked.
“Is this a provocation? Who is provoking it? If it is a provocation, is it centrally directed or locally directed? This is a matter of serious concern.” he said at a news conference held yesterday at Freedom House.
Rohee added, “This is a serious matter, a criminal offence as far as I am aware. It should not have happened.”
He said the next move for the PPP/C is to ensure that there is no retaliation on the part of its supporters and those affected.
“This incident places on the party the additional responsibility to calm our supporters and appeal for them not to be provoked into any retaliatory measures,” he said.
Accordingly, he appealed for “good sense” to prevail during the remainder of the elections season. “The party calls on all concerned to let good sense prevail in this campaign, which has gone well so far; and to ensure that no further actions of this nature take place,” he said.
Rohee added that since the May 11 election campaigns commenced, supporters of the political Opposition have suffered no such fate. He said, “I don’t know of any instance where, after an Opposition rally, the participants, on their way home, passing through villages, would have experienced any such incidents. The question therefore remains: Is this a provocation?”
Asked about the impact of the incident on the PPP/C’s election campaign, Rohee made it clear that incidents of intimidation, like Sunday’s attack, are not new to the party. “We have been through these things for years…We are, as we said from the beginning, battle ready,” the PPP General Secretary assured.
President Donald Ramotar: open and engaging
He added that, on Sunday, “everything was done in the meaning of the law”, and he called for the elections campaign to be allowed to proceed in a similar fashion.
The Guyana Police Force has since called for tolerance in the Guyanese society at this time. “The Guyana Police Force is taking this opportunity to call on members of the public to be tolerant of the political activities that are taking place at this time, and which are part of our democratic process; and is urging citizens to refrain from interfering with persons who may be of other political persuasions” the Police Force urged.
Meanwhile, President Donald Ramotar, when contacted shortly after the incident on Sunday night, was vehement in his condemnation of the unprovoked attack.
Dr. Vishwa Mahadeo
“This is terrible. It is horrible and probably intended to drive fear into our supporters, but I am sure it will work in the opposite manner and our supporters will support us even stronger,” President Ramotar said in an invited comment last Sunday night.
The President made it clear that elections ought to be free and fair, as well as free from intimidation. In this regard, the President called on the political Opposition to join him in urging all Guyanese to exercise respect for each other’s choice of leadership ahead of the May 11 General and Regional elections.
“We have to vehemently put an end to this,” President Ramotar stressed.
