The regime has turned peaceful citizens of Essequibo into criminals

Dear Editor, Instituting such serious criminal charges against the AFC Councilor and farmer Naith Ram and 18 other rice farmers has convinced us that the PPP is rapidly dying politically.  By deeming their behavior riotous shows that the police would go to any lengths to please their masters at Freedom House. This is very poor judgmente. The Public Order Act of the United Kingdom (source) http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1986/644)cites riotous behavior as where twelve or more persons assemble to “threaten unlawfully” and “cause personal fear to others” by using “unlawful violence.”  This Common Commonwealth law reconciles neatly with the Criminal Law (Offensive Act) of Guyana that legislates on riots and other serious criminal or riotous acts. But the facts tell a totally different story which exposes the Police for being very flexible with the truth. Was there any firearms, cutlasses or stockpiles of weapons to attack the people or the Police of Land of Plenty or destroy any surround buildings?  NO!  Was the intent of the rice farmers to riot? NO! Did the peaceful protestors who had police permission to protest hurt, harm or maim anyone?  NO! The regime has turned the peaceful-law abiding citizens of Essequibo into criminals. The people who should be charged are the immoral and greedy rice millers and their friends in the PPP leadership who continue to take the rice farmers paddy and not pay them in a timely manner.  This pro-imperialist behavior is an insidious disease that originated from the fountains of the new philosophy of the post-Jagan PPP called Jagdeoism. It preaches that the rich must get richer off of the sweat of the poor and the peasant class.  This morally bankrupt and anti-people philosophy has gnawed away at the timber of the traditional Guyanese ethic where we were always our brothers and sisters keeper. For years, the millers have continued to rip off the working people (remember Mahacony Rice Mills) under the unethical philosophy of Jagdeoism and as the people drowned, they have little choice but to come out and stand up for their rights. This happens when people are pushed around for too long or when they are caught between a rock and a hard place. They will rebel! So this so-called “riots” on the Essequibo Coast was no riot in the true sense of the word but an expression of a people’s frustration at the impositions of the rich and powerful on the lives of the poor and the powerless and this is and remains the true nature of the social rot in Essequibo. Jagdeoism also preaches that the rich must not help the poor or have any sympathy for them. So in light of the rice farmers expressing themselves, some in the Guyana Police Force have allegedly stripped their leader, Naith Ram naked and in the process robbed him of his dignity and on top of that filed trumped-up charges against them. The goal of the PPP is to bring the full weight of the law on the AFC Councilor Naith Ram and his fellow rice farmers by impounding their tractors and cars. Finally, in a system where the people’s rights are not being protected and served by the government and the police force, it is normal for them to use every legal means at their disposal to defend their rights in the streets and against the trump-up charges which the PPP Police force knows is wrong. We do not support the trump-up charges against Naith Ram and the rice farmers and hope that the presiding judge/magistrate dismissed them. It is also our hope that the rice farmers will be allowed to live peacefully and protect their livlihood against a brutal and nasty regime.

Asquith Rose and Harish Singh.