Dear Editor,

The United Republican Party, formed in 1985 when the Guyanese people called upon us in North America to help bring democracy to Guyana, feels there is racism against Indians and Amerindians in Guyana.

Today the APNU-AFC coalition government is showing is true colours after breaking its campaign promise of no political and racial victimisation. People trusted this coalition for its word, but it has broken almost all of its promises. Indians and Amerindians are being fired from their jobs on account of their race. They are also having their properties confiscated and are bullied by supporters of the ruling dispensation.

As leader of the URP, I have been victimised as a person. I note that the mayor of Georgetown, Hamilton Green who has been trying to do a good job to clean up the messy city, has brought back the old ways of PNC dictatorship with a vengeance of racism. The city had leased a piece of land to me on back road on Mandela Ave in Georgetown to park my construction equipment. The lease expires in 2016 with an option of renewal as stated in the contract.

I attempted last October to pay my yearly lease (renewal) and the city refused to accept the rental money, saying they would get back to me. Some three months later, I have not heard from the city. But lo and behold, I have since learned from my neighbour (who is black and who wanted the land while it was leased to me) mocking me that he has gotten the lease for the land even before the lease was up or before I ended the arrangement with the city.

I should note that my machines were still on the leased land, which I spent millions of dollars to upgrade and develop to make fit for use. The city has not even had the decency to inform me that my lease will not be renewed or that it was given to someone else of the same ethnicity of the government. This piece of land was a swamp that I developed and now it is given to a party (ethnic) supporter. It was a useless piece of land that I developed.

No APNU or even PPP supporter developed it. It probably would have remained a swamp had I not developed it. I phoned the Mayor, and asked him what happened to my lease. His response was I had not paid my lease rental. I explained to him that I went to pay the lease rent and that his office refused to accept my payment. He promised to call me after an investigation. I am still waiting to hear from him.

He has refused to take my calls, a complete opposition when his party was not controlling the central government. I believe that because I am not aligned with the government and I am with an opposition party (URP) that has been critical of the policies of this government and that I am Indian are the reasons for taking away the lease from me.

I am calling on the governments of US, Canada, UK and India and other countries to take note of what is happening in Guyana. There is a repeat of racism that took place between 1965 and 1992 when the ABC countries closed their eyes to rampant racism.

History is repeating itself. APNU is PNC under a different guise; AFC is unwittingly playing the role of UF to get back at PPP. But it is just a matter of time before it is booted out of the government. All the pre-election predictions regarding APNU/AFC have come to pass. The country has been deceived with exchange rather than real change. Unless people speak up against racism now, we will be victims for 28 years as happened under the PNC. So far, everything is repeating itself exactly like what happened during the early 1960s.

Yours truly,

Vishnu Bandhu

President, URP