Stop
shifting blame, stop criticizing and move
on up.
IT
is normal for all people to try to shift the blame over to others.
This is a natural self-defence mechanism. I feel, though, that there
is a Guyanese tendency to overdo and demonize others and make them
"black sheep". True or false?
Like
e.g. in the Gajraj case which is currently the big news item. Home
Affairs Minister Gajraj is the demon at the Top of the Pops. Other
notable Guyanese demons include Forbes Burnham, Mr. Hoyte, Mrs. Jagan,
possibly Cheddi, President Jagdeo, plus all the others as yet without
name who will in the future stand out at the top. Sometimes I wonder,
why this Guyanese self-immolation? Why this self-rape? Overseas
Guyanese immolate Guyana as well. They will not hear the name of
Guyana spoken. Whenever I open my mouth and talk about Guyana, they
leave the room. Not every Guyanese abroad wants to talk about Guyana.
The Diaspora, too, has kind of demonized Guyana.
The
East Indians keep on saying Burnham was a tyrant and a dictator.
Burnham was the spearhead and mouthpiece of the Afro-Guyanese
population. It was not Burnham who rigged the elections. It was the
entire Afro-Guyanese population standing together in solidarity who
rigged the elections. Burnham was only a figurehead. And so is the PNC
today. It is only a figurehead. The PNC does not dare oppose the
wishes of its supporters. That is why they cannot appear more moderate
towards the PPP.
We
do in fact have democracy. We had democracy right from the very start
in 1965. But after realizing that the bulk of the Guyanese masses do
not use their thinking faculty, Burnham was forced to become a
dictator. Can democracy function in a land such as ours where the
voters seem unwilling to use their brains and think?
Is
Gajraj a demon? If we assume that the accusations are true (for the
sake of hypothesis), it could be that the Minister thought this method
was the only means of bringing peace to the East Coast. I have seen
photographs of him at the funerals of murdered East Indians on the
East Coast and of non-East Indians in other places. I remember the
funeral for the man who was shot in the head while fishing at the back
dam and his little son as well.
Why
is President Jagdeo so strongly criticized? For doing nothing (or too
little)? Either you do too much (Burnham) or you do too little (Jagdeo).
Whatever you do, you will end up as a demon.
Why
the criticism against Mrs. Jagan? All she has done (wrong?) is not to
have been born in Guyana. Neither was Mr. Hoyte.
And
so on. And so on.
Fellow
Guyanese, should I too demonize you and call you " you ...
so-and-so?" But you like me are one. All Guyanese are one. Not
one race but one flesh and blood. We are all one, including the
demons. We are Guyanese.
Stop
waiting for the government to find a miraculous policy which will lead
Guyana forward. The government itself is waiting to hear what you say
first (for fear of losing votes at the next election). You are
waiting. And they too are waiting. So nothing will happen, unless you
yourselves come forward and show the way. It is the masses who have
the real power. So show it!
Stop
waiting for the government to give you jobs. Find the jobs yourselves.
Start a business! Stop waiting for the police to enforce law and
order. Pro-actively make a contribution yourselves! Stop complaining
about the division in the country. Show a good example and show unity!
No discrimination that, and no racial talk that!
Fellow
Guyanese, if I want to buy a bus ticket to Buxton, I go to the bus
station to buy it. I do not say to the ticket seller "I don't
want to go to Vreed-en-Hoop. And I'm not going to Linden either. And I
am not going to Golden Grove. And I am not going to Berbice."
That is not what I have to say to buy the ticket. I have to say,
"I want a ticket to Buxton."
So
for the sake of us all, say, "I want a ticket to somewhere. And I
know where that's going to be."
Onward,
upward, may we ever go.
Gilbert Campbell
