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The
Guyana Institute for
Democracy has made false accusations against my
website
Tuesday, April 13th 2004
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Dear Editor, I refer to a letter by Mr. Sherif Henry (SN 3/25/2004), a member of the Guyana Institute for Democracy (GID), based in Brooklyn, New York. In his letter Mr. Henry claimed that GID "is an independent and broad based organization that promotes democracy in Guyana and the Caribbean Region...In essence, GID is a foreign and domestic policy as well as a human rights and freedom think-tank." It is not exactly my concern what is their business, whether it is a PNC front organ or not. Or that its president, Mr. Rickford Burke, wrote a letter to the US President regarding the Benschop case, making extremely distorted claims such as that the PPP has "a history of imprisoning, killing and maiming political opponents." That after the 1957 elections, the PPP won and "then launched a vicious campaign of recrimination and ethnic triumphalism, which led to civil war." And that the "PPP government supporters slaughtered thousands of Africans..." GID should explain these figures to the Guyanese public; perhaps an inquiry ought to be done. I cannot understand if this is true, why the PNC would allow this to go unnoticed. This seriously flawed and extravagantly corrupted portrayal of Guyanese history to the world, which cannot be supported by historical facts or figures, is a big damper on whatever semblance of importance GID is trying to project of itself. I do not think the Black New York City politicians, mostly from Brooklyn, who have been wooed so far by GID, would be happy with such immaturity filtered to their president. However, this is my concern. I saw E-mail in which Mr. Henry wrongfully accused my web site of being "racist," designated to the "exterminating of Africans in Guyana." Apparently, someone by the name of Pooran Anandjit wrote a letter criticizing GID, and posting it on various E-groups (e.g., posting on March 8th on Guyanese@yahoogroups.com). For reasons known only to GID, Mr. Henry claimed this Anandjit to be associated with my web site. I know of no such person. Perhaps if Mr. Henry had been diligent, he would have found that the Research Directorate of the Immigration and Refugee Board, Ottawa, Canada has cited my web site; that it is linked to numerous Caribbean/ Guyanese web sites including that of Dr. David Hinds, Guyanacaribbeanpolitics.com. As a "think-tank," had GID done some thinking, it would have observed articles on African subjects (e.g., African religion) and writings by (or about) a list of people of African descent, including CLR James, Dr. Rodney, Mr. Eusi Kwayana, Ms. Melissa Ifill, Dr. Kenneth King, Kwame Nkrumah, Chinua Achebe, Toni Morisson, and Derek Walcott. According to Mr. Henry, "GID makes no apologies for its efficient execution of its agenda." Well, unless GID can prove a connection between my site and this Anandjit figure, I expect a public retraction of its claim. (Also, if Mr. Henry-GID's ridiculous letter has not been pulled from its Media Center as yet, they should do it soon.) I wish to remind GID that my web site is a legal, registered electronic property protected under certain national and international laws, none of which allow for anything "racist" in nature. Therefore, to avoid the trouble of me having to do a write-up to relevant legal and consumer affairs authorities, as well as many of GID's friends, GID needs to do the right thing to rectify its soiled image. After all, we cannot have our Caribbean representatives overseas being shortsighted, sloppy, and fooling the US State Department. Yours faithfully, Rakesh Rampertab
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