Dear Editor,

With regards to your tribute to Sir Sridath Ramphal (editorial Nov 19) on being awarded the Indira Gandhi Peace prize, we must not forget his role in election rigging and the subsequent rise of the Burnham authoritarian state. Many Guyanese still view Ramphal as a pariah, thirty years after he parted company with Burnham to become Secretary General of the Commonwealth. He is not welcome in their company.

Every time Ramphal's name comes up, I think of the suffering of my brethren, their denial of the right to vote, the starvation diet, kick down the door robberies, and generally all of the terrible things of the Burnham era. Ramphal may have played some role in promoting peace in the international arena, but he certainly made little, if any, effort to encourage peace in his native land which is on the brink of collapse.

I cannot celebrate any of Ramphal's achievements and I don't think any Guyanese should, until he tenders an apology for the wrongs committed on Guyanese when he was the Attorney General.

Yours faithfully,

Vishnu Bisram