Indo-Guyanese victims of Govt’s “ethnic cleansing”; NGOs, Human rights groups silent – ex-President

guyana times

The A Partnership for National Unity+Alliance For Change (APNU+AFC) Government is not yet 100 days old, but already Guyana is witnessing ominous signs of racial discrimination and victimisation that do not spell well for the future of the country.

Amid these disturbing and alarming actions being carried out by the Government, human rights groups, the international community and the religious community have all been studiously silent, passively watching the Administration continue to discriminate against professionals in the Public Sector.

These are the views expressed by former President Donald Ramotar, who, in a press statement, detailed the many instances where he claimed the Government demonstrated clear signs of dictatorship, and highlighted that the various stakeholder groups were deafeningly mum during it all.

“Not one word has been uttered by these organisations as the process of once more making the majority of people in this land second-class citizens in their own country continue unabated and is being done boldly and unashamedly.

“This despicable act is occurring in the full presence of the diplomatic community, some of whom profess to be champions of human rights. Today, they, too, are silent as the onslaught against Indo-Guyanese citizens is brazenly taking place.

“The United Nations, also, has many offices here in Guyana and they, too, have remained mum as this blatant discriminatory act continues. This body is supposed to be intolerant to any form of discrimination and should be the bulwark in defence of human rights.

“Another group that is being remarkably silent as the regime continues to purge the state apparatus of Indo-Guyanese is the religious community. These groups continue to pray for those in authority, even though it is clear that the Government is practising racial discrimination.”

“It is time to break the silence,” Ramotar said, as he urged the aforementioned organisations to speak out against the Government’s attack on the hardworking people of this nation, who, he indicated, invested heavily all their time and energy into shaping the economy into what it is today.

“It is time for them to break their silence. Is the talk of brotherhood of man mere words or do they really mean it? If they do, they should speak now before it is too late,” he penned in his statement.

Ethnic cleansing

Ramotar reiterated that the witch-hunt that is taking place in the various Government agencies is a form of ethnic cleansing as a vast majority of the persons sent on leave or being dismissed are Indo-Guyanese or are regarded as supporters of the People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C).

“They are being ‘discarded’ at a rapid pace. This campaign is being executed despite the fact that Indo-Guyanese have always been a minority in the public service,” he alarmingly stated, noting that it appeared that the APNU+AFC Administration was attempting to denude the public service of Indo-Guyanese.

“The accusation of racial and political discrimination being levelled against the de facto regime by the PPP certainly bears much merit,” Ramotar insisted.

Further, he said the APNU/AFC regime seemed to be determined to turn back the hands of time to the Burnham days.

“During the Burnham period, it took much more time to make every Government institution an arm of the PNC [People’s National Congress]. Indeed, it took years and only accelerated after the 1973 rigged elections. Today, the Granger regime is trying to achieve this in less than 100 days,” Ramotar said.

Moreover, Ramotar said these brazen attacks were being executed even by the Guyana Police Force (GPF).

He referred to the recent incident where five persons, all of Indo-Guyanese descent, were charged for drunk driving, citing it as a clear case of racial discrimination.

“It is clear that members of the Guyana Police Force, who work road patrols, recognising the attitude of the Central Government towards Indo-Guyanese employees, take that as carte blanche to target road users of Indian descent. This was a problem in the past, but now it appears that the Traffic Police, sensing the Granger Government’s position, is discriminating much more openly,” Ramotar stated.

In addition, Ramotar reminded that the attacks, discrimination and marginalisation of Indo-Guyanese by a previous PNC Government led to massive economic decline and eventually the impoverishment of almost all Guyanese and as such, “it is time” to stop all forms of racial and political discrimination in Guyana.

“Such policies will eventually lead to social and economic ruination,” he predicted.