A "guest" letter borrowed from the Kaieteur News
Are the ministers, advisors, and ambassadors of this naked king the same species and purpose of filth?
If I am going to write an impassioned novel, I will name it “The Day of the Champion.” In this piece I will write about a filthy man with a filthy mind, a depraved hero who has fallen into the convolutions of his primitive instincts, a man who can’t contain his love and resolve to wallow in filth. This novel will not exclude beauty and exuberance, but will also talk about the fear and insecurity of a man, a weak and frightened man who drinks the wine of power to flex his muscles in a travesty of strength. In a childhood story I was told, I will write at length about this man who rides a white horse as a king, boasting his fine clothes and jewellery, with thousands of his people waving banners, throwing garlands, and singing his praise that he is the best-dressed man ever to walk this earth. Then I will write about the little boy who was both astonished and baffled at seeing the king on a white horse, a naked king in pornographic obscenity, with the hypocrisy of thousands celebrating this king in his best regal apparel. Then the little boy cried, “King, king, you have on no clothes!”
This book I will write will have a basic theme, with a question: “How can a man be a champion of decency, nature, and beauty when he is a prisoner of the lowest qualities of the human mind, a man obsessed with the crudest repulsiveness on “Earth” of a thing called ‘filth’?” I will ask another question, “Are the ministers, advisors, and ambassadors of this naked king the same species and purpose of filth?” Where is the intellectuality of these ministers, ambassadors, and advisors? Where is the shame, the sense of justice, morality, and personal decency? Has the word “filth” metamorphosed into meanings of parliaments, cabinets, family life, international diplomacy, economic strategies, cultural expositions, offices of presidents, and social justice?
What troubles me most is the overt and covert humour of a particular ethnic section of Guyana about this plot and execution of filth. I am a Hindu and East Indian. Nowhere in our Vedas, Itihaases and Puraanas our heroes and celestial deities condone this raakshas (demonic and fecal) act of throwing filth on a writer and academic to thwart freedom of expression. But I am now wondering if this king without clothes is given permission and rights to rewrite the tomes of our resplendent Hindu past, to rewrite it with the putrid and odious ink of filth.
I will certainly write this novel, titled “The Day of the Champion.”
Churaumanie Bissundyal
Showing posts with label United Kingdom. Show all posts
Showing posts with label United Kingdom. Show all posts
Friday, May 28, 2010
Sunday, May 16, 2010
An award for the forest while Guyana sinks lower
The United Nations has long and respectable history. Having replaced a failed League of Nations, the United Nations under various stewardship over the many decades have investigated some of the world’s most horrific crimes against humanity.
And, the United Kingdom has recently recommended that the Guyana government independently investigate the death of more than 400 Guyanese and asking the government to bring the perpetrators of the death squad killings to justice.
But there is an obvious double standard that the United Nations and its members have overlooked. It is with no doubt that the dictator they awarded the Champion of the Forest award, is the person who has stifled the essence of a democratic society.
We know the UN is fully aware of the existing situation in Guyana as contained in the Gay McDougal Report of 2009.
In that report, McDougal examined the racial complexity of the society and listed a number of what was believed to be racial discrimination as complaints of the violent deaths of hundreds of Guyanese were also brought to her attention.
The UN is aware that the PPP government shot down the McDougal Report and even attacking the professional who spent time in Guyana meeting officials including the government.
The existing hold of the government has on the state media is no secret either to the United Nations.
Guyana has a very poor record with the onlookers and it ranges from the withdrawal of the ads to the independent Stabroek News, closure of CNS Ch 6, the refusal to address Broadcast Legislation, the manipulation of the State Media and the constant threat to media houses by the Head of State himself. And more recently, the steady increase of state ads to the Guyana Times, well-known best friend of the president.
These are no secrets.
Several international bodies have ranked Guyana’s corruption - both government and other wise, the crime situation and the delicate investment situation but yet the double standards that exist awards a dictator with an award. On first look that award is unjustifiable - and a large part of the LCDS money is being spent to "honor" Jagdeo for his award. Yet, it has to be a cruel joke that he gets an award for the forest - trees and animals, while the people are starving and the nation sinks in a rot of corruption that the awardee is himself a part of.
It is a timely reminder that there is no helping hands - but our own to ourselves.
And, the United Kingdom has recently recommended that the Guyana government independently investigate the death of more than 400 Guyanese and asking the government to bring the perpetrators of the death squad killings to justice.
But there is an obvious double standard that the United Nations and its members have overlooked. It is with no doubt that the dictator they awarded the Champion of the Forest award, is the person who has stifled the essence of a democratic society.
We know the UN is fully aware of the existing situation in Guyana as contained in the Gay McDougal Report of 2009.
In that report, McDougal examined the racial complexity of the society and listed a number of what was believed to be racial discrimination as complaints of the violent deaths of hundreds of Guyanese were also brought to her attention.
The UN is aware that the PPP government shot down the McDougal Report and even attacking the professional who spent time in Guyana meeting officials including the government.
The existing hold of the government has on the state media is no secret either to the United Nations.
Guyana has a very poor record with the onlookers and it ranges from the withdrawal of the ads to the independent Stabroek News, closure of CNS Ch 6, the refusal to address Broadcast Legislation, the manipulation of the State Media and the constant threat to media houses by the Head of State himself. And more recently, the steady increase of state ads to the Guyana Times, well-known best friend of the president.
These are no secrets.
Several international bodies have ranked Guyana’s corruption - both government and other wise, the crime situation and the delicate investment situation but yet the double standards that exist awards a dictator with an award. On first look that award is unjustifiable - and a large part of the LCDS money is being spent to "honor" Jagdeo for his award. Yet, it has to be a cruel joke that he gets an award for the forest - trees and animals, while the people are starving and the nation sinks in a rot of corruption that the awardee is himself a part of.
It is a timely reminder that there is no helping hands - but our own to ourselves.
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