Trinidad Express Opinion

by

I WOULD like to convey my congratulations to Brian Lara on his achievement of the captaincy of the West Indies cricket team and to let him know that his task is difficult in more ways than one.

You are aware, Lara, that many West Indian opinion-makers-CLR James, Michael Manley and Frank Birbalsingh amongst them-have said that cricket is not just a sport in the West Indies but a political force. It can be used to unite the peoples of the West Indies when nothing or no one else can do so.

There are certain West Indian politicians who are proving to be quite delusional. They think that governance is an inherent right of Afro-West Indians, and anyone else daring to assume that authority is an interloper, to be dealt with swiftly. Heading that list is the Opposition Leader of Guyana Desmond Hoyte.

He was a member of the despotic Burnham dictatorship that plundered and pillaged Guyana for more than two decades. We ought never to forget that under Burnham Indo-Guyanese were murdered, imprisoned falsely, raped, robbed and oppressed in a most fearsome way. Many simply disappeared into thin air. Guyana in fact experienced a racial bloodbath in the Wismar incident in the 1960s where an entire village of Indo-Guyanese was massacred.

Not only were people killed, but the physical infrastructure of the country was destroyed. There was no water, electricity, medical care, food, educational facilities or other basic amenities. The country was overrun with bush and left in ruins. And Hoyte was a part of the regime that perpetrated that disaster. In fact, he inherited it.

There were claims that in the final stages of the Hoyte administration he liberalised the economic system and was introducing new measures to rebuild Guyana. And that was true. But it was being done under a cloud of oppression. There was no great rush by foreigners and prosperous foreign-based Guyanese to return home and invest their money.

I was a visitor to Guyana in those last days and a witness to Hoyte's operations. Landing at the airport was an ordeal. So many questions to answer from grim-faced officials. An inordinate number of long forms to fill out and declarations to be made. Visitors were routinely strip-searched.
Guyanese moved about furtively and spoke in whispers. I remember my husband dragging heavy furniture in front of the door of the hotel we stayed in.

One year later, when Cheddi Jagan won the elections, there was quite a transformation. Smiling, welcoming faces at the airport. Fewer, shorter forms to fill out. People were laughing and talking freely. There was an atmosphere of lightness and gaiety. Guyanese were saying that they had got the greatest gift from Jagan-freedom. Recon-struction had begun in earnest, and that is what Guyana stands to lose if Hoyte returns to power.

Of all the West Indian leaders he might align himself with, Patrick Manning chose Hoyte. Manning ought to be reminded that there were two failed uprisings in Trinidad, executed by Afro-Trinidadians-not Indians- while Afro-Trinidadian Prime Ministers were in power.

If Indians were involved at all, it was only peripherally.

The country was also looted, burnt and almost destroyed. A person would never destroy what he has built.

Indians have never caused any trouble in this country. They are polite to a fault. Manning knows that he can go anywhere, any time to the rural districts-to chutney shows, festivals or political meetings-and be treated with dignity and respect.

Yet these are the people Hoyte and Manning are claiming are not fit to rule. In the midst of it all there is this frightening, underlying message: "We would rather destroy the country than let you run it."

I hope I am being delusional now.

Why am I telling you all this, Lara? It is because of the special friendship you allegedly share with Shivnarine Chanderpaul. If that is so, then you need to nurture that friendship. You need to show Hoyte and Manning that Indians and Africans, whether Guyanese or Trinidadian, can and do live well together.

Whoever said the job of the West Indian cricket captain was an easy one?

May the runs flow once again for you both and may you restore West Indian cricket to its former glory.