This gov’t must respect the right to protest

Dear Editor,

I wish to make it pellucid to the nation, to our Government of the day, and to the Opposition that I have no political priority in my life. If I am speaking for the Government, then it is because I am a fair commentator, and if I am speaking on behalf of the Opposition of the country, then I am also speaking as a fair commentator.

I read with disappointment, a recent article, “Democratic right to protest denied in Region 1 as Police bar citizens from Granger’s ‘Cabinet’ campaigning,” published in the Guyana Times, Saturday, September 21st, 2019 edition. I cannot help but proclaim my utter disagreement with the Government of the Day and the Guyana Police Force, for which I always have maximum respect, but it is wrong for them to deny people the right to protest. The Government cannot interfere with the rights of its citizens to picket just because it disagrees with the picketer’s views. They cannot make the conclusive decision that these views might be of a nuisance to them. Instead, they must take reasonable steps to enable citizens to protest and to protect participants in peaceful demonstrations from disruption by others. In simpler terminology, they have the right to prevent violence, they have the right to arrest people if they break the law, but they have no right to prevent these kinds of expression which are enshrined in democratic values.

Government of Guyana, how shameful it is that even at this time, after being so long in power, that you are unable to preserve the rights of the people of this magnificent country? How dare our Law enforcement officers violate this right through means intended to thwart free public expression? Political leaders, President of the State, I earnestly remind you that you have got to remember that people have a right to peaceful protest; otherwise it means that democracy is being hijacked by the powers. It is as if the Government and the Guyana Police Force believe that they have a veto power over all speech. At the end of the day, dear Government, we are Citizens! Not subjects! We are employers of Government, Opposition and Political Institutions, and we the people can hire and fire at will. (And for stating this, a group I call the Shadow Cabinet of the current Government tried to destroy me over the last few years and my business, but respectfully, I will never relent. Success is not dependent on the power of a few individuals but on the blessings of God Almighty and the power of birth.)

I can reflect very well in the days of the PPP/C being in power, His Excellency David Arthur Granger himself was leading picketing exercises against the Minister of Home Affairs, and several other places as well. No one ever tried to stop them from exercising their democratic right to picket. And I stood there admiring democracy in action. I politely raised my hand to them.

If I may remind you, the right to protest is vital for a democracy. And when this democratic right of ours is suppressed, it becomes disadvantageous, thus creating unfavourable situations. The intention is not to create chaos, but to express the plight of the people to the state, and that the issues of the citizens of this great country are heard by the Government.

Yours faithfully, Hajji Dr. Roshan Khan