Latest update April 23rd, 2024 12:59 AM
Sep 25, 2016 Features / Columnists, Peeping Tom
What does it mean to be anti-national? Does the criticism of the government or its policies, internationally by a citizen or the opposition constitute an anti- nationalist position?
During the bitter struggle to end the PNC dictatorship in Guyana, all avenues for peaceful protest in Guyana had been exhausted. The government was not tolerant of dissent or criticism. It was ruthless in snuffing out protest and stifling free expression.
Most of the media came under the control of the government. The few independent outlets that existed faced prosecution. The opposition Mirror newspapers was forced to close after it could not obtain newsprint. It was terrible time for free expression in Guyana. The only outlet that was left was for the internationalizing of the issues.
The PNC in those days used to complain that the PPP and the WPA was bad-mouthing Guyana internationally. But the only valve of protest that was left open to the people of Guyana was the international valve.
Today of course, it is not unusual to find groups protesting in foreign countries outside foreign embassies, the United Nations and major summits of international leaders. These protests are their way of bringing attention to their plight and of applying international pressure on their governments. To call such actions anti-national does not carry much currency these days.
Internationalizing your cause can also take place on local soil. It does not have to involve political parties. It can involve local personnel. In 1979, the founder of the Stabroek News, David De Caires, presented a petition signed by forty-six prominent individuals to the United States Ambassador in Guyana. The petition called on the Burnham government to resign.
In presenting the petition, De Caries wanted the United States government to be made aware of concerns about human rights violations in Guyana. Was that anti-nationalist?
If people have issues, if they have grouses, then by all means they should have a right to ventilate these issues in whatever forum they feel necessary. This is not about taking an anti-national stance. In fact, the protestors will indicate that they are taking a pro-nationalist stance because they want to improve things in their country.
The anti-nationalist accusation is most often these days uttered in relation to opposition parties writing to foreign governments complaining about the actions of government or demanding that certain things be put right.
The government of Norway recently sent down a team to do a review of certain projects in Guyana and the opposition felt slighted that it was not consulted by the team. The government cannot be blamed for this. You do not expect the government to arrange audiences with the opposition for foreign representatives.
Guyana’s political culture, has not reached that level of maturity as yet. Indeed, the political parties in very few countries have reached that stage of political maturity.
The PPPC, however, has a right to write the government of Norway to express its concern about the lack of a broad-based consultative process. It has a right to let its views be known. After all it was the PPP agreements that are under scrutiny.
This cannot be anti-nationalist and the government should not be raising this bogey.
The APNU and the AFC, when the agreement with Norway, was being negotiated did raise some concerns which obviously got to the hearing of the Norwegians. The opposition wanted parliamentary approval for the use of the funds provided by the Norwegians. It succeeded. It shows the value of international action. That action should never be deemed anti-national since it cannot be established to have hurt the country.
An anti-national act is one that is detrimental to the development of the country. But what actions are detrimental are not always very clear and obvious. To ask a foreign government, for example, to place sanctions on a government, may be seen as an ant-nationalist position. But to those fighting for their freedoms, it may be a way of the international community refusing to condone certain practices. One man’s meat is another man’s poison.
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