Latest update April 17th, 2024 12:59 AM
Mar 07, 2011 Letters
Dear Editor,
I was away in India and did not read Mr. Freddie Kissoon’s fictional writings for two weeks. It has been brought to my attention on March 5 that he took a jab at me in his February 25 fictional column. I wish to correct Kissoon’s unfounded and unproven claims and insinuations.
After a hiatus of the last year in which Kissoon avoided me like the plague fearing my exposures of his lack of intellectual capability and his fictional writings, apparently he has decided to resume his personality attacks against me.
In previous articles, Kissoon insinuated Vishnu Bisram does not exist even though we met several times. It shows his shallow memory and how much he is enveloped in himself that he does not pay attention to what others write or whom he met. I met Kissoon several times at GUARD functions, in the company of Fr. Morrison; others would confirm these passing meetings. I met Kissoon in front of the library at UG when he made derogatory comments and signs about TRPI polls (Dr. Baytoram Ramharack and Vassan Ramracha would confirm this fact).
I met Freddie at the home of a prominent opposition politician and at the office of a prominent businessman whose identities I never revealed and will never reveal. He was there to collect information on his columns. He encouraged me to submit my commentaries to Kaieteur News when I used to submit them exclusively to SN.
Kissoon also claimed I am not employed as a teacher anywhere in the world and claimed I am a real estate agent in NY. For the record, I never possessed a real estate licence (not that anything is wrong in being a RE). I possessed professional licences to teach Chemistry and General Sciences, Math and Social Studies (since the mid 1980s) and in addition was licensed as an Educational District Administrator and Principal (since around 2000) – incidentally, few educators are licensed in Social and natural sciences and Maths. Kissoon was able to confirm my employment which requires a licence to teach. In addition to working as a teacher, I worked also at City College, New York University and CUNY Graduate Centre (during the 1970s thru 1980s). I also served in the undergrad and grad student governments at CCNY and at the Doctoral Student Council at CUNY Grad Centre representing Sociology during the 1970s and 1980s.
Kissoon claimed I did not visit Guyana to conduct polls. I have been a regular visitor to Guyana since 1981 making almost annual visits and at times twice or three times a year during school breaks. Journalists attached to SN and Chronicle would confirm my regular presence in Guyana. There are also politicians and friends who would confirm my presence in Guyana annually and or whenever I conducted polls.
I met politicians during every trip as I would visit Parliament building to listen to debates and visited old friends from all the political parties. So contrary to what Kissoon suggested, the AFC, WPA, PNC, PPP, etc. did not need to conduct research on whether Vishnu Bisram was in Guyana. Some of their MPs would have met me in passing or I visited them.
I don’t think Mr. Kissoon was involved in the anti-dictatorial struggle. If so, he would have known about me. Since 1976, I was involved in the anti-dictatorial struggle on the Corentyne and then in NY from 1977 walking the picket line and organising activities with my colleagues from college. Everyone involved in the struggle knew me including Dr. and Mrs. Jagan, Arjune Karshan, Moses Nagamootoo, Khemraj Ramjattan, Sash Sawh, Lionel Peters, Ravi Dev, Mansoor Nadir, Rupert Roopnarine, Eusi Kwayana, Paul Tennassee. Asgar Ally, etc.
Freedom fighters in London, Toronto, Trinidad and Miami also knew early of my contributions to the struggle. Something is wrong when all the major political players know me but Kissoon does not – it means he was not involved in the struggle. Incidentally, Kissoon had also claimed I never visited Grenada to conduct polls even though I was there about a dozen times appearing on TV and radio and met editors of the newspapers during each visit.
Kissoon claimed Janet Jagan would have conducted detailed research to find out who was Vishnu Bisram if my polls showed PPP would not win an election. Kissoon neglected to state that Janet also would have done research on Kissoon on which university he studied to so incompetently misinterpret social theories reflecting badly on those universities. For the record, Mrs. Jagan did criticise the NACTA poll in March 2001 questioning why the poll was unable to state unequivocally that the PPP would win a majority of the votes. The poll had given the PPP 49% with a follow up poll to be conducted and did find the PPP winning a majority (53%) reflecting the actual outcome. That was not a fiction, as Freddie claims.
Freddie, my brother, your writings are fictions as you don’t seem to understand what you read from social theorists when you mis-paraphrase them. If you quote them correctly, your arguments won’t hold up to scrutiny. This stands in sharp contrast to intellects like Ravi Dev or Dr. Henrey Jeffrey who show, in their rebuttals to your poor arguments, their superior mastery of the writings of social theorists.
Freddie, as I previously advised, don’t comment on theories and concepts you don’t comprehend. I am still waiting for your apology.
Vishnu Bisram
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