Parvati Persaud-Edwards fired for penning Chronicle editorial

Jul 11, 2012 News

– Editor Rashid Osman suspended

Parvati Persaud-Edwards

Freelance journalist Parvati Persaud-Edwards has been relieved of her duties at the Guyana Chronicle for penning the recent editorial that sparked outrage over its alleged racist content.
Kaieteur News understands that the decision to fire Persaud-Edwards was made by the Chronicle’s Board of Directors.
According to sources, the Board has also decided to suspend Editor Raschid Osman, since he is the editor who was on duty at the time when the editorial was published.
Osman is on leave at present but he is to be notified of the disciplinary action when he resumes duty.
The incendiary editorial, which was published on July 3, 2012, claimed that young African Guyanese youths are “socialized” by the opposition to rob and murder Indian Guyanese. The editorial concluded that “hatred of Indians is ingrained in their psyche.”
Its publishing caused condemnation from several organizations and prominent citizens, with some calling for a boycott of the state-owned entity.
This prompted the Chronicle’s Chairman of the Board of Directors Keith Burrowes to issue an apology.
“Though I was not directly involved in the oversight of this publication nor was I aware of its contents, this article still should not have passed the Editor’s desk and eventually went to publication,” Burrowes noted.
According to Burrowes, the views expressed in the publication by no means represent the majority of shareholders, the Board nor the Management and staff of Chronicle.
“It should be noted that the action has and will be taken against those (the Editor –who was on duty – and the writer of the article) who were responsible for this particular publication and if it is found that there were others who contributed to the article, the relevant disciplinary actions will be taken.”