Latest update March 28th, 2024 12:59 AM
Aug 05, 2014 Letters
DEAR EDITOR
The Central Islamic Organization of Guyana refers to a letter by Mr. Frederick Kissoon published in your Sunday edition of August 3rd 2014 under the caption “Fazeel Feroze is not post-racial in the least”.
I wish to correct a few statements made by Mr. Kissoon in defence of CIOG. Our Organization as rightly stated is a Muslim religious Organization. By virtue of its name, we as Muslims are commanded by Islamic law to denounce racism and do not even contemplate practicing it. This is why in every Mosque we have people of all ethnicities praying shoulder to shoulder as brothers and sisters. This concept is at all times encouraged and practiced by CIOG, and we categorically refute the claim made by Mr. Kissoon that CIOG is a “racially prone organization with preference for East Indians”.
We refer to Mr. Kissoon’s reference to CIOG’s relationship with the head of State and the Government of the day. CIOG has always maintained a cordial and close working relationship with all Governments and functionaries, similarly with Ambassadors, High Commissioners and foreign countries representatives in Guyana.
This is a necessary requirement for any head of an Organization such as CIOG, a charitable body, as it enables us to seek the humanitarian assistance required by our people from those in authority. This over the years has proven to be beneficial, and in some cases life saving for many deserving cases. We would do no less if a new government is in place, and will travel with any head of state if requested to assist in the service of our country.
As and when necessary, the CIOG will have no hesitation in offering our appreciation to any Government official, Opposition leader or Member, or anyone that has contributed to our cause in the service to our people.
The CIOG wishes to state most categorically that we were never involved in the formation of the Indian Arrival Committee, and have never been a member of the Committee, nor do we partake in any of the activities of the Committee. This statement is a blatant misrepresentation by Mr. Kissoon. As for statements made by the MYO, we wish to inform Mr. Kissoon that the MYO is a separate entity from CIOG, and we cannot monitor or will not dare to justify their pronouncements.
The CIOG considers the judiciary and other law enforcement agencies as independent entities, and will not condone or intervene in their functions. Mr. Kissoon failed to produce any evidence to substantiate his generalization of the accusations made as to CIOG’s involvement or influences exerted to circumvent the laws of Guyana. He must be aware of the dangers of hearsay from anonymous sources.
We wish to state categorically that the doors of CIOG are always open to all, irrespective of their ethnicity. While we are not sure as to the census used by Mr. Kissoon to arrive at a percentage as to who is in the CIOG, we wish to advise that CIOG does not have an individual membership programme. We maintain as members, the membership of Jaamats or Masjids, which incorporate the communities of each Mosque throughout Guyana.
We trust that certain misrepresentations and misinformation have been addressed, and we thank you for facilitating the publication of CIOG’s perspective on matters raised by Mr. Kissoon.
Fazeel M. Ferouz
President-CIOG
THIS IDIOT TELLING GUYANA WE HAVE NO SAY IN THE 50% PROFIT SHARING AGREEMENT WE HAVE WITH EXXON.
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