APPRECIATE DR. BISRAM’S “UNFULFILLED LIFE”

Sep 14, 2024 Letters

Dear Editor,

Sham Rahman Mohammed, if such a name exists, (KN Sep 11) characterized Dr. Vishnu Bisram’s multiple degrees and countless commentaries as that of a person who has an “unfulfilled life”.

People should have the freedom to critique but not to attack the personal. I hope Vishnu’s life continues to remain unfulfilled so that he can continue to earn more accredited academic degrees (not bogus ones like those in government have) and enlighten us on matters we otherwise would have been ignorant about. His bold writings speak to the reality of the lives of Guyanese at home and in the Diaspora. Is there any other who has done that?

Vishnu Bisram needs no assistance to defend his achievements and has been writing on a multitude of issues because no one else has the background, capacity, willingness, and courage to volunteer time to write on matters impacting the nation. Dr. Bisram has published countless articles in the mass media, journals, and books on the Guyanese and the Caribbean people’s experiences in the region and the Diaspora and on global events and his ancestral India. Yet a fake name trope has the mean-spirited temerity to criticize this Guyanese patriot and intellectual giant.

Only an ingrate would not appreciate the contribution of a dynamic freedom fighter, one among a handful, who spent his entire life championing democracy in and writing on Guyana and Guyanese and Caribbean people. Dr. Bisram is among a few who consistently has advocated for a multi-racial, inclusive democracy for Guyana with equality for all and who has done so with patient, persistent hard work on the ground, lobbying international governments about the state of affairs in Guyana to get support for free and fair elections — work that benefited the PPP, AFC and the minor parties on the issue of democracy. He has continued his commitment to Guyana even after the restoration of democracy in 1992, investing precious time and resources when others gave up on the homeland. And when democracy was threatened in 2020, he was out front engaging in investigative journalism and flooding the press with articles as well as lobbying governments to ensure the will of voters prevail. Which one at Freedom House did more to save democracy in 2020?

Unlike others, Dr. Bisram fought for every ethnic and religious group to participate in the democratic process and to equally enjoy the benefits of the state, a goal that has eluded the nation in spite of 32 years of democracy and rotating governments.

My first encounter with Vishnu Bisram was in the 1980s on trips to Trinidad and Guyana. He came across as humble, and simple; I never knew he was the Vishnu Bisram whose writings were in the papers regularly. We were at several rallies and other events in Guyana. Promoting democracy, equality, and justice, have been the genesis and hallmark of his struggle. He, Ravi Dev, Baytoram Ramharack, Vassan Ramracha, Rennie Ramracha, and others out of the USA volunteered their time with utmost dedication and devotion and committed resources in that revolutionary struggle to restore democracy to Guyana. They met with and worked closely with Dr. Fenton Ramsahoye who I also engaged in Trinidad and Guyana during my activist days in the 1980s onwards in that struggle for FFE. The PPP benefited from their struggle for FFE.

No one currently in the PPP government ever committed and or participated with such commitment in any struggle. The current officials of the government are all beneficiaries of the struggle of the above and of myself, Clement Rohee, the Jagan’s, the Ramkarran’s, Nagamootoo, Nokta, Ramotar, Nanda Gopaul, Walter Rodney, Rupert Roopnarine, Moses Bhagwan, Paul Tennassee, Reepudaman Persaud, Eusi Kwayana, Vishnu Bandhu, among others. The Jagdeo’s, Irfaan Ali’s, Nandlall’s, Ashni Singh’s, Robert Persaud’s, Croal’s, McCoy’s were not in the streets receiving physical blows from goons and being locked up for protesting. Yet the ingrate beneficiaries have the temerity to criticize others and to pay tropes to attack those of us who were responsible for the return of democracy in Guyana. Instead of criticizing and paying trolls, the beneficiaries should conduct puja and perform aarti at their feet.

A man of integrity who commands respect internationally and one who spent personal resources to travel the globe from 1977 to 1992 to champion democracy is being ridiculed by the beneficiaries as having an unfulfilled life. That is the government of Guyana. Where is Guyana going with these ingrate characters who are in charge of the government?

I should note politicians in Guyana on both sides have been using race to tighten grip on their party and on power once in office. It is not Dr. Bisram who is using religion and race. Look around and observe who gets contracts — race and religion are factors. Much wealth has been accumulated by those who rose to the Ministerial level, with the rare exception of a couple of them. The government has become a family business affair. The involvement in politics has made some multi-millionaires and a few near billionaires in American dollar terms. Meanwhile, the poor are getting poorer, and the rich are wealthier. The gap between the poor and rich is widening and poverty is growing. Rather than spending money targeting critics and members of civic society and scholars like Dr. Bertrand Ramcharran, the government should redirect that large sum of money to help address basic human needs, notably in assisting the poor and dispossessed to combat rising prices for food.

Post-Jagan PPP may not appreciate Dr. Bisram’s pro-democracy movement from 1968 onwards, but the rest of Guyana does. Guyanese from all walks of life and strata of society appreciate the work of Dr. Bisram. His more than 50 years of voluntary service to Guyanese helped to restore and protect democracy in our homeland and institutionalize or strengthen the need for opinion polling in Guyana as well as in several other Caribbean societies, not the least being Trinidad, Grenada, Dominica, Antigua, among others.

Dr. Bisram has published countless articles in the mass media, journals, and books on the Guyanese and the Caribbean people’s experiences in the region and the diaspora and on global events and India. He never ever boasted about his academic credentials. I thank Sham Rahaman Mohammed for bringing his credentials to public attention. It is not an achievement to ridicule but to celebrate.

Please continue to have an unfulfilled life Dr. Bisram with your writings and academic pursuits! We are proud of you!

Yours Sincerely,

Leyland Roopnaraine

• degrees, Dr. Vishnu Bisram, Leyland Roopnaraine, personal, Sham Rahman Mohammed