Dear Editor,
With regards to your tribute to Sir Sridath Ramphal
(editorial Nov 19) on
being awarded the Indira Gandhi Peace prize, we must not
forget his role in election rigging and the subsequent
rise of the Burnham authoritarian state. Many Guyanese
still view Ramphal as a pariah, thirty years after he
parted company with Burnham to become Secretary General
of the Commonwealth. He is not welcome in their company.
Sir Sridath Ramphal
Every time Ramphal's name comes up, I think of the
suffering of my brethren, their denial of the right to
vote, the starvation diet, kick down the door robberies,
and generally all of the terrible things of the Burnham
era. Ramphal may have played some role in promoting
peace in the international arena, but he certainly made
little, if any, effort to encourage peace in his native
land which is on the brink of collapse.
I cannot celebrate any of Ramphal's achievements and
I don't think any Guyanese should, until he tenders an
apology for the wrongs committed on Guyanese when he was
the Attorney General.
Yours faithfully,
