President in full support of Jagdeo’s remarks on tackling racism

Amid the recent misinformation being peddled by some sections of the media, which have accused former President Bharrat Jagdeo of making racist remarks during his tribute at Pandit Reepu Daman Persaud’s funeral last week, President Donald Ramotar has fully supported the comments of his predecessor.
Speaking to the media on Wednesday, Ramotar said he did not see anything wrong with the statement because fundamentally the former president was speaking about equal opportunity for all.

The president noted that certain media houses appear bent on focusing on racism, failing to mention the main point Jagdeo made, which is the need for equal opportunity for all Guyanese.
The president pointed out that these media houses are insinuating racism, particularly due to the court case where Jagdeo brought a lawsuit, when he was president, against Kaieteur News columnist Freddie Kissoon, its editor-in-chief Adam Harris, and the National Media and Publishing Company, which publishes the newspaper.
Ramotar said the press seems to be uncritical about the opposition parties and is hostile to the government. At the service, Jagdeo stated that Guyana is a better place now because of the significant contributions made by the late Persaud, as well as the late president, Dr Cheddi Jagan, toward the development of the country.
“They were never bigoted; they were warm-minded individuals. That is why the PPP/C remains open to people of all races, to people of all religions… I grew up in the party, I’ve never gone to an official meeting where people’s race or religion was discussed as factors of mobilisation, or for keeping them in the party,” Jagdeo said.
It was within this context that the former president went on to lament the fact that there appears to have been a resurgence of some form of prejudice against Guyanese of East Indian descent, primarily from opposition political parties, which he said are accusing the People’s Progressive Party/ Civic of showing favouritism towards this section of the population.
“What bothers me today is that, in the new politics of Guyana, there seems to be a rebirth of some of these same feelings,” Jagdeo said, speaking with Guyana Times International and commenting on the misleading editorial of Stabroek News.
Jagdeo again referred to a list of 38 persons, who, because of ethnicity, were used in an ongoing court case to suggest that the PPP/C employed them in the public service purely because of race, and that this was an indication that the current administration is discriminating against other sections of the population.
He said the impression that this is creating is that the PPP/C government is giving people of East Indian origin preferential treatment.