Dear Editor,
This letter is in reference to your editorial, “Kenya’s Westgate Mall” (Guyana Times, September 29). Such a heinous killing must be condemned, as also the attack on a church in Peshawar, Pakistan, that killed dozens of worshippers. At Westgate, people were singled out and killed. They were separated based on their religion and executed.
Scribes described it as a massacre of Kenyans of Indian origin. Our fellow Caribbean Community (Caricom) national Ravindra Ramrattan, a Trinidadian, was cut down in the prime of his life.
Ramrattan was in Kenya, working with a non-governmental organisation (NGO) to help alleviate poverty when he was shot in cold blood. He was an unbelievable scholar. He hid in a store and texted his sister that he was safe. But the killers found him and executed him.
Westgate was Kenya’s worst mass killing based on religious fanaticism. The mall is located in one of the most affluent and cosmopolitan neighbourhoods in Kenya and is a host to several international events. It is in the heart of the Indian diaspora communities in Nairobi, the capital.
Crazed Jihadists took the lives of several nationalities, but the largest number (at least 30) were of Indian or South Asian descent or from the Indian diaspora.
Kenya is home to a large number of people of Indian descent. The British brought them to build East Africa’s railway network. There were several engineers and who managed the rail stations, as well as worked as rail-guards and engine drivers.
About a century ago, an Indian, Girdhari Lal, set up the Colonial Times newspaper and he advocated for Kenyan independence similar to Jomo Kenyatta.
In time, the Indian diaspora settled around Parklands where Westgate is located and built hospitals, schools and community centres. The Westgate Mall was a hub for the Indian community.
Some 25,000 people visit the mall on weekends. There is a two-storey Indian-owned Nakumatt grocery store that attracts a lot of shoppers. It was destroyed by the terrorists.
There are also banks, shops, restaurants and a multiplex. When the attack took place, rescue operations were organised from the Oshwal Community Centre, owned by Indians.
Many of the injured, from all ethnic groups, were rushed to the Indian-built hospitals.
The world must rally against such religious extremism. I am so proud of the Central Islamic Organisation of Guyana (CIOG) coming out and condemning the terrorists, and others should also do the same. Extremism must not be allowed to go unchecked.
Yours faithfully,
Vishnu Bisram