Youths should be educated about their history

– top US-based Guyanese scholar

BY MICHAEL YOUNGE

Renowned Guyanese Scholar, US Attorney-at-Law and political activist Dr Dolly Hassan has slammed political leaders of Opposition APNU/AFC who are seeking to trivialise the importance of Guyana’s political history and the impact it has on creating more informed, rounded and better educated youth voters.

Dr Hassan migrated to the United States of America in the late 1960’s and has studied as well as worked on several laudable projects and human rights initiatives which benefited political parties in Guyana in the early 1980’s.

She is also one of the outstanding academics, lecturers and Attorneys-at-Law that have made an invaluable contribution to the body politic at home and abroad, the education sector and the overall wellbeing of poor and underprivileged citizens from various parts of the region and wider world.

Her comments come at a time when the PNC-led A Partnership for National Unity and Alliance for Change (APNU/AFC) coalition have called on Guyanese to reject the ruling Party’s and several commentators and analysts’ views about the PNC’s past.

Both Presidential and Prime Ministerial candidates David Granger and Moses Nagamootoo have failed to respond effectively to the charges made by the ruling party about their track record, the illegalities committed under the PNC in the form of elections rigging, human rights violations, racial profiling and other forms of executive lawlessness and misdemeanour in public office.

This has forced the PPP/C’s Presidential Candidate Donald Ramotar, General Secretary Clement Rohee and former President Bharrat Jagdeo to call them out on a number of occasions while effectively urging Guyanese to reject the PNC/APNU/AFC’s attempt to downplay the importance of educating youths about their socio-economic and political history ahead of the May 11 elections.

Dr Hassan, in a letter to a section of the media, warned against adopting a culture that would see young people being encouraged to look past their pasts to the future without understanding the importance of events which took place that could shape their future views of what should constitute or not constitute development and progress as ideal phenomena in Guyana.

“The way the debate now goes is this: the election is about the future of the country and therefore it is only the dinosaurian relics in our society that dredge up the brutal history of the dictatorial People’s National Congress (PNC).

Thus, it is argued, we should forget the past – not mention how the PNC behaved when in office – and let the young people vote in ignorance”, Dr Hassan said in her contribution to the local discussion on the way forward for the country in the lead up to the 2015 May 11 elections.

She argued that “some politicians, with glee, often boast that the young people do not even remember Walter Rodney or Forbes Burnham. That to me is a shameful loss. Youths ought to learn, not block their history”. Dr Hassan who studied at Howard University and George Washington University in the United States explained that advocating such a position is counterproductive and unhelpful in shaping critical thinking youths who could make informed decisions.

“I would argue instead the best voter is an informed voter. He or she should go to the polls informed about the past, informed about the policies and practices of all parties in and out of power, and then cast the ballot, one not based on race but on reason.

“It may well be that the young are more inclined to give the PNC a pass on its history of excesses. So be it then”, she posited. But Dr Hassan also admitted that there were a slew of atrocities committed by the PNC under the leadership of Forbes Burnham which she suggested still affects the thinking patterns of many and cannot be removed by simply telling them to forget their past.

She expressed some amount of shock at some of the individuals who wanted to cultivate a mass of uneducated voters. “Are we now wedded to the notion that an ignorant voter is the best voter? No, get the young people educated and trust them to make informed decisions. Where is our confidence in the young people?” she queried.

 She frowned upon the manner in which some in the political landscape are attempting to bypass the importance of those who may have lived through those days and are now considered the elderly expressing resentment at the manner in which they are being described and viewed in political discourse.

“Recently in Guyanese voice and print media, I have noticed a similar trend, a disturbing emphasis on the “young” as if to say that the old have morphed into disgusting gadflies. As I recall, Guyanese are taught to revere our elderly. We do not subscribe to senilicide and do not belong to the mythical Eskimo culture that dumps the elderly onto the devouring waves of Neptune”, she articulated.

But Dr Hassan reminiscing on her own experiences growing up in Guyana noted that she “watched my parents, shopkeepers, live a life of incremental misery, wondering what was next in the business chamber of horrors, as the heavy-fisted hand of the Burnham-led PNC regime squeezed them out of business.”

Explaining that her viewpoint has changed given the new set of leaders within the PNC, she said that it was necessary for a commitment to be given that such atrocities will not be repeated as a form of healing and reconciliation especially for the still very important elderly constituency.

“At the same time, though, don’t some of us with that memory wish that the PNC would articulate at least a promise not to repeat the mistakes of the past? No, this is not a call for apology. It is just a wish for a statement that expresses an understanding of the legitimate concerns of certain groups and a reassurance that they have nothing to fear as the PNC would not retrace its steps”, her letter states.

She reiterated her position that the elderly in Guyana still have memories, and these voters are indeed relevant. “They too are going to the polls. Talk to them with reverence and respect. Let us not practice senilicide.

Were we to discard the elderly, then Mr. Granger and Mr. Ramotar may as well take to their rocking chairs. Remember the response when Baby Alligator asked Mama Alligator, “Ma, how come your mouth’s is so long?”

Dr Hassan’s posture in the letter appears to suggest that she is well aware that she will face criticisms from those that reside in Guyana for her comments on the messages being transmitted to both young and old voters.

“The last time I made a call for the PNC to acknowledge its mistakes, many people, including pseudo-journalists, were hysterical, incapable of any intellectual debate.

They argued mainly by argumentum and hominem, saying, for example, that I live in the Berbice area in Richmond Hill, NY and that I am a Berbician – as if that alone relegates me into a pit of ignorance and irrelevance”.

In pre-empting these individuals, she informed that even though she is not from Berbice and does not live in Richmond Hill, she would consider herself privileged to belong to those communities.

“I love all of Guyana and all its communities. In my job as immigration attorney, I proudly represent Guyanese of all races”, she asserted before explaining that those who would now be quick to castigate her should know that they are further alienating older voters…”

While teaching English at Howard University Dr Hassan started and ran the SOS Human Rights for Guyana out of her apartment back in the very early 80’s until 1992.

She reportedly gave every Guyanese political party in opposition equal time including the Working People’s Alliance Party, DLM, Guyana Republican Party, Inc., and many individuals while they were opposing the PNC dictatorship a voice.

Her SOS Human Right as for Guyana became the most trusted source by many, including the Human Rights Internet org., for human rights abuse in Guyana.

Her work against the dictator was rewarded by Burnham placing her name on the infamous blacklist at the airport, so for many years she could not travel to her beloved Guyana. Currently, Dr. Dolly Hassan is the Supervising Attorney at the Liberty Center for Immigrants, Inc. in Queens, NY. Concurrently, she is also an Adjunct Professor at CUNY Law School. When she finds time she enjoys country music.