The whole gist of his long article is to try to persuade his readers that what we have in Guyana is really a racial problem and not a political one.

We know that Dev has always tried to portray problems in Guyana as racial to suit his political philosophy, which he wants to impose on Guyana, that is the system of Federalism where the country will be divided up into self-governing areas according to the racial majorities in each area.

Most Guyanese have expressed strong views that his philosophy would be a recipe for disaster as it would set the country back for decades if not centuries, would make economic development impossible and in fact would take the country backwards economically leading to widespread poverty and hardship and sparking racial confrontations and skirmishes for available resources. It would create an unnecessary host of problems.

The majority of Guyanese have demonstrated over a very long time that they are capable of living , working and playing together and this is the reality that Ravi Dev and the PNC/Reform don’t want to admit and face because it does not fit their political schemes.

They have to play the race card to try to give them credence and a chance at obtaining political power at whatever the cost may be to the country and its people.

During last year after the elections followed by PNC/Reform orchestrated and politically motivated terrorism, Dev was also telling us that it was a racial conflict but President Jagdeo and the PPP/Civic government and others pointed out that it was politically motivated.

We must remember that after the 2001 elections Afro-Guyanese who supported the PPP/Civic and even acted as scrutineers and other officials were kidnapped, beaten and interrogated at Congress Place; Mr. Haslyn Parris an executive of the PNC /Reform and one of their representatives on the Elections Commission was beaten by PNC Reform supporters at of all places their headquarters, Congress Place with other executives and their leader nearby because he had simply and truthfully said that the elections had been clean. Afro-Guyanese leaders and executives also of the PPP/Civic are particularly singled out for hostility at meetings during election campaigns.

The Police Force refused to respond to the ‘kith and kin’ call by the PNC during the terrorist violence after the 1997 elections and carried out their duties professionally and impartially and were commended by the President when he said that all Guyana owed them a debt of gratitude for their efforts in maintaining law and order and defending our democracy.

The violence that erupts following PNC /Reform propaganda and incitement including that by their talk show hosts is confined to certain particular areas which the PNC regards as their strongholds and does not spread to other areas where there are large numbers of the two major races.

All this reinforces and supports the view that the violence which erupts in certain areas at certain times is because of politics and not ethnicity.
J. A. D