Dear Editor,
THERE is a popular Sanskrit saying, “When a man is to be destroyed, his intelligence becomes self-destructive.” Similarly, we are reminded of the words spoken by Prometheus in Henry W. Longfellow’s “The Masque of Pandora (1875): Whom the Gods would destroy, they first make mad.”
This aphorism has been in use as an adage or proverb for the longest while and quoted extensively by writers to support moral and philosophical teachings and connect universal and human experiences. On the flip side of the coin, Athenagoras of Athens quoted in Legatio Pro Christianis, “The devil when he purports any evil against man, first perverts his mind.”
The Maker’s world is currently being controlled by the forces of nature and contaminated by the production of man. This context contains the contents of generated characteristics of creation, evolution, reproduction, construction and destruction.
Today’s society is a reflection of good and evil. As Guyana celebrates the genesis of religious upbringing, Hindus, Christians and Muslims are predominantly engaged simultaneously in the observance of spiritual sanctity, incorporating praying for the peace of mankind, helping others, being charitable, seeking blessings, asking for forgiveness and the cleansing of the minds.
There are those without religious convictions who simply do the right thing constantly without opulence nor influence.
As we take a stroll down the roads and streets of Guyana where our highways are being hijacked by maniacs, we see the policies of politics driving people to insanity as they overtake the principles of good sense and undertake the practice of nonsense.
The latest theatrics are being played out by our teachers and the unions and the victims remain the innocent children. Imagine the audacity of obnoxious demands for wage increases when teachers were not even working during the COVID-19 pandemic and an even abstract lawyer calling for the teachers to be paid like the members of parliament!
One of the tenets of popular beliefs is, fasting without food and the feasting on the fruits of confession. Yet, during this period, some of us entertain the thought of ideal evilness and encourage unlawful behaviour in order to obtain unjust gains. We should advise the young generation about the wickedness of rigging elections and guide them so that this method is never used as a backdoor to attain power.
Some of us forget that anything is better than lies and deceit. Many seniors would remember the ugliness of racial turmoil in the making of Guyana in the lead up to gaining independence and even in the aftermath of republican status.
This is a good time to heal the pangs of pain and ask for forgiveness as some suffer with a guilty conscience from engineering the promotion of violence and brutality. It is not easy to endure sleepless nights plagued by the horrors of nightmares, as towering infernos leave a trail of destruction and the streets are littered with broken bodies.
The triumph of good over evil is the moral backbone for all warfare endeavours. While the unfortunate circumstances configure the realities from the Russian/Ukraine demonisation and the monstrous demonstrations from the Israel/Palestine affront, they do not preclude the indignity from Guyana’s barefaced political upheavals.
In fact, they include the greed of sanctimonious men and women who indulge in racial innuendos, violent insinuations and prejudiced incitements. Naysayers who oppose development by proposing propaganda, thrive by incensed dishonesty and enraged maliciousness.
A party who conceives the visionary concept of economic progress will not play for time and conceal any positive contribution. That is the difference between a sitting government being transparent and a deceiving Opposition being opaque.
The two leading parties are due to hold congresses this year and elect office bearers who will be ordained to do the right thing and practise truth and non-violence. Both parties project the preaching and teaching of MK Gandhi and ML King Jr and promote the values instilled by all the Holy Books. With election due next year, the incumbent party will follow the rules and regulations that uphold fair and free elections.
Those now in the Opposition had to be sanctioned and forced to leave their office after losing the 2020 elections and refusing to allow those legally elected to take office. This is a good time to take cognisance of the fact that church, mosque and temple lovers place their hands on all the Good Books which command us to be truthful. Let us go to bed and enjoy a sound sleep by not having to be troubled by any evil doing.
It is not easy for the Opposition to digest the facts of life that blow the horn of a successful government daily achieving remarkable success in all their plans and delivering on all their promises from their election manifesto.
To learn that the world hails Guyana’s President Dr Mohamed Irfaan Ali as the astute leader responsible for moving his country from being one of the poorest nations to one of the richest nations per capita in the world, this reality certainly provokes the Opposition’s vanity and bruises their egos. It also contributes to refusing shaking the hands of a president who daily wants the best for each Guyanese and avoid Guyana being ruined by economic bankruptcy.
The “thank you” compliment from the US Secretary of State will daily resonate confidence and resilience in President Irfaan Ali, who at all times is guided by all the principles of religious ethics. It is driving the opposition crazy.
Those in the opposition need a reincarnated mind to be indoctrinated with the tools of “political renaissance,” in order to see eye to eye with the liberal PPP/C government.
The writing of Leo Tolstoy is a stepping stone, “Freethinkers are those who are willing to use their minds without prejudice and without fearing to understand things that clash with their own customs, privileges, or beliefs. This state of mind is not common, but it is essential for right thinking…”
Yours respectfully,
Jai Lall.