Will TT Leaders follow New Zealand PM?
Will TT Leaders follow New Zealand PM?
Dear Editor,
I write to add my endorsement of academician and activist Dr Vishnu Bisram as High Commissioner to India or to some other high profile Ambassadorial position. He is amply qualified academically for the position with journeys of experience as an activist and global traveler, engaging politicians and diplomats globally.
I write to add my endorsement of academician and activist Dr Vishnu Bisram as High Commissioner to India or to some other high profile Ambassadorial position. He is amply qualified academically for the position with journeys of experience as an activist and global traveler, engaging politicians and diplomats globally.
The PPP owes its existence in government partially to the struggle waged by a handful of dedicated activists in the diaspora. Dr Vishnu is among that handful of committed activists who helped to liberate Guyana from the throes of PNC dictatorship in 1992 and again in 2020.
Dr Bisram has a long history of struggle for Guyanese and other people, including Trinidadians, and promoting Indian culture in America. I spent considerable number of years in New York working with Dr Vishnu Bisram as well collaborating on countless projects relating to Guyana and the Guyanese and Indo Caribbean diaspora in America. He was among a few in the diaspora who dedicated their lives to combatting the racist Guyanese dictatorship and championing free and fair elections. This happened at a time at the peak of the dictatorship when hardly anyone in the diaspora cared for Guyana. Support for any anti-dictatorship movement was thin and scarce; people were fearful of consequences. But Bisram and a few others courageously stood out and fought a good fight for the restoration of democracy in Guyana. Bisram, Vassan Ramracha, and Baytoram Ramharack launched a free Guyana movement (under different names at the college and post university periods) since 1977, long before Ravi Dev , myself and a few others started our own movement (Guyana United Democratic Movement) relating to Guyana in 1986. Later, we united or collaborated with other groups including ACG and Dr Bisram’s group on events and projects to fight for free and fair elections for the homeland.
Photo : Dr Latchman Narain
Dr Bisram spent decades struggling against subjugation, injustice, racial persecution, political victimization and inequality against Indian Guyanese. He organized protests, marches, and rallies, and he lobbied governments globally to up the pressure on the PNC dictatorship to restore democratic governance and hold and free and fair elections. He was a fixture in all movements and activities relating to freedom for Guyana. The PPP would ultimately be the beneficiary of the liberation struggle of Dr Bisram and the few others like myself, catapulting it in office in 1992. The latter point should qualify Dr Bisram for a political appointment for an Ambassadorship.
Besides his dominant role in Guyana and Indian diaspora related issues, Dr Bisram is widely known as a tireless political activist who dedicated much of his life to contributing to social change through participation in social justice, human rights, and immigrant movements.
He sought to build a more political Indian and Caribbean American movement in America that would link itself to the struggle for Black and Hispanic equality as racism in America placed all ethnic peoples in similar positions of marginalization.
He worked with and understand different groups in USA . And he socialized with American politicians, diplomats, heads of states and governments, and other dignitaries. He is also a scholar in international relations and diplomacy having earned a PhD in the field.
I highly recommend Dr Bisram as Guyana High Commissioner in India or for some other high profile posting.
Yours Truly,
Dr Latchman Narain
