11 Dec, 2023

Reactions to Video showing Brutal attack on Indian Couple in Guyana: Outrage over Cruelty

By Dr Vishnu Bisram 19 Aug, 2022 18 mins read 4,381 views

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Reference is made to your video posting “Brutal attack on Indians in Guyana caught on video” and to a letter in KN and SN by one GHK Lall in which said video showed an Indian couple being mauled. The perpetrators were African Guyanese; the video showed other Africans watched as the Indian couple was set upon. The date of the attack is not clear but location is Georgetown. The motif behind the attack is not known. Columnist and regular letter writer GHK Lall and others condemned the attack which seemed to have taken place in the presence of at least one police officer.

This writer also condemns this violent, barbaric, inhumane, savage attack on the Indian couple. No media house or government official or religious figure or NGO or the human rights association came out against the barbarity.

The below statement was issued by The IDC:

“The Indian Diaspora Council International (IDC) unequivocally condemns this brutal, targeted attack directed against Indians.

It is shocking to view this video clip. One can only imagine other incidents which are not captured on video.

The Government of Guyana should have immediately issued a statement condemning this attack, calming the fears of people against whom these attacks are directed.

The steps outlined by Dr. Dhanpaul Narine should be taken seriously to confront these brutal attacks, both in Guyana and in other countries where Guyanese reside.

It would be helpful, indeed encouraging for fairness and balance, for other groups such as Afro-Guyanese among others, to condemn this and similar attacks. I believe that outright condemnation by all political, ethinic and religious groups would go a long way in reducing racial tensions in Guyana.

IDC urges all efforts to prevent similar attacks in the future and supports a national dialogue at local and national levels to resolve conflicts, inherent bias, misinformation and misplaced perceptions which can lead to such tragedies. We share in the belief that such callous and uncivilized crimes perpetrated against innocent people cannot diminish people’s desire and courage to live peacefully with dignity and respect for each other”.

Ashook Ramsaran

President

Indian Diaspora Council International

www.IndianDiasporaCouncil.org

Dr. Dhanpaul, a New York based journalist and commentator penned: “I have not seen it in the Guyana Times or the Chronicle. It also needs to be on Facebook. Burke, David Hinds, Benschop and the Congressman, and others, should be asked for a response. The Commissioner of Police should have a copy of the video. If so, why the silence? We will publicize it in our community in NY, and try to arrange a public meeting. If this had happened to a black child, the BLM movement would have jumped in and there would have been riots in Guyana. What about the ILM movement? But the silence from the government is astonishing. Why no public statement? This video is 30 seconds long but it is one of the most horrific I have seen in a long time. It is a brutal attack on Indians in Guyana. Please watch it and let us plan a course of action. I suggest the following:

1. The attack on Indians should be condemned in the strongest possible ways

2. The government should be asked to make a statement

3. The police should make arrests, the perpetrators can be seen

4. The video should be widely circulated on social media

5. The diaspora groups should take action, by protesting publicly

Imagine if Indians had kicked a black child like that what would have happened. There would have been several riots in the country.

GHK Lall’s article doesn’t even want to mention that blacks attacked Indians. He called them both ‘subsets’ of the population’. “

Dr Indrani Rampersaud wrote: “Citizens should bring this to attention of Human Rights and UN”.

Dr. Ramdass penned: “ This is horrible to watch. That kick could break his neck bones or paralyze him for life. On the quieter side: Larger balanced, trained security force is needed. A greater Indian Guyanese presence in the Security Force, police and Army is needed to change behavior, Indians can be kicked about.

If the Authorities want to, they can start with SRP, Special Reserve Police Force and patrols round the clock; town & countryside on mobile paddy wagons, as we see in USA.

Prepare for tomorrow today. My father was SRP”.

VEDA MOHABIR stated: “This (brutal attack) has to get some international media attention. What is happening in Guyana (for over 60 years) to our Indian community has to be exposed.

Suggest mention the 60 continuous years as well as the Wismar May 26, 1964 ethnic cleansing which date was chosen by the Black government (installed by the CIA cum British) as Independence Day, 1966 and is commemorated annually as freedom day but NOT for Indians who suffered and some still with PTSD followed food import restrictions and "Kick-down the Door Bandits" brazen enough to attack us in our homes; stripping, raping, and cutting-off women's hair, etc.

Vassan wrote: “ Indo -Guyanese just don't get it. There too many episodes violent against

Indians by Africans and you Indians looking for false equivalents. The answer to Indians problems in Guyana is PARTITION.”

Dr Vishnu Bisram

Dr Vishnu Bisram is Guyanese born who received his primary and secondary education in Guyana and tertiary education in the US and India. He is a fourth generation Indian. His great grandparents from both his mother and father’s sides were born in India -- Gurbatore from Ghaizpur, Amru from Azamgarh, Sau from Chapra, Mangri from Mau, Bhuri and Bhura Singh from Bharatpur, among others. They all came at different times to then British Guiana (1880s and 1890s) to work on sugar plantations as indentured laborers. After serving ten years, they were freed laborers. They remained on the colony rather than returned to India, married and had children. They used the savings from indentureship to purchase landholdings to cement their ties to their adopted land. They were not given free land. Vishnu Bisram is ninth of twelve children of Gladys and Baldat, rural farmers, she also was a seamstress and he a taylor and they attended to a kitchen garden as well. Vishnu attended the St Joseph Anglican (called English) primary school from 1966 to 1972. In 1972, he passed the annual nationwide Common Entrance exam winning a scholarship place to attend the government Berbice High School in New Amsterdam, some 17 miles from his home village of Ankerville, Port Mourant. He declined the placement scholarship and opted instead for the private Chandisingh High School to which his family pad to pay a tuition. He entered for eight subjects at the Cambridge University Exam in 1977. Vishnu migrated to the USA in 1977 to further his studies. He enrolled at the City College of City University of New York September that year at age 17, studying Bio-Chemistry and also completing a major in Political Science. After his BSc in Bio-Chem, he pursued graduate studies in International Relations earning a MA. He went on to complete multiple post graduate degrees including doctorates in Economics, Sociology, History, Political Science and Educational Administration. Dr Bisram taught for over forty years in various subjects in the US. He also served as a newspaper reporter and columnist for over four decades and is a well-known pollster in the Caribbean region. He is a specialist on the Indian diaspora traveling extensively around the globe to research and write about Indian communities. He published countless articles on various subjects in the mass media, journals, and books. He also organized international conferences on the Indian diaspora and presented papers at many conferences. He was a guest lecturer at universities in Mauritius, India, Fiji, South Africa, Guyana, Trinidad, Suriname, USA, and other countries. He is a well regarded political analyst on American and Caribbean politics. He makes him home in Guyana, Trinidad, and America and travels frequently to India.