Can you for once be truthful and honest, even to yourself?

Dear Editor,
Brazilian lyricist/writer /novelist Paulo Coelho de Souza, best known for his novel “The Alchemist,” wrote, “Telling the truth and making someone cry is better than telling a lie and making someone smile.”
In Guyana, this beautiful and rich country of heart-warming people and fertile soil, the landscape is also contaminated with sprinkles of ugliness that tend to dampen an almost picture-perfect portrait of beauty beyond the boundary of nature’s charm. Is beauty decided only on an outward appearance, without consideration for the hidden looks of the mind, concealed inwardly?

Diminished beauty is not necessarily translated in terms of physical glamour, but also the personality that inhibits good behaviour and the unacceptable impediments that hinder society’s norm for law and order. Then, again, “beauty lies in the eyes of the beholder”, and so everyone is physically beautiful, because man was made from an image of the Creator.

“Covet not/bear no false witness against your neighbour/do not steal,” these are the pillars that laid a foundation to which the caretaker President subscribes. Guyana remains a hostage in the grip of greed, covetousness, dishonesty and power hunger. The love for lies, deceit and corruption remains high on the agenda of those embroiled in conspiring to fool the people and misguide them. It is said, “Do not mix truth with falsehood, or hide the truth when you know it.”

You would expect that the leader of a nation would set the perfect example for the people to follow, and he or she would remain almost flawless. But that is definitely not the case in Guyana; and is, in fact, contrary to the rule. Here we have a situation where the caretaker president sets a precedent and enjoys himself in indulging in tongue twisting, back-tracking and lying between his teeth, flawlessly and constantly too. His campaign of “honesty, decency, integrity” is as sour as green tamarind, and all the sugar cane in Guyana (unfortunately limited now, he closed 3 estates) cannot change the taste of fallacy for dishonesty.

Remember that on the election night of March 2nd, at their HQ, victory was declared by the APNU/AFC Party, and now he is denying that he ever claimed victory? Still playing hide-and-seek with the SOPs? Those very SOPs dictated the installation of Plan B! That was just the beginning of the trend that he created, and what followed is a trail of a genius at work, displaying his mastery at lying.

Really, a fact-finding exercise would disclose that there isn’t enough paper to record the amount of lies he has uttered in quality and quantity. Is this the kind of leader we want to lead this nation? Never again would Guyana allow this monstrous behaviour.

It is written, “A humble leader, before ruling people, has to rule their hearts,” that is a sign of a true leader. Mr. “G,” you have been called out by your own kith-and-kin, by the people of Guyana and the international community, especially your own brothers and sisters in the Caribbean. They once held you in good standing, but now they see you for what you really are, and it is not honourable.

They want to have nothing to do with you and your cabal. You are a disgrace to the ethics of free and fair election, and they are ashamed that you chose to support fraud and deny transparency of a legitimate and valid result.
Now, your propaganda programme, including using the state machinery — an expense to the people — is so vile that it is laced with everything that is missing in any of the holy books! COVID-19 is here, why not use that money for a better purpose? Did you forget that people are literally starving? You are spending over a billion dollars on a building that will probably become a white elephant. That money could have been spent on relieving the people who are currently suffering. That money could have been spent on a programme that can prevent and contain the spread of the coronavirus.

There are many makeshift buildings that can be structured temporarily to accommodate this need. But no, this is another avenue through which this syndicate found possible to funnel exorbitant expenses without transparency, dollars flowing to itchy palms, all at the last moment before departure.

Refusing to build a multi- purpose hospital that could have served this very need shows a classic example of hindsight at its best. Only one with a mind that is heartless, merciless and unscrupulous would function in such a cruel capacity and remain aloof of the reality of the gravity of the situation!

Gandhi said, “Truth stands, even if there be no public support. It is self-sustained.”
Mr. Granger, sir, you are an ardent reader, a religious person, a God-fearing individual, a poet, writer, author, a family man, husband and father. As a historian, how would you like your legacy to be written? In particular, being a president for Guyana, you have associated yourself intimately with the works and lives of Martin Luther King JR., Mother Theresa, Nelson Mandela, Mahatma Gandhi, Kofi Annan, Ban Ki-Moon, Barack Obama, Stalin, Hitler, Saddam Hussein etc.

Man’s nature is such that he is remembered by the 1% of bad things he or she did, and not the 99% of good things performed. You have created history and broken a number of records, all flatteringly positive, negative or both, depends on who is looking through the lens. Can you for once be truthful and honest, even to yourself? Here is an interesting quote that has influenced many world leaders like yourself: “Carefully watch your thoughts, for they become your words.

Manage and watch your words, for they will become your actions. Consider and judge your actions, for they have become your habits. Acknowledge and watch your habits, for they shall become your values. Understand and embrace your values, for they become your destiny.”

It is never too late for anything, a lesson all of us can adhere to. Do the right thing, sir, so that you can regain pride and dignity in the eyes of all. Guyana sleeps with her eyes wide open, tears flowing, waiting and hoping. Sanctions are not coming, they are here already!

Respectfully,
Jai Lall