APNU+AFC does not support “Black and Indian fighting”- Harmon

Last Updated on Wednesday, 9 September 2020, 15:19 by Denis Chabrol

Opposition Leader Joseph Harmon says three days of violent protests that resulted in the injury of several people and the destruction of property has nothing to do with racial intolerance.

“We stand in solidarity with the people who are peacefully protesting this injustice. What we do not agree with is people injuring people and so on. We do not agree with that. We do not agree that there should be any Black and Indian fighting and all of that. We believe that this, here, is a fight for justice,” he said.

Mr. Harmon, who is General Secretary of A Partnership for National Unity (APNU), reiterated that the fight is against the People’s Progressive Party’s (PPP) fight and this is what is taking place all across this country”against a government that is in there fraudulently.”

At the same time, he remarked that too many Black youths are vanishing in the same way that cousins Isaiah and Joel Henry were killed and mutilated last weekend on a coconut estate aback Cotton Tree Village, West Coast Berbice.

After their bodies were discovered, several sections of the West Berbice Public Road were blocked by angry people and burning debris. From many accounts, several Indo-Guyanese who were in the area were badly beaten, robbed, their vehicles burnt or looted.

But Opposition Leader Harmon told families of the now dead youths at Number Three Village, West Coast Berbice that there is no room for racial conflict but  the struggle is all about fighting for human rights for all Guyanese. “I am calling on all of Guyana to recognise that this is not a struggle between the races. This is a struggle against oppression, is a struggle against fraudulent government and we must stand united against that,” he said.

Mr. Harmon welcomed support from, among others, the Guyana Human Rights Association and 108 Hindu Pandits organisation as well as an unnamed executive member of a small opposition party that contested the March 2, 2020 general and regional elections.

The Muslim Youth Organisation, Corentyne Berbice Chamber of Commerce, Private Sector Commission and the Guyana Presbyterian Council are among several organisations that have roundly condemned the killing of the Henrys.

Earlier Wednesday, 17-year old Haresh Singh was killed and his bicycle burnt while he was heading to his farm aback his home village of Number Three, West Coast Berbice.