GINA's attack on Rickey Singh is surprising
Stabroek News
January 30, 2007
Dear Editor,
I am moved to write against an unwarranted and unsubstantiated attack from GINA (press release) on eminent Guyanese journalist Rickey Singh. The issue relates to the ongoing controversy involving the government's withdrawal of ads to SN. The fact that Singh voiced opposition to the withdrawal of ads does not justify GINA's attack on the man.
I refuse to believe that President Jagdeo and his administration would approve of a release calling on "Singh to submit founded arguments with a view to reclaiming the level of repute with which Singh was once classified". Whew?
That is tough language. Since when did Singh lose his repute and to whom?
Rickey Singh has not lost anything about his great reputation as the Caribbean's most reputable journalist. If anything, he has gotten better over the years. No one of a sane mind would launch an attack on this distinguished son of Guyana. Government leaders and fellow reporters have the greatest admiration and respect for him. I witnessed first hand the deference people have for him.
Rickey Singh is the doyen or dean among Caribbean journalists. No reporter has a greater reputation than he. His columns are carried in virtually all of the Caribbean and several international printed outlets. Radios and TVs depend on him for news reports.
Singh is the most respected journalist in the Caribbean. I went to many Caricom summits as a reporter myself and saw the respect he commanded. He was viewed like a professor supervising a dissertation or thesis. Virtually everyone, including me, went to him for leads, interpretation and clarification of communiqués and for critiques of their news reports on the summits.
Rickey Singh is a reporter of integrity. He has an independent mind and does not compromise his principles. He has a knack for fairness, objectivity and sound reasoning. He does not and will not toe the line of any leader. One must not forget that he was chased out of Guyana by the Forbes Burnham dictatorship which threatened his security because of his refusal to toe the line. And in 1983, he was subjected to pressure in Barbados after he criticized Prime Minister Tom Adams's position on the U.S invasion of Grenada. Even the New York Times praised Rickey for his courage in standing up to Tom Adams and his bold reporting on the US invasion of Grenada. His work permit was restored following Adams's untimely passing. But he soon had a falling out with Prime Minister Owen Arthur with whom Rickey had frequent clashes. But Arthur subsequently apologized for his outburst against Rickey's ethnicity.
At Caricom summits, leaders normally wait for Rickey before they begin their press conferences. I recall an incident at the summit in Sandals St Lucia. Rickey was having a chat with a few of us outside a press briefing room when Owen Arthur passed by and announced he was ready to begin his press conference. We all followed Arthur who did not begin his press conference saying he was waiting for Rickey.
Arthur knew the value of Rickey; his reports are carried worldwide. Arthur waited for some ten minutes to begin his briefing until Rickey entered the room. That is the kind of respect leaders have for the man.
There is another anecdote involving the admiration and respect for Rickey's reporting from university students. As a young militant student activist on City College campus during the 1970s, I used to prepare and distribute handouts against the Burnham dictatorship. At the Caribbean Students Association office, I could not convince some Jamaican students about Burnham's atrocities (including curtailing press freedom). "Bring us reports from Rickey Singh and we will believe you", they said.
That was the kind respect for the truth coming from Rickey's pen. I brought back copies of Caribbean Contact to Caribbean students showing Rickey's writings.
One should not forget the role Rickey Singh played in exposing the Guyanese dictatorship as well as restoring democracy in Guyana. His monthly Caribbean Contact publication allowed readers outside of Guyana to follow developments in Burnham's Guyana. At every opportunity, Rickey exposed the dictatorship and helped to build sympathy for oppressed Guyanese. In no small measure, this contributed to the pressure brought on Hoyte to restore democracy in Guyana.
Rickey is a man who stands up for what he believes in even when it comprises his security and livelihood. We owe a debt of gratitude to Rickey Singh for his journalistic work in keeping us informed and we should sing praises to him.
UWI justifiably honoured him with a Doctorate for his contribution to journalism, the only person to receive such an honour.
Thus GINA's attack on Rickey is presumptuous. He has not lost his "repute".
If anything, GINA has lost its repute for attacking a man who has outshone anyone associated with GINA.
Yours faithfully,
Vishnu Bisram