Why we should not seek to escape politics

I RECALL with some sense of nostalgia the days we sat in Politics 110 classes at the University of Guyana as political science students. The George Walcott Lecture Theatre (GWLT) never ceased to be packed with inestimable numbers of idealistic students dreaming of taking the information being received from lecturers on political theory and applying it to our everyday existence.

Lecturers recommended books to aid in knowledge and discussion; we found ourselves dabbling in knowledge on interesting historical subjects and characters such as the French Revolution, Voltaire, Plato, Aristotle, Shun Tzu and many other political activists who did something to change the world.

It was extremely admirable how these men and women were driven by ideals which propelled them to transform the societies in which they lived.
Many of us were imbued with thoughts of change and a progressive society due to new-found substance on things political. When we departed the GWLT after every class and returned to the reality of Guyana’s political situation in those days, we immediately came to the sad conclusion that politics in those days was hard and uninspiring.

Our main reference point was the custodians of the state. They practised the politics of destroying enemies, stifling dissent, intransigence, never giving in to any proposal that would benefit the country if the proposal or idea did not come from their party and many other political stratagems that would make any reasonable mind conclude that politics is distasteful.

This became the pessimistic conclusion of most of us during those days and we decided that we must try our best to escape politics and just go about our daily lives focusing on social issues. Little did we know that such an escape in a small society such as Guyana was improbable, nay, much to our detriment.

The recognition that you should not seek to escape politics came to us like a gushing wind filled with debris on a quiet Saturday morning under the serene sun of a bright and beautiful Georgetown. It was the Cricket World Cup 2003 and the coveted match of them all was on every television screen, Match 36, India V Pakistan.

A sensational innings by Saeed Anwar, 101 from 126 balls was not complete when loud bursts of gunshots permeated the residential air of Section ‘K’ Campbellville. Residents concluded that it might be another violent display by the Death Squad or Phantom Squad which was the order of the day during that period. A cursory glance outside proved that this was not the case.

This was the defining moment for me and numerous students of the University of Guyana who, hitherto, believed that you can casually ignore politics. Saturday, March 1st 2003 represents the melancholy day when second-year student of the University of Guyana, Yohance Douglas, was executed by rogue members of the Guyana Police Force. As a senior member of the University of Guyana Student Society (UGSS), I received my unceremonious thrust into the leadership for a national struggle for justice. The belief that you can escape politics soon became a fleeting illusion.

The decision on whether we should march as a student body and fight for justice became political. Some argued that this was not our role and we should allow other civil society groups to fight this good fight. Having decided that we would lead this struggle, the call for students to join this struggle became highly political. Even though this was an innocent student with an unblemished record just going to pick his sister up from lessons on a sunny Saturday, students who were fearful of retribution from a vindictive government of the day, some were reluctant to even be seen as marching for justice in a society gripped by fear. Lecturers did not agree to suspend classes to facilitate students that desired to be part of this call for justice — this too was political.

Youth leaders of the UGSS received calls from all political parties and leaders to merge this struggle with their various political agendas. The media skewed the story in the interest of their political dockets, the state newspapers (under the PPP) was disgraceful in this regard. Within days, a struggle to seek justice for an innocent exemplary student was engulfed in the cauldron of a highly polarised and politicised society. It dawned upon us that it is foolish to seek to escape politics in this small society.

Having acknowledged that you cannot escape politics, we were simultaneously counselled by life that you also ignore politics at your own peril. The reckless bullets that proceeded from that gun that executed an innocent citizen were political. Once members of the security forces believe that they can act and receive protection from the state apparatus, such sordid developments become ubiquitous.

This makes it incumbent for citizens to be watchful of who controls the machinery of the state, it is literally a life-and-death decision. Those who provide tutelage over the state apparatus can determine the quality of life. Simple things such as respectfully dissenting with government on social media without fear of victimization, or whether the police can execute citizens with non-liability are all determined by the politics of the day.

The aforementioned is my personal experience which certainly demonstrates why we should not seek to escape politics. (Ronald Austin Jr. is a historian, education advocate and political commentator.)

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