Dear Editor,
Freddie Kissoon fired unprovoked tirade against respected columnists and other writers of KN and SN and their publishers. His writings are disgusting, attacking those who are known for greater achievements than him, using coarse, crude, vitriolic, cruel language to discredit others of higher intellect. He has a penchant to distort and disinform, and for making snide, sneering, derogatory remarks to denigrate people of superior abilities. He has engaged in supercilious unrepentant pugilism pummeling those who he has perceived as more worthy than him; they ignore his bullying behavior.
Cheddi Jagan never tolerated Freddie because of his persona to attack the iconic leader and others in the PPP and others of mettle like Kwayana. Bharrat Jagdeo has no tolerance for Freddie because of his lies and lack of accomplishments. Freddie has had a history going back to the 1980s of attacking me and colleagues, fellow letter writers like Ravi Dev, Baytoram Ramharack, Swami Aksharananda, Rhyaan Shah, Vassan Ramracha, etc., individuals of character, integrity, and academic accomplishments.
Freddie is known to regularly circulate misinformation and outright deceit, including demeaning deepfakes, and mockery of others. His writings have the hallmarks of brazen disinformation, smearing and humiliating people. He is known for a history of distortions, spreading lies on Jagdeo, then Minister of Housing Irfaan Ali and Dr. Leslie Ramsammy, and the PPP government prior to 2020. Chris Ram, GHK Lall, Anand Persaud, Glenn Lall, and others rightly ignore him.
Freddie put out a farcical and misleading description of my academic achievements, mocking my earned advanced degrees and diplomas but fails to tell why he was denied a doctorate at University of Toronto. Unsolicited, he admitted again last week to stealing books at UG and University of Toronto as though that is an academic achievement. I can assure Freddie I never stole books or was denied a degree or failed a course for plagiarism.
Last August, Freddie penned misinformation on my running for the Presidency of Guyana. I never pondered running for office in Guyana. I was asked by a group of activists in Guyana and the diaspora to register a political organization with GECOM. My name was used only to register the organization. Freddie concluded illogically and irrationally that I founded a party and was running for the Presidency. Bharrat Jagdeo’s name appeared next to PPP on GECOM list where my name appeared; did Jagdeo run for the Presidency last September – just shows the idiocy and lack of intelligence of Freddie.
I have no interest in running for office. Dr. Vishnu Bandhu can attest that I was asked in several elections to be the Presidential or PM candidate of URP and I declined. Dr. Jagan asked Ravi Dev and myself to be on PPP Civic list in 1992, and we both declined. WPA also made offers and we declined. If I should run for office, it will be in the mold of my fellow Ankerville hero Cheddi Jagan, a man of compassion and incorruptible honesty who Freddie attacked almost daily. For edification I did run for and won some elections: Captain (for several years) of the Ankerville Youth Cricket Club during the 1970s (and also selected as Captain of combined inter-village teams), President of Student Society of Corentyne High School (1976/77) that I helped found, President of Hindu Society at CHS (1976/77) that I co-founded; appointed as Prefect at CHS 1976/77 and selected as Head Prefect at CHS (Fall 1976 just before student uprising that I co-led; chosen as a student leader and spokesperson of students on strike at CHS (September 1976 and January thru Feb 1977) that I co-led; ran for and won a Senate Seat representing Natural Sciences to Day Student Government of City College (CCNY) in 1978 and re-elected in 1979, 1980, 1981; elected as Vice President of Educational Affairs of CCNY Student Government in 1980; elected as a Councilor of the Graduate Student Council in Fall 1982 and re-elected in Spring 1983 and again 1984; elected as Vice President of the GSC in 1983 and President in 1984 and re-elected as President in 1986; elected as a Councillor of the Doctoral Student Council (DSC) of City University Graduate Center representing Sociology in 1991; elected to varied positions (President, Vice President, Secretary, Treasurer, etc.) of the Indo (Indian) Club of CCNY 1977-1982; served as Secretary of the India Club in 1977. As a founder of the Indo-Caribbean Federation of USA in 1984, I declined repeated nomination to serve in leadership positions. I was elected in leadership of Indian Club at New York University (1984-86) and declined nomination to run for a position in the NYU Graduate Students Government Assembly.
Professionally, I was elected as leader of the United Federation of Teachers at my institute on three occasions for three year terms. And I was also elected as delegate for five three year terms (1987 to 2015 at Enrico Fermi and Transit Technology). I was elected and re-elected multiple times annually as Teacher Rep on the School Leadership Team (1999-2015) of Transit Tech and elected and re-elected annually as Chair of its SLT seven times.
Unlike Freddie, I have been very consistent in fighting for democracy and against elections rigging in Guyana while a student in Guyana from 1968 and after my migration. I have been a dedicated community activist and volunteer ever since landing in America, stepping up for Guyanese and others, bringing to USA my altruism as practiced in Guyana.
Unlike Freddie, I answered Cheddi Jagan’s call to fight for democracy. When we were championing democracy, Freddie was not a participant in the struggle while in Canada. I spent my life immersed in and committed to consolidating democracy in Guyana. I served as a warrior for free and fair elections and for democracy that benefited the PPP and other parties from 1968 till now. Without that democracy, Freddie would not have been able to pen his trash, and PPP would not have been in power.
Freddie is a friend today if he benefits and your enemy tomorrow once he is stopped fed. In the mercenary calculus of Freddie, morality and principles are meaningless. He is with your party today if he benefits and another party tomorrow if no gains – a record of joining or supporting almost every party. When it comes to benefits, there is no morality for his behavior. Self-interests dictate when and what to speak unlike me or GHK or Chris Ram or Glenn or Anand or Ravi Dev, people of principles.
I don’t need to run for the Presidency or to lie to make a difference in peoples’ lives. My contributions to society (in Guyana and diaspora in USA) speak for me. Freddie needs to start writing professionally and stop spreading lies on my professional work and attacking others.