Dear Editor,
The Guyana National 2026 Budget has taken an unprecedented presentation when members of parliament either defined, refined or undermined budget deliberation. The Guyanese public has always been privileged to the English language and the Creoles language being proclaimed or persecuted in parliament.
But recently, a 360-degree turn heralded a traverse on linguistic fluency with the flavour and fluency of Awadhi, Hindi and Sanskrit, when, the Honourable Pt. Vikash Ramkissoon, a PPP/C Minister within the Ministry of Agriculture, was responding to the Honourable Pt. Vishnu Panday, a WIN Member of Parliament.
In the rum shop, the conversation usually resonates around the trinity of politics, sports and religion. It is not a cultural travesty but a troubled custom which glues the company with commotion and emotion. The effect can either affect relationships, or afford the first half bottle to “gaff” and the second half bottle to “laugh.”
Some things do not go hand in hand. It is unadvisable to mix alcohol with petrol. Do not drink and drive. Some things are inseparable. Sugar and spice are sweet-natured binders. Some say to keep politics out of the church, mosque and mandir. Others want to protect the sanctity of religion from being pulverized around the walls of parliament.
Many political heads are affirmed because of their religious affiliation and vice-versa. Many battles were fought over beliefs. A walk down history lane will reveal and reflect on the horrific laments by the wounds of, for example, “the Battle of Badr-624 AD, the Christian Crusades-1095/1291, the Kurukshetra War-10th Century BCE, the Partition of British India-1947, the Gaza War-2023, etc.
One of the Hindu religious texts, the Bhagavad Gita, coalesces spirituality with action by shaping politics not as power-pursuance but as “Dharma” (righteous duty) and “Karma Yoga” (detached service). It urges leaders to perform duties without attachment to results while focusing on ethical responsibilities over personal gains.
An elder Pt. Panday’s adventure into a religious parlance and his insular divergence from a protective parliamentary pavement, proved catastrophic and was sternly rebutted and dislodged by an assailing counterattack from the youthful but alert Pt. Ramkissoon.
The Honourable MP Panday committed the unforgivable toxic mistake of alleging that the Honourable MP Ramkissoon did not profess a certain requisite knowledge, thus attempting to place Pt. Ramkissoon in a cumbersome and embarrassing position.
Like a disturbed cobra, an infective and invigorated response was inevitable. The Honourable MP Ramkissoon sternly rebuked the insular provocation and ventured into the tapestry of linguistic finesse to expertly and eloquently expound on his ancestral language, thereby removing any doubts of illusive imagination and to correct Pt. Panday’s convoluted contortions and acid accusations.
Guyanese are accustomed to the expressions, “hard ears and head hard.” It was a light moment for the House to applaud and approve the appropriate answer from the young PPP/C stalwart, finally making his impressive presence felt with distinction in a significant way, after an unnecessary period of pending parliamentary objection from the now reduced and battered Opposition APNU.
Representing Region 3 is no easy task, not with the excellent standard and high bar set by the distinguished President Dr. Irfan Ali, himself a son of the soil from Region 3. Pt. Vikash Ramkissoon has excelled himself both as a politician and a pandit. He is undoubtedly a voice to reckon with for the government as a Minister, and a strong fighter for his Dharma as a pandit and a community worker.
Mahatma Gandhi’s preference as a reference to the Gita, justified non-violent resistance and read war as an allegory for the internal struggle between good and evil.
In the National Assembly, there is a constant war of words, wisdom and wise-cracks, widening the gap of good and bad, light and darkness, and righteousness and unrighteousness.
Hopefully, there is a moral lesson for all Members of Parliament to learn from this episode of unwarranted innuendos.