A Guyanese pro-Black organisation, Cuffy 250 has pushed back its annual forum amid concerns raised by the country’s Attorney General and Legal Affairs Minister, Anil Nandlall.
See full release from the organisation below:
A letter to the editor from the Office of the AG has raised a serious question that the organization has never had to deal with since its first forum in 2013 on the state of African Guyanese.
The basic question is simply this: “Is it now unconstitutional and illegal to hold a virtual forum on the state of African Guyanese titled Resisting the Emerging Apartheid State?” Cuffy250 Committee is fully aware of views about the title that follow parallel but widely separate tracks. One track, for a host of reasons, holds the view that the title is TOO HARSH and totally inappropriate. The other track sees the title as TOO WEAK and unfocused. It could have been, for a different set of reasons, “Resisting the Existing Apartheid Conditions.”
The forum, since 2013 has had panellists fully discuss the state (condition) of
African Guyanese without censure. The unexpected threat implied by the Office of the AG signals that something has emerged that was never there before 2022.
In light of the AG’s threat, Cuffy250 is consulting its lawyers on whether the
AG’s letter jeopardizes the right to free speech. Given this development, Cuffy 250 announces that the conference is postponed until August 28, 2022, to clarify this basic question.
