Dear Mr. Prime Minister:

The Grenadian national psyche is seriously ill and in dire need of quality attention and life-long therapy. Just like our healthcare system our nation needs deliverance. A 1996 study published in the Grenadian Voice of March 8, 1997 concluded that "The Grenadian national psyche appears to be mired in a sense of institutionalized depression, that is, organised despair." I fully agree.

During the last half of a century serious scars were inflicted on the spirit of the nation. Today these scars are manifested as bitterness, hatred and division in our society. The basis of these strangling woes, I contend, is the narrowness of the party political system, the state of instability over the last several decades and the intolerance of party political opponents.

A twenty-five-year young adult is expected to confront the inevitable challenges in her life and to take responsible actions to resolve them since she cannot ignore life itself. Similarly, our young nation is faced with some inescapable challenges, right now. And like any young mother, this nation cannot afford to ignore these certain challenges. She must tackle them with wisdom and understanding and find a comprehensive solution in the best interest for the continued development of the nation.

At this point I wish to state that one of the most—if not the most—profound challenges or wounds crying out to be healed is the October 1983 Tragedy. However, before I continue this discussion, I am compelled to ask these questions. As a nation and a people, do we want to and are we ready to heal the political wounds and scars arising out of the last 50 years of divisive politics? Do we desire to enter the 21^st Century with such baggage? However we answer these questions, we surely have the duty to ask them.

Overcoming the October 1983 Tragedy is a must, if we are serious about sustainable, national democratic development, if we are serious about involving all our people in nation building. Scars and fractures are deep to this day, but can be cleansed and cured. Strong, visionary leadership and a healthy dose of good will are necessary ingredients in any treatment. And for the therapy to be effective, all affected victims must be treated. Mr. Prime Minister, as you have recently and correctly pointed out, "we have to forgive everyone". Your historic victory at the recent polls is the opportunity for you and your government to effect the remedy. With your total control of parliament and your strong leadership, I trust you have the will and the desire to act decisively to heal this nation.

Here is what I believe should comprise any long-lasting solution to the October 1983 Tragedy and Trauma.

1. Honor Brother Bishop posthumously by naming the international airport the "Maurice Bishop International Airport". Seventy-one nationals and organizations have just been honoured for outstanding services to the nation on the occasion of our Silver Anniversary of Independence. Prime Minister Bishop deserved a similar award for selfless and distinguished service for his leadership and vision in the construction of the largest and most important investment project in our entire history. This Maurice Bishop International Airport unites and benefits all our people. Far from being divisive, the airport imbued a strong sense of national unity and was conceptualized to bring all Grenadians (irrespective of where they reside) closer together and to bridge gaps. Honoring Maurice Bishop by renaming the airport is an action of good will and compassion that will definitely serve our country well.
2. Rally the nation to "Give a decent, honorable and dignified burial to murdered Prime Minister Brother Bishop and others". I believe this is extremely important and necessary for genuine healing and closure. Such a gesture will require the sincere cooperation of people like Sir Paul Scoon, Sir Nicholas Brathwaite, and you too sir, and possibly Dame Eugenia Charles and the US Administration in order for us to secure the remains of Brother Bishop. The US invading forces claimed—in an issue of a local newspaper—to have unearthed the remains of Brother Bishop and others in November 1983.
3. After twenty prison years, it is time to "Free the 17 Grenada Political Prisoners". There are possibly three main reasons for so doing.

1. There is ample evidence—presented at the trial itself—to conclude that the trial was neither free nor fair.
2. Nearly ten years later, there is no written ruling by the Appeal Court judges, and with one of the judges dead (recall that Justice Haynes died while the appeal was in session), there is little chance of getting a written judgement. This fact, notwithstanding the reason for the trial / appeal itself, amounts to not giving a legal reason for the continued imprisonment of the Grenada 17, and this is a gross violation of Grenada’s Constitution.
3. The Constitution has been undermined by the unconstitutional decision to debar the Grenada 17 from appealing to the Privy Council.

A genuine attempt to heal the developing 25-year young adult demands that we attend to these three challenges. I caution against a piecemeal, politically motivated, narrow and shortsighted temporary solution to a deep problem. Long-lasting benefits will not accrue with a half-baked, selfish, partisan, narrow and pusillanimous effort. Closure, national healing and reconciliation demand a grand gesture of compassion and humanity. And Grenadians certainly can muster the courage to rise tall to these unavoidable challenges. But we need honest, decisive and compassionate leadership.

Already, under your leadership, our people have embarked on the road of national reconciliation. Since Gairy’s old-aged blindness and subsequently, his passing, much has been done to rehabilitate his image and reconcile. And many would agree that Dictator Gairy was no saint. He got back ill-gained properties and thousands (or perhaps millions) of dollars, honoured as "The Father of the Nation (Independence)", and in his last days, he was provided with a chauffeured-driven car, paid for by the national treasury which he broke. Finally, when he died, you understandably crowned the overture with a grand state funeral.

Likewise, following the invasion of our homeland, former political detainees and convicted prisoners under the PRG were pardoned and compensated handsomely. In addition, the Grenada 17 publicly apologized for their agony, saying in part, "We believe and recognize that those of us who were leaders during the years of the Revolution were, as part of the leadership, collectively responsible for your suffering and must fully accept such responsibility. Thus we feel that the least we can do is to express to you our profound regrets…and offer you our sincere and unreserved apologies as a minimal form of atonement."

Most people will agree that both these actions were aimed at national healing and genuine reconciliation.

However, certain sections of our people have not yet been granted similar considerations and an olive branch of social peace and national healing was never extended to them. This group of our people includes the victims (and their families) of the invasion, some of whom were incarcerated as prisoners of conscience for several months without charge or trial. Among these victims are the families (children included) of the leaders of the PRG, NJM, the PRA, and other organizations of the Revolution. Today, in Grenada, these sections of our people remain victims of hatred and bitterness by some because of divisive politics. Many have been discriminated against, victimized and ostracized. No reasonable Grenadian can deny this indisputable fact.

Are we practicing reconciliation for some or all our people? If we are sincere about stability and wish to further the cause of national healing and reconciliation, all sections of our people must be part of the program.

As we close this hopeful, yet traumatic, century, many scholars and people of good will are applauding this last decade as a precursor of great optimism for the upcoming century by dubbing it "the decade of atonement". [This is the theme of a new book by Harvard Professor Martha Minow, "Between Vengeance and Forgiveness: Facing History After Genocide and Mass Violence", Beacon, 1998]. In fact, a feature of this new moment in world affairs is that compassion and a preference for atonement by the leadership of a country is seen as key to investor confidence and economic growth in this emerging competitive global market place. Consider an example. As I write, Ireland is already reaping significant economic benefits in the embryonic stages of the Britain/Ireland historic peace talks.

I ask again, as a nation and a people, do we want to and are we ready to heal the political wounds and scars arising out of the last 50 years of divisive politics? If the answer is yes, then:

Honor Brother Bishop by naming the international airport the "Maurice Bishop International Airport"; "Give a decent, honorable and dignified burial to a deserving Prime Minister, Brother Bishop and others"; and "Free the 17 Grenada Political Prisoners". That is the just and most reasonable way to go. Take the lead and heal the nation. Forward Ever!!