Why Ragbir broke ranks with UNC

THE EDITOR: In my view, Dr Rai Ragbir, the UNC's Cumuto/Manzanilla MP, broke ranks with the UNC and voted for the Whistleblower Protection Bill because of principle. However, I think there is more to it than that.

I believe he broke ranks due to his profession as a physician. Doctors normally take an oath to do all that is reasonably and legally possible to save lives.

That principle is first and foremost in the Hippocratic Oath, as it is called in the medical field. Applied in the political arena, the oath signals that he has acted consciously not to harm anyone, but to save lives by supporting the bill.

I don’t see any harm in supporting the bill, but the question is why the rest of the UNC MPs didn’t vote for it? Was it to toe the party line, or was it because the PNM would receive the credit?

Whatever the case may be, Ragbir in my opinion acted by virtue of his conscience because the core of the bill protects the whistleblower who reports corruption or malfeasance in the political field.

Some may call him "a PNM," or a “neemakaram.” or a disloyal UNC member, while others would praise him for his nobility in acting without fear or favour in doing what he considered the right thing, despite what the consequences may be.

Whether he is on a journey to the political cemetery or his days in the UNC are numbered, Ragbir is a man with testicular fortitude and who has the interest of the people at heart. He is not saving the life of a patient, but saving the life of a nation.

I think Ragbir did it because it was the right thing to do, and to do otherwise would have earned him sleepless nights and a guilty conscience.

JAY RAKHAR

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