Wednesday, July 29, 2009

Tales of procrastinating assassins and a slow moving target

Not to be out done by Dr. Tim Goopeesingh and his claim of ‘ethnic cleansing’ against doctors of East Indian descent who make up 80% of the doctors in our fragile health sector, Mr. Manning in true classical envious style noticeable in most ten year old boys unceremoniously grabs the lime light from the Dr. with his dubious claims of attempts against his life. The first thing that is highly suspicious about the Prime Minister’s revelation is the fact that he made this disclosure on the exact same day four years prior.

Now it is a clear cut case that who so ever hired these would be assassins made a fatal error in judgement by not outsourcing the job! How else can one explain the procrastination of these would be assassins to not even ‘make an attempt’ on the Prime Minister’s life after four years of their last threat? If these were foreign assassins I’m sure the job would have been done already but it seems that in an attempt to cut cost due to the turbulent global financial crisis, Mr. Manning’s enemies hired local assassins ‘CEPEP style’, that could be the only logical explanation one could deduce from their procrastination with regard to not even making an attempt at the job. These local would be assassins seem quite content with issuing threats that is so typical of a Trini, all mouth and no action.

The mere fact that Mr. Manning’s would be assassins have not even made an attempt to kill him is not the most startling of this scenario, what is startling and alarming is the manner in which Mr. Manning disclosed these threats and his subsequent explanations of why he didn’t report it when they were actually made. First of all one must understand that Mr. Manning’s security detail is nothing like Obama’s. For instance when Obama is in town (in the US that is) areas are cordoned off with the possibility of several blocks being closed. When Obama’s detail passes by they use electronic devices to jam electronic signals, so for instance mobile phones, walkie-talkies, wireless routers etc would be quite useless. Scouts are sent out before Mr. Obama’s security detail arrives at the destination and he has a decoy limo.

I am not aware of Mr. Manning having a decoy Mercedes Benz. I’m not aware of scouts being sent ahead for Mr. Manning and his detail and I’m not aware of Mr. Manning’s detail using electronic jamming devices. For instance while on Frederick Street, if Mr. Manning’s detail passes I can still text my girlfriend and tell her what a bamcee I think our Prime Minister is and she will receive it and have a humungous smile on her face before his shiny ride makes the corner. Mr. Manning is currently attending open village educational meetings with none of the hi-tech security detail Mr. Obama has, he walks through crowds that have not been scouted prior to his arrival and he speaks at podiums without any bullet proof glass. Mr. Manning is basically a slow moving target, yet still after four years these would be assassins are unable to get the job done. I’m certain by now there is a cost over run on this hit placed on Mr. Manning’s big, yuh can’t miss it head!

The other issue I have with Mr. Manning’s assassination revelation is the fact that he did not report it to the Police at the time, because the Police Commissioner from all reports was unaware of this threat that was made against Mr. Manning’s life hence he only appointed a senior officer a couple days ago to begin an investigation into the matter. Now I’m not sure if citizens understand the seriousness in this issue you see, this is a man who is the head of the Caricom Security Council, yet he seems totally void of any knowledge with regards to the procedures to be followed when a head of government receives a death threat. How can Mr. Manning make any valid contribution to the Caricom Security Council when he does not report a threat against his own life to the Trinidad and Tobago Police Service? How much more is he going to make us the laughing stock of the Caribbean community with this type of folly? Imagine this is a Prime Minister who along with his Minister of National Insecurity boasts about illegal institutions created by themselves namely SAUTT, they boast about the BLIMP and defend the millions spent on acquiring it, they pride themselves in talking about Crime Stoppers yet the Prime Minister of this country does not use these resources to establish who is making threats against his life? Why then should we be surprised that crime continues unabated in this country?

In the United States a sitting President receives hundreds of hate mail letters on a daily basis and every single one every single threat is investigated by the CIA. You can create a blog and be racist about Obama, you can talk about how big you think his head is you can say what you like, but dare say you are going to kill him and the CIA will be knocking at your door within the time it takes you to shut down your computer. Your computer will be confiscated, your house raided, you will be detained for how long they see it fit to investigate you along with your family. Someone walks into the Minister of Local Government’s office as if they are a girl scout selling brownies to tell Hazel Manning that someone is plotting to kill the Prime Minister her husband and they both do not report it to our protective services. The person who delivered the news is not questioned or detained and attempts made to trace the source of the threat. And now I’m wondering if Mr. Manning’s handling of threats made against his life is not a reflection of his attitude toward citizen’s cries for a solution to the rampant crime.

What peeved me most is Mr. Manning’s claim that if he reported the threat at the time certain people would have been killed and there would have been bloodshed. Now granted Mr. Manning’s comments were outside the walls of Parliament they reek of the same putrid smell of insincerity and untruth as Dr. Goopeesingh’s claims of ethnic cleansing. Trinidad and Tobago is probably the world’s most noted country for having politicians who bring the name of their own country into disrepute on the international scene by the irresponsible claims they make. Mr. Manning is the Prime Minister of this country therefore whatever comes out of his mouth is reported beyond our shores. By Mr. Manning claiming there would have been bloodshed had he reported the threat against his life he in effect told the international community that Trinibagonians are a violent irrational people. Thanks a mil Patrick! At least we will not have to pay anything over your death similar to how we will ‘pay in blood’ if we do not involve ourselves in your dubious economic union with Caribbean countries that have some of the weakest economies in the region, at least if your death occurs the blood will be free!

Such is the magnitude of Mr. Manning’s self importance that he is deluded into thinking someone would not only ‘waste’ their time to kill a third world non entity politician like himself, he actually believes that the citizens of this country would give a hoot to the point that we will go on a violent rampage over his death. I have heard of self professed Christians but self professed martyrs are a bit too much for me to digest. Mr. Manning has followed in the footsteps of Dr. Goopeesingh by degrading and embarrassing our country. I raised this issue of Dr. Goopeesingh’s claims of ethnic cleansing and I will raise it again with Mr. Manning’s dubious claims of assassination threats, as a people it is time we reel in our politicians because by their actions and words they are clearly out of control.

As of now I don’t know which is doing this country more harm, the rampant crime or the insensitive stupid remarks by our politicians. These are the people who when they speak the international community forms an opinion, an opinion not about them as individuals but an opinion of us as a nation. It is blatantly clear that Mr. Manning’s claim of death threats is nothing but a red herring to detract from those calling for an investigation into the 1990 coup. Being accustomed to putting his foot in his mouth what Mr. Manning does not realise is if after 19 years since the attempted coup he is still receiving death threats as our head of government it means the issues of 1990 have not been resolved and there are many unanswered questions. If Mr. Manning is really concerned about his legacy he should be concerned about not leaving a legacy of unanswered questions for the future generations to come and concerned about not leaving a tarnished image of our country by making irresponsible claims. Such behaviour simply does not convert to political currency! ©

Sunday, July 26, 2009

Indo Politicians and the elusive goal of Political Domination

While the debate surrounding Dr. Tim Gopeesingh’s claims of ethnic cleansing rages on, it occurred to me that the UNC is persistently acting in a manner that is hazardous to its own political wellbeing. For one thing the UNC’s persistent claims of racial bias against people of East Indian descent in this country has always and will always make it difficult for that party to regain political power because the numbers alone are against them in terms of Indos making up 40% of the Trinidad and Tobago population.

So even though they constantly play the race card, all it does is secure a certain measure of votes amongst its core support base (i.e. voters of East Indian descent), the race card however does not attract voters of mixed or other races in any significant way and for obvious reasons. As a matter of fact what the race card actually does is spurn Non-Indo voters away from the UNC and of late it has been met with a cold shoulder even by Indo voters who are tired of having their ethnic sensitivities abused and misused by members of their own ethnic group who ought to know better.

In his article “Race or cultural preference?”, Kevin Baldeosingh sought to put this whole question about there being a disparity of Indo Trinidadians in certain fields as not necessarily being an act of discrimination but merely a matter of cultural choices made by said ethnic group. He used statistics from the Central Statistical Office and Council for the Professionals Related to Medicine which showed a high level of Indos in particular fields in the medicinal area, for instance as doctors a whopping 80% of our doctors are of East Indian descent, where as in fields such as Nutritionists the percentage was 22% which suggest that this field is practiced mostly by citizens of Afro and other ethnic groups.

In addition Kevin has pointed out that Indos seem more drawn to technological fields for instance at UTT a technical Institution, 80% of the graduates were of East Indian descent while the student population at UWI is only 35% Indo. These statistics if nothing else reveals that in truth and fact, what those with evil intentions seek to portray as discrimination in certain sectors is merely a matter of cultural choices by the very races which may be over-represented or under-represented in a particular field. For instance even though some Indos have gravitated to the protective services this is still an area that is chosen as a career field by people of African descent. Therefore one cannot reasonably expect to have many Indos holding senior positions if the employment population is predominantly of another race.

Commenting on a 1993 survey titled Ethnicity and Employment Practices, it revealed that of the firms that were owned by East Indians 88.2% of those firms had no Afro Trinidadians represented at senior level where as of the firms that were owned by Afro Trinidadians 78.7% of those firms excluded Indo Trinidadians. In terms of professionals Afro Trinidadian professionals were excluded from 93.1% of the firms owned by Indo Trinidadians, whereas of the firms owned by Afro-Trinidadians 89% of those firms excluded Indo-Professionals. From these figures, Kevin deduced that if there is racial bias in the private sector, it is equally amongst both Indos and Afros. But for the sake of putting things in perspective, and considering the fact that it is the Indo politician claiming racial discrimination against his people, if one were to look carefully at the figures above one will see that though they may be close, Afro Trinidadians are more inclined to hire someone of East Indian descent the difference being 9.5% concerning senior level positions and 4.1% with regard professionals.

I remember fresh out of school, my first job was working at a jewellery store downtown. It was owned by a tall handsome man of East Indian descent Mr. Khan. Even at that tender age of post puberty I felt quite comfortable working for Mr. Khan. He treated me with the same respect he treated all his employees, as a matter of fact Mr. Khan’s employment population was an equal mixture of Indos and Afros with a couple Douglas in between, be them a sales clerk or a jeweller. I never noticed anything strange about the way he treated me as opposed to how he would treat an employee of East Indian descent. The only strange thing I remember of Mr. Khan, strange to me because I’m not a Muslim was the way he had no problem pulling out his mat and bending over in supplication, praying right there in the store in full view of everyone. His personal secretary was of African descent and the majority of guys who he hired as security for his stores were of Afro descent. Your race didn’t matter to Mr. Khan, all that mattered were you selling his goods. To this day if Mr. Khan sees me in Port of Spain he will stop to ask me how I am, and his son who is a few years younger than I am befriended me and will hail me out anywhere in Port of Spain.

After working there I did a couple stints working as an accounts clerk until I landed a job at an Accounting firm owned by people of African descent. My experience working there was not all that pleasant because my boss was an asshole, and he wasn’t an asshole because he was of African descent he was an asshole because he chose to be one. But I digress, at the same time I was working at this firm I also attended the School of Business and Computer Studies in Champ Fleur. There I befriended a young man of East Indian descent who was studying the same discipline as I and who at the time was looking to change jobs. We had an opening at the firm so right there and then, first time we have ever met, I told him about the opening and arranged for him to provide me with his resume so I can drop it in to my boss. My boss called him, there was an interview and then there was employment. I knew many other Afro students who I could have told about the opening, but I told the first person who indicated that they were looking for a job and his race didn’t matter to me. More importantly his race didn’t matter to my boss who was also of African descent.

I am sure there are many citizens who can recount similar experiences such as mine, and the statistics that Kevin revealed in his article speaks for themselves, which is why every time the UNC makes claims of racial discrimination against Indos in this country they’re adding another nail to their political coffin. The ethnic demographics of T&T are 40% Indo, 37.5% Afro, 20.5% Mixed, 1.2% other and 0.08% unspecified as per the CIA’s World Fact Book. What Panday and his sycophants in the UNC fail to realise is when they cry wolf and claim racial discrimination against Indos, they are in effect indirectly labelling the other 60% of the Non-Indo population in this country as racist. The UNC cannot label 60% of this country’s population as racist and at the same time expect this same 60% to vote for them when there is a general election. I have a big problem with people indirectly accusing me of being a racist simply because they are unable to knock the racial inferiority chip off of their own shoulders.

Even Winston Dookeran is allowing the UNC to mislead him by having the COP issue a statement calling for an enquiry into claims of racial discrimination against Indos in Trinidad and Tobago. Dookeran of all people should know better than to engage in this cry wolf nonsense because as an Indo he was once Central Bank Governor of Trinidad and Tobago, one of the most coveted positions in the public sector. The mere fact that he can come now and validate the garbage being spewed by Panday and his race obsessed posse proves what critics of the COP were saying from day one, that Dookeran’s so called new politics is nothing but old politics being presented under a different banner. If the UNC can accuse the PNM of ‘ethnic cleansing’ then it stands to reason that the people of Laventille can accuse the PNM of genocide because since its inception as a political party, the PNM has systematically ignored and disowned the people of Laventille despite it being a PNM strong hold. I have friends of African descent living in Laventille, studying and pursuing the same discipline as myself and my Indo friend mentioned earlier and they have extreme difficulties finding work. Some of them have even resorted to changing their addresses if only to just get an ‘appointment for employment’!

The PNM is no organisation of angels as a matter of fact if anything else they’re well known for mismanagement of state resources, but I do not think the PNM has been targeting Indos in this country. As a matter of fact PNM affiliation transcends all races in TT and they do not pledge allegiance to any one race hence their long track record of being the political party to form the government of our multi-ethnic society. The PNM is labelled as an Afro party and it was labelled so by the leaders of an Indo centric political party who fail to realise that race is not their one way ticket to political heaven. When one considers the current ethnic composition of the PNM Ministerial portfolios, the evidence is there of the pain staking effort they make as an organisation to ensure that there is a significant Indo representation because as the longest surviving political party, they know all to well that the 37.5% Afro population in this country cannot alone ensure their place as the government of T&T.

Unfortunately the UNC is yet to learn the basics of ABC politics. They fail to realise that we live in a modern age, and the voting population which it seeks to govern is well advanced and mature if only to recognise political impotence when it is staring them glaringly in the face. They fail to realise that we live in a multi-ethnic society and if they persistently engage in stirring racial mistrust they will never regain government. Until the UNC reforms its strategies and changes its manifesto to a national perspective instead of the myopic Indo-Victim-Mentality-Inferiority-Complex, the remaining 60% Non-Indo citizens will always spurn their advances for political office and this also applies to Winston Dookeran. The Indo politician in Trinidad and Tobago needs to understand that he is free to hold on to and protect his East Indian Heritage, but when it comes to politics and public office all of us are one, we are one people. The Indo politician has to shed his inferiority complex and approach things from a national perspective not an Indo perspective. If they persist in the attitude of its ‘us’ against ‘them’ then the Non-Indo voting population will always be circumspect of an Indo politician. And it is not his race that will cause him to be unattractive for office but rather his perceived attitude toward other races. ©

Thursday, July 23, 2009

“Losing Control” and its subsequent victims

After reading Paolo Kernahan’s riveting commentary Trini roulett on the Guardian’s website, memories of December, 15 2008 came flooding back into my mind. This was the unfortunate day that my girlfriend’s 18 yr old sister Leecie as she was so fondly known was killed in a vehicular accident in the St. Augustine area when her boyfriend, the son of a well known local comedian, and who at the time was illegally using the priority bus route, ‘lost control’ of his vehicle and ended up in a river. I always knew my girlfriend’s reasons for disliking that clown were not a typical ‘female overreaction’. The fact of the matter is he was speeding.....there I said it, get it over and done with.

In his article Paolo made a most notable point that these idiots who drive recklessly on our nation’s road ways seem to be totally ignorant to the possible consequences of their recklessness and daredevil stunts that amuse none but their company of ignorant like minded drones. The death of Leecie had a terrible effect on my girlfriend’s family, and I was able to see firsthand the effect losing a loved one to a vehicular accident has on the affected family that is left behind to mourn their loss.

Before I share our experience I just want to comment on some points Paolo raised, for instance the issue of it being illegal to modify your vehicle’s engine without notifying the licensing department. First of all I had no idea that there was a law preventing such however now that Paolo has educated me it makes me wonder what those licensing officers get paid to do. There are hundreds of cars on our nation’s road ways, apart from the illegal neon lights, tint and license plates, are outfitted with modified engines. Too many times I’ve been stuck in traffic, only to see one of those gaudy painted hybrid hot wheels zoom by and release that ‘puff’ noise that sounds like a mechanical fart.

While I do not want to minimise or belittle in any way the fact that we are all responsible for the manner in which we use the nation’s roads, part of the problem with regard to people disregarding the laws and various road rules is the fact that the authorities are almost always virtually absent during peak hours or the late hours when these fools come out to ‘play’ on the roads. In addition to the absence of the authorities we also have the problem of non-prosecution as well as lack of sympathy by the police for the families of road fatality victims and I will get to that when sharing our experience. We always read in the newspaper or hear on the 7 pm news that a driver ‘lost control’ of his vehicle and killed this amount of people, but that’s all we ever hear. There is almost never any follow up stories of a driver being charged for manslaughter or in some cases based on the circumstances murder.

First of all I have a big problem with the term ‘lost control’! Get real T&T, it is about high time we stop using the term ‘lost control’ as a euphemism for speeding and driving like a jackass! In the United States if a person crashes and dies or kills a pedestrian in a vehicular accident due to reckless driving, very rare do you hear the investigating officer or media reporting that the person ‘lost control’. What you hear is “Mr. John Doe was speeding and driving recklessly and he killed X amount of people in the process”. After that, a couple days later you usually hear “Mr. John Doe has been charged with reckless driving and manslaughter”. But in sweet T&T we only hear of reports of vehicular accidents, we never hear about the outcome of the so called investigations being carried out by ‘PC Constable’. It cannot be that every single fatal accident in this country is due to a driver ‘losing control’, if this is the case then I would suggest customs improve their inspection of the quality of vehicles entering into this country and their road worthiness because clearly there is something in this country that is causing citizens to ‘lose control’!

If the authorities quit failing the citizens of this nation and start fervently applying the rule of law with regards to dealing with reckless drivers then that may have a positive effect on stemming the flow of speed monkeys onto the nation’s road ways. But getting the authorities to do something in this country about something that is clearly affecting the lives of citizens is like pulling teeth, did someone say breathalyzer? As to our experience of losing someone we loved dearly and in such a tragic way, it certainly takes a toll on the emotional bank account. It was December, 14 2008, the night before my girlfriend’s birthday. Being the nocturnal creatures that we are, we stayed up late planning for her special day, mall visit, lunch, some dinner and anything else she wanted to do. It was supposed to be her time, a grand time. What I’m about to disclose would probably make the hair at the back of your neck raise because it certainly raised mine when it was revealed to me.

My girlfriend and I do not follow any particular religion, but it is a topic we discuss between ourselves often. So there we were at three in the morning discussing religion, our likes and dislikes when the topic veered into the direction about what happens to us when we die and how we both feel about the issue, the thought of not knowing what really happens despite what many religions ‘claim’. Little did we know that later during the day we would be told the accident in which her sister died happened around three am. So we can safely say that at about the same time we were discussing what happens to us when we die, her sister was pinned in the car catching her few glimpses of a world she will cease to be part of. To this day I have never asked my girlfriend if she believes she talked her sister’s death into reality. I do not think this the case, but I wonder if she may secretly believe this to be the case and may be blaming herself. Sorrow has an uncanny way of transforming itself into guilt. But I’m afraid to ask because maybe she doesn’t think she talked her sister’s death into reality and if I do ask maybe then she will think it.

I was still in deep sleep at 6:30 am after having a night full of unadulterated conversation with the one I love most when her phone rings. I do not hear the ring because I’m knocked out completely, however another sound wakes me and scares the living hell out of me. It is a sound I’ve never ever heard before. It is the kind of sound you expect to hear emanating from some perverse super natural 3D reality with no light and gravity, a sound so dismal and engulfed in agony and despair that it commands the full attention of all five senses. I sprang up out of sleep my eyes adjusting to the figure on the bed, my girlfriend sitting with her phone in her hand and then it happens I hear the sound again. Only this time knocked out of my sleepy unconsciousness, I realise that the sound is emanating from my girlfriend’s mouth. At this point in time I do not recognise her I do not recognise her voice. I swear that sound, that melancholic moan that comes not from the voice box, but from the depths of one’s soul, it is unnerving! It is a sound I hope I never have to hear again in the near future. That my friend is the sound of losing a loved one.

This sound that is foreign to what we know as human renders you helpless. I can’t recall prior to December, 15 2008 ever feeling that measure of helplessness. I held her, I whispered words of comfort but how do those words compete for attention and value against the information still being relayed to her by the person on the other end of the phone line? Then came the trauma of viewing the body, Leecie....oh poor Leecie. Scraped scalp, broken arms, broken legs it was such a ghastly sight! I think this was the point in my life I fully understood the saying that the body is but a ‘vessel’. The ‘we’ that makes us ‘us’ is something intangible. The body without ‘us’ is nothing, even if the person is as young and vibrant as an 18 year old, they look so different in death. And your mind battles with a contradiction that the person is sleeping but you can’t wake them. Her body.....so cold.....her limbs so limp. My girlfriend, her mother....they couldn’t stop touching her face. Her baby sister, she begins to talk to her, she begins to ask why.......why did she leave without giving her the opportunity to say how much she loves her.....she starts to brush her hair and kiss her forehead much to the displeasure of the funeral home’s staff member.

After viewing the body we were instructed that the body was to be moved to that place in St. James where the autopsies are performed. This is where we get to experience firsthand the unsympathetic, unprofessional service of Trinidad and Tobago’s Police Service. After waiting for more than an hour for the police to arrive to give the authorisation for the body to be moved, my girlfriend decides to call the investigating officer at the St. Joseph police station to inform him that we were waiting on them so the body can be moved. The officer was highly annoyed that she called to question when they would arrive and begins to berate her, “Who you tink you iz, wha appen yuh cyah wait ah wha”! My girlfriend shocked by this response replies in a shaky voice “Do you know who you’re speaking to officer? You’re speaking to a young woman who just lost her sister in a vehicular accident”. Un-swayed he replies in the same aggressive tone “So wha happen to that, you cyah wait” and hangs up the phone on her. This was the impeccable service offered to my girlfriend by the Trinidad and Tobago Police Service on her birthday, the day her baby sister died.

She looked even more different than lying on the table in that funeral home on the day the accident happened. This is the day we bury her. This is the first time in my life I helped lift a coffin out of a hearse and yes it is true what they say about the dead being heavy, even when they are small built and short like sweet Leecie. The coffin is taken into the church and opened. This is where the women began to cry, my eyes start to water but I hold them steady. Then my girlfriend lurches forward, she starts to brush her hair, scrutinising the makeup on her face, brushing her hair over and over. This is where I give her that one moment with her sister and I retreat to my seat to attend to my own uncontrollable tears, my older brother next to me almost competing. Because of the damage done to her by the accident only half of the coffin was opened and the funeral home had to apply a lot of makeup.

At the cemetery the scene was no different, the sun beastly hot, it was the one day I felt so cold under the merciless heat of the sun. Her father commences the covering of the coffin, that dreadful sound when the first batch of dirt hits the coffin...’thud’ followed by more dirt ‘thud’ ‘thud’ thud’. And there was her little nephew, always a talker blurts out “Mommy why don’t they open that box and tell Leecie to come out”! I left out many details from the time of the accident to the funeral in terms of the sleepless nights myself and my girlfriend had, the two younger sisters were distraught and her nephews were in a stage of nostalgia being 7 and 5, too young to fully comprehend what was happening around them during this sad period. I do remember the days before the funeral the 5 yr old kept asking when is aunty Leecie going to come home.

I think another painful part for my girlfriend, even though she did not particularly like him was the fact that Leecie’s boyfriend did not attend her funeral after he caused her death. It was a matter of principle! His father did attend though, but that in no way equates to reparation. The days after the funeral was very trying, the older ones kept reminiscing. But one of the younger sisters kept blocking her ears whenever the adults began to talk about Leecie, she could not deal with it. She did not want to forget Leecie, but forget what happened to her.

Six months after Leecie’s funeral I would still get calls at 2 am in the morning, my girlfriend on the other end crying. She couldn’t sleep and she started to remember Leecie. And so it has affected the other family members in other ways. Up to this day we have not heard from the ‘investigating officer’ in terms of what was the conclusion of his investigation. The young man responsible for my girlfriend’s sister is already back on the nation’s roadways, and has not been charged for reckless driving. As a matter of fact he has not even been charged for using the priority bus route illegally. Whether this is due to him being a member of the Trinidad and Tobago Defence I do not know, but Leecie is gone...she was taken away from us and no one has been held accountable for her loss. This was our experience of losing someone we loved to the vehicular carnage that exists on the roads of T&T. I’m sure many people can attest to the horrible days that family members of road fatalities have to endure before and after their funeral. As Paolo indicated in closing what are those who are left behind not only in T&T, but left behind in this world to do but apparently wait our turn or keep our fingers crossed that we do not end up as a statistic.©

Wednesday, July 22, 2009

Of Race, Politics and Perpetual Opposition

"The attempt to create ethnically homogeneous geographic areas through the deportation or forcible displacement of persons belonging to particular ethnic groups. Ethnic cleansing sometimes involves the removal of all physical vestiges of the targeted group through the destruction of monuments, cemeteries, and houses of worship." The preceding paragraph was quoted in verbatim from the Encyclopedia Britannica as the definition for the term ethnic cleansing. One can imagine my utter confusion upon hearing Dr. Tim Goopeesingh's claim that Indo doctors in Trinidad and Tobago were victims of ethnic cleansing at the hands of the PNM government. I had to take a double take the following day when I saw it emblazoned on the front page of the Express and I asked myself, does Dr. Goopeesingh really know the meaning of the term ethnic cleansing?

And why ethnic cleansing of Indo doctors? Why would the PNM commit such an act against Indo doctors and not against Indo teachers, or Indo doubles vendors or Indo police officers? Is it that Indo doctors are a different type of Indian to the others of different professions in this country? And since when does ethnic cleansing focus on a person's profession? If this is the case then shouldn't there be a new definition, 'ethnic profession cleansing' perhaps? But I digress, the fact remains that Dr. Goopesingh is only reminding the voting population in this country why he and by extension the UNC is and will continue to be in Opposition. It's as if the UNC is always trying to compete with itself on making the most irresponsible and stupid statements. How can this man stand up in our country's highest office, the Parliament and utter this foolishness? After reading his claim and watching his charade on the evening news I envisioned a foreigner coming across these news headlines on the internet, and out of curosity as these things often generate I could imagine the foreigner reading further to find out how many millions of Indo doctors were displaced and violently chased out of Trinidad and Tobago due to this ethnic cleansing, only to realise that no such thing exist in Trinidad and Tobago and what we do in fact need is an idiot cleansing of our Parliament!

It is truly amazing how the UNC sees race in everything, the most uttered word by UNC representatives is the diminutive "Indo". So as someone of Non-Indo background I ask myself, do these people seriously expect me to vote for them come election time when they, by their own deeds, actions and utterances are doing the very same thing they accuse the PNM of i.e. as the Opposition they simply ignore the other ethnic groups in this country and are not concerned about us or what bothers us as citizens of this multi-ethnic country! You would swear the UNC is an Opposition party in the Republic of India and not the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago! How come the UNC does not see ethnic cleansing in the granting of billion dollar contracts by the PNM government to Indos like Hafeez Karamath, contracts which were the subject of a commission of inquiry? How come they don't see ethnic cleansing in the granting of billion dollar contracts to people like Emille Elias granted he is not an Indo, or is it that anytime the PNM government does not hire or grant an Indo a contract it is automatically construed as being ethnic cleansing and racial discrimination?

Would I be guilty of ethnic cleansing if I do not vote for an Indo centric political party in a multi-ethnic society? And now certain members of certain Indo groups are calling for a Commission of Enquiry into Dr. Goopesingh's claim. Well I buckled with laughter at the folly of these people, tears in my eyes. Don't they know that a Commission of Enquiry does not have the authority to prosecute? Ethnic-Cleansing is a war 'crime' and as such it has to be investigated by an International Body such as the United Nations and the perpetrators are to be tried by International Courts. In addition the first thing to quelling an act of ethnic cleansing is the deployment of international troops to the affected area, so my question to good ole Tim is, are you also going to request the presence of the "boys in blue helmets"? Can I look forward to relaxing by the fountain at the Hyatt whilst watching a UN armoured tank roll by languidly on Wrightson Road? Do these jokers really think a Commission of Enquiry can do all of this? And who is going to appoint the Commission of Enquiry, the same PNM Government that they are accusing of the ethnic cleansing? Clearly some people's ignorance knows no bounds! The UNC is a dead weight to itself and that is why it will forever rot in perpetual Opposition because instead of presenting themselves as a viable alternative for governance, they're only concerned about dividing this country and spreading racial hatred. ©

Reasoning not numbers

A Sylvester John in the Express of July 15,2009 wrote a letter entitled "Bias Abounds". Mr. Sylvester in his letter has indicated that the political commentators who criticised Independent Senators Gail Mehair and Michael Annisette are 'anti-PNM' because they criticised the two Independent Senators who voted for the Government but was mum on and did not criticise the other seven Independent Senators who voted against the Government and with the Opposition.

Appraising Mr. Sylvester's arguments I couldn't help but wonder if he was one of those stary eyed die hard PNM supporters who thought that Mr. Manning was raining words of wisdom upon him in Woodford Square on Monday night when he Mr. Manning, on his platform of political education expressed 'his' (leader of the PNM) support for the two Independent Senators who voted along with his Government. Mr. Manning indicated to his supporters to 'not to take on' the critics because they will tell you it is wrong for the two Independent Senators to vote with the Government, but it's ok for the other seven to vote with the Opposition.

Mr. Manning was being true to himself as a seasoned politician when he sought to put the vote concerning the suspension of Local Government Elections, in the context of numbers i.e. how much voted for and against, as opposed to putting it in the context of the 'reasoning and motive' behind the voting. Whether Mr. Manning's twist of things on his platform of political education is something beneficial to his ever seemingly gullible supporters is something to be discussed at another time. I just want to take the opportunity however to indicate that people like Mr. Sylvester should not buy cat in bag. The issue critics had with the two Independent Senators voting with the government is not simply the fact that they voted with the Government, but the reason why they voted with the Government.

Ms Gail Mehair in particular, during her contribution said that Government's proposal to postpone Local Government election is unconstitutional yet she voted with the Government because as she indicated it is not her duty to thwart Government's policy. It is this blatant contradiction of principles and logic that stirred the ire of Ms. Mehair's critics. If something is unconstitutional, especially something as postponement of any election for not one, but four consecutive years then this is an attack on democracy and it is an attack against the citizens of this country and it is the duty of any member be them Opposition or Independent Senator, to thwart any Government policy when that policy is an attack against the democractic rights of citizens.

So I say to people like Mr. John do not be fooled by your Prime Minister because unlike him, myself and many other citizens do not see things only in terms of 'numbers'. We listen to what our elected leaders have to say, and we also listen to the non-elected ones like Ms. Mehair and if what comes out of their mouth does not make sense as in this case, then we owe it to ourselves as citizens in a democratic country to hold them accountable and question them when their actions and explanations thereof defies basic commonsense and most of all when their actions run counter to the spirit of democracy and contrary to our constitution. Numbers do not justify any action of any Government, if that were to be the case then all history books should be re-written and Hilter should be made a great historical leader because he had the support of the majority of Germans while millions of jews were being murdered like chickens on a poultry farm. ©

When Silence Is Best

I have not heard any other Independent Senator trying to justify why they voted a particular way with regards the bill to postpone local government elections so why does Ms Mehair feel she has the need to explain, justify and prove her independence? Is it that for some reason unknown to the public her conscience is some how taunting her? Ms Mehair has declared and sought to 'prove' her independence by providing some of the most illogical explanations. For instance Ms. Mehair is quoted as saying "I do not condone what the government is doing. Remember that, I said it is undemocratic and unbearable and it brings about a certain amount of anger not only within myself but within the people of Trinidad and Tobago", yet she voted with the Government claiming her responsibility as an Independent Senator is not to thwart Government policy.

Well I have some pretty stupid questions for Ms. Mehair. If Government's policy is as you say, undemocratic and unbearable then is this not an attack against the people of this nation? And is it not your duty as an Independent Senator to use your senatorial vote to prevent this and uphold the sanctity of democracy? Or is it that in your opinion undemocratic and unbearable actions by a government against it's people is perfectly acceptable in a democracy? I fail to see the logic in your arguments honourable senator, as a matter of fact I do believe you have willfully vilified yourself. And with regard Ms. Mehair's outburst that she is a 'government senator', many have referred to this as a Freudian slip, however when I heard Ms. Mehair's outburst I was reminded of the old saying, "The things which proceed out of the mouth, come from the heart and those things defile a man". Perhaps Ms Mehair would have been better advised by her 'constitutional expert incognito' to simply vote and keep her mouth shut like her 'independent' colleague Mr. Annisette! There comes a time when silence is best because the change from the dollar makes the most noise! ©

Mr. Maharaj You Are Wrong

Secretary general of the Maha Sabha, Satnarayan Maharaj, has out rightly confused me by his support for President George Maxwell Richards and his condemnation of the Law Association's call for the President's resignation. Mr. Maharaj's position is one of utter contradiction because on the one hand he does not support calls for the President's resignation asking rhetorically of the Law Association to show him a person in public life who has not made a 'mistake'. He then goes on to say that the Law Association should instead spend it's time criticizing the wanton wastage of public funds and alleged procurement breaches by officials involved in these projects.

Mr. Maharaj's position is one of direct contradiction because the President's actions, or in my personal opinion 'negligence' is in fact tied directly to the wanton wastage and procurement breaches to which Mr. Maharaj claims to be concerned about. Quite frankly I'm not surprised by Mr. Maharaj's comments that all public officials make mistakes, which seems to endorse President Richard's remarks that to 'err is human'. Mr. Maharaj is after all a religious man, and his position seems to be that of 'who is without sin cast the first stone'. In my own secular opinion I would like to indicate to Mr. Maharaj that in the case of a public official, especially one who holds a high an office as the President, the word mistake cannot be used as a 'synonym' for 'negligence' and gross negligence at that. Not ignoring the fact that Mr. Maharaj is a Hindu, I just want to indicate to him that in the Bible Judas, the apostle who betrayed Jesus hanged himself when the full brunt of his actions registered on his conscience. We are not asking that the President hangs himself, however when one makes a mistake, especially a material mistake one is expected to take full blame for that mistake and then take whatever necessary action is required to redeem oneself. In the case of President Richards that would be to resign. One writer in the daily newspaper even made reference to the fact that ancient Romans use to commit suicide, however his view is that they were running away from their errors. From what I have read of the ancient Romans, my view is that Romans were people who valued their honour and their names, so much so that they preferred to be dead than to live with a sullied character.

The Presidents appointment of Father Charles to the Integrity Commission, knowing fully well that this is someone who willfully committed a breach of academic ethics was not a mistake. It was a willful act on the part of the President as Father Charles himself said that the President indicated to him that 'it was no big thing'. A former university principal now president saying that plagiarism is no big thing is not a 'mistake'. As a matter of fact, that act of the President calls into question his own integrity. If Mr. Maharaj sees this as no reason for Mr. Richards to resign then this would mean that plagiarism is also no big thing for Mr. Maharaj. I would then have to check myself when reading Mr. Maharaj's weekly columns in the newspaper, need I say more? Then there is the issue of the appointment of Mr. McFarlane whom the President introduced as holding positions on several state boards. The President was aware of Mr. MacFarlane's state board positions, and if it is as the President indicated it is his 'prerogative' to appoint members of the Integrity Commission then shouldn't the President familiarize himself with the contents of the legislation which grants him the authority to do such? This again cannot be described as a mistake, it was a dereliction of duty on the part of the President.

Mr. Maharaj confuses me most when he says that the Law Association should focus on the cost over runs and procurement breaches. Doesn't Mr. Maharaj realize that the Integrity Commission is in fact one of the Institutions that would be involved in any investigation concerning the misappropriation of funds in any of these large projects? And if the Integrity Commission is one of the Institutions that guards the public purse then shouldn't it's commissioners be men of standing, men of integrity? If Father Charles can claim he committed his acts of plagiarism because of time constraints, what would time constraints cause him to do in his capacity as an Integrity Commission Mr. Maharaj? And for someone who has fought against victimization by the current ruling government how can Mr. Maharaj say that the appointment of someone to the Integrity Commission, who sits on three state boards and who is a direct employee of the state is no reason for the President to resign because it's a mistake? Mr. McFarlane is Calder Hart's employee, can Mr. McFarlene then without prejudice adjudicate on any matter that comes before him concerning Mr. Calder Hart?

As someone who is the head of an organization that represents a significant section of our population, Mr. Maharaj needs to evaluate his positions very carefully, for like the President he may very well bring the organization which he represents into disrepute in the eyes of the civil minded citizens of this country. ©

Finger Licking Good!!!!

Finger Licking Good!!!!
A moment every Trini could relate to :-)