Political Lip Service or Divided Government‏?

The People's Partnership Government through the Office of the Prime Minister sought to 'appear to' condemn the highly inflammatory and racially divisive remarks of Chairman of the Police Service Commission Mr. Nizam Mohammed, a condemnation that no doubt sought to act as a cooling agent to soothe the public out cry against Mr. Mohammed's unfortunate statements and 'insinuations' made in no other place than our country's highest office the Parliament of Trinidad and Tobago. The release from the Prime Minister's Office describes Mr. Mohammed's statements using some very strong adjectives and phrases such as "reckless, senseless, divisive and serving no purpose." The release continued to state that Mr. Mohammed's views "run against the very grain of the philosophy that now governs this country", presumably under the stewardship of Ms. Persad-Bissessar and the new People's Partnership Government and further stated that Mr. Mohammed must be held accountable for his inflammatory comments because the mission of the government is to embrace everyone.

Arguably the release from the Prime Minister's Office used all the right words to condemn Mr. Mohammed's inflammatory remarks yet that release fell short of informing the general public whether the Government which fiercely defended the appointment of the goodly gentleman in the first place, an appointment that was vehemently opposed to by the Opposition benches, whether they will now be seeking to revoke Mr. Mohammed's appointment as he has demonstrated to the entire nation his unsuitability for the position. This Government should not wait on the President to revoke Mr. Mohammed's appointment. It was this Government that insisted Mr. Mohammed be appointed to this position and therefore they should bear the responsiblity for Mr. Mohammed's reckless conduct and not put that burden on the President. The Government's statement without action is tantamount to a parent spending enormous amounts of energy severely berating a child for a transgression yet failing to discipline said child.

Further to that one would have thought that if the Government was to issue a strongly worded reprimand such as this and in light of the potentially destabilising effect of Mr. Mohammed's comments not only to the Police Service but to the country as a whole, that they would have held an emergency caucus to address the issue and come to some form of unanimity in condemning the comments. This however does not seem to be the case because apparently before the ink can dry on the Office of the Prime Minister's release, we have contrary claims being made by two Government Ministers in the form of Dr. Roodal Moonilal and Chandresh Sharma. In the case of Mr. Sharma, he has taken a most curious stance of blaming the media for the dilemma Mr. Mohammed finds himself, saying "There are times when every media in many parts of the world carry stories that are inaccurate or carry stories that did not at all times reflect the views of the presenter, so that we must at all times listen and not shoot the messenger".

Mr. Sharma's comments are certain to raise eyebrows as Mr. Mohammed's comments were broadcast live on national television via the Parliament Channel, therefore the entire country for the most part heard for themselves the offensive remarks of Mr. Mohammed. For instance can Mr. Sharma explain what Mr. Mohammed meant when he said 'we need protection'? Who is the 'WE' that Mr. Mohammed was referring to and protection from whom? And if Mr. Mohammed is indeed the messenger from where did the message originate? Who's message is he delivering? In addition if as Mr. Mohammed claims that the police service does not represent the ethnic composition of Trinidad and Tobago because there are 41% East Indians (Mr. Mohammed erroneously claimed 50%) and 39% Africans therefore the police service should not have so many Africans, can both Mr. Mohammed and Sharma explain why we have a caucasian Police Commissioner when that ethnic group is not more than 1% and the fact that the Commissioner is a foreigner to boot! In Mr. Mohammed's eyes does Commissioner Gibbs represent the ethnic composition of Trinidad and Tobago? Furthermore was Commissioner Gibbs promoted through the ranks based on meritocracy? Why was he chosen over an officer like say Stephen Williams? It should be noted that it was the Government and not the PSC that was instrumental in the appointment of Mr. Gibbs as Police Commissioner. Mr. Sharma's claim that we should not shoot the messenger is directly at odds with the Government's message via the release from the Prime Minister's Office that Mr. Mohammed's statements run against the very grain of this government. How can Mr. Mohammed be a 'viable messenger' and how can his message be 'worthy of recognition' while at the same time running against the philosophy of the Government of which Mr. Sharma is a member?

Dr. Roodal Moonilal has indicated that Mr. Mohammed's statements can spark a healthy debate, but the question is a healthy debate about what? What was valuable of Mr. Mohammed's claims of feeling intimidated because there were too many 'Africans' in top positions of the police service, especially when Mr. Mohammed gave no credible reason for feeling intimidated other than the fact that the officers he was referring too were not of his ethnicity?. How can Dr. Moonilal say Mr. Mohammed's statements can spark a healthy debate when the Government's leadership via the Office of the Prime Minister has denounced Mr. Mohammed's statements as 'reckless, senseless, divisive and serving no purpose?' Both Sharma's and Moonilal's comments run counter to the sentiments of another top Government member in the person of Mr. Warner who's comments preceded the release from the Prime Minister's Office, stating that Mr. Mohammed's remarks has hurt him deeply and has caused much embarrassment to their Government. With all these different messages emanating from the People's Partnership it's almost as if parts of this Government exists in parallel dimensions, each entity distinct from the other with it's own agenda.

It would appear from the different sentiments being expressed by this Government that it is a Government speaking with a forked tongue, a Government with multiple heads, positions and agendas. It would also seem that the various heads of this Government are ignorant to the agendas of each other. As a citizen of Trinidad and Tobago I for one am dissatisfied with the release from the Prime Minister's Office and the position of this Government with regards Nizam Mohammed's statements and tenure as Chairman of the Police Service Commission. Until this Government takes collective responsibility for unleashing Mr. Mohammed on the citizens of Trinidad and Tobago, revoke his appointment and speak in unison as a Government, I can only conclude that the release from the Prime Minister's Office is nothing more than 'lip service', a gesture of appeasement to calm the masses while not categorically condemning Mr. Mohammed's claims. The failure of this Government to surgically remove itself from the sentiments of Mr. Mohammed can only lead one to conclude that Mr. Mohammed's comments does in fact reflect the present agenda of this Government irrespective of whether all the key players are aware of what that agenda is. ©

Nizam Mohammed Must Go!

I have called my lawyer and put him on standby prior to publishing this blog in the event that the police comes knocking on my door for daring to call for the removal of a public official who has brought his office into disrepute. This is an open letter to the President of my beloved Republic Trinidad and Tobago, to revoke as soon as is convenient to him the appointment of Nizam Mohammed as Chairman of the Police Service Commission. Mr. Mohammed first brought this office into disrepute by blatantly disregarding the lawful instruction of an officer of law and then subsequently using his position as Chairman of the PSC to undermine and subvert the course of justice, not to mention demoralise the two officers in question along with the entire police force. In addition, Mr. Mohammed's actions have fueled the perception in this country that the law is made only for the lower classes while the higher classes and those in high office can do whatever they wish without compunction, such a perception can only further fuel the already pervasive air of unlawfulness currently blowing through this land and the Prime Minister and Minister of National Security will do well to take heed.

Mr. Mohammed further brought his office into disrepute by going to Parliament last week and making a declaration that he is going to seek to adjust the racial imbalance of the police service because East Indians are 50% of the population. Firstly I have no idea where Mr. Mohammed got his statistics from but East Indians are roughtly 40% of the T&T population. Secondly I find it quite ominous that Mr. Mohammed would not suggest that more people of mixed descent be promoted into the police service because apart from the roughly 38% African population we have a mixed population of roughly 20%. What about the minority groups? Does Mr. Mohammed not want to see more caucasians, chinese and syrians in the police service? His focus on the East Indian population alone has revealed all too well what his inner thoughts are and the citizens of this country would do well to disregard and rebuke sentiments as espoused by the likes of Mr. Mohammed. There is no place in a cosmopolitan country such as Trinidad and Tobago for comments and sentiments such as Mr. Mohammed's. Secondly Mr. Mohammed's vow to interfere with the racial composition of the police service should be of grave concern to all citizens because that is not in the remit of his office as the purpose of the PSC is to review the performance of the COP, his deputies and the police service as a whole. Once Mr. Mohammed commences on his crusade of 'racial fixing' he will be stepping outside his bounds and then he would be doing the very thing he seems to want to allude others are doing i.e. giving preferential treatment to people of East Indian descent while sidelining persons of African descent and all other ethnic groups.

In addition Mr. Mohammed's aim should actually be the reverse, i.e. ensuring that there are sufficient Africans, Syrians, Chinese etc in the police service. In countries like England and the USA there are provisions for minority groups and a certain percentage of government positions are allocated for minority groups to ensure that the dominant ethnic group does not over power the minority groups. Mr. Mohammed seems to be advocating the reverse of that, because there are more East Indians than any other ethnic group in Trinidad & Tobago that they ought to dominate all aspects of our country. This indeed is a very dangerous advocation being made by Mr. Mohammed and all citizens ought to pay very close attention to the response of the Prime Minister who is of East Indian descent and who's core supporters are of East Indian descent. Out of curiousity would Mr. Mohammed advocate there being less East Indian doctors and more African doctors? How about lawyers? I wonder if Mr. Mohammed would be happy if someone charges that there should be more Africans and Mixed Peoples in the police service and government jobs than East Indians as the 38% Africans and 20% mixed gives you 58%!!

Mr. Mohammed has charged that he feels threatened by newspaper articles calling for his removal and has suggested that the Police Commissioner as well as the Minister of National security 'act' on it. Whatever Mr. Mohammed means by that I do hope he understands that he is a public official and any citizen can exercise their democratic rights in whatever way and call for his removal if we feel he is abusing his power or bringing his office in disrepute. Whether we choose to print 8 pages a day in the Express, write a letter to the Leader of the Opposition, Prime Minister, President or any of our Members of Parliament that is our constitutional right! I do not recall Mr. Mohammed or any current public official calling on the Police Comissioner a year ago to deal with all those people who were publishing weekly full page ads about Mr. Manning and Calder Hart. The mere fact that Mr. Mohammed does not seem to understand the constitutional rights of citizens when dealing with public officials is further proof that he is a public official gone astray and he needs to be removed forthwith! No public official is above the law or beyond criticism and the minute we start to go down that slippery slope, the end result is sure to be of dire consequences. ©

The writing is on the wall!

Father what have I done?! I can't believe I voted for this PP Government, is this the making of our own Nazi Government? Why does Kamla et al feel they have the right to infringe on my constitutional rights? The mere fact that Kamla, Ramlogan et al are seeking to destroy the constitutional rights of the citizens of this country by passing a law in Parliament to prevent Clico depositors from taking legal action against them as is their constitutional right, is proof that they know what they are doing IS WRONG!! If they really believe in their hearts that their approach is the right move why not let it take it's course in the courts and let our justice system give the final decision? Kamla is being a hypocrite what does she mean it's tax payers money that is being used to bail out Clico? What's up with the subtle divide and rule implications in that statement? So who's money is being used to bail out HCU? And aren't Clico depositors tax payers? People need to understand that yes with high interest there is high risk, but the Central Bank which is the financial regulator of this country did not indicate to citizens of this country that Clico's policies were a ponzi scheme nor did they indicate to the general public that Clico was in financial trouble and I do not recall Clico's auditors giving them a year end qualified auditor's report! If anything who ever is Clico's auditors, along with the Central Bank failed in their duties and should be jailed for misbehaviour in public office and a derelection of duty! This government is out of order! And I hope all citizens of this country irrespective of policital affiliation will open their eyes and see this is the beginning of something very ugly! It is this same subtle manner that Hitler took control of Germany and led an entire country of millions a stray! 'We will let the people decide' was Kamla's election campaign, and within five months she and her deceitful government is ENSURING THAT THE PEOPLE WILL NOT BE ABLE TO DECIDE! How can so called leaders of the people like Mary King, Stephen Cadiz, Prakash Ramadhar, Garvin Nicholas and Hamel-Smith sit idly by while this insiduous criminal act is being perpetrated on the people's of this country by none other than their own government! Is Verna St. Rose also prepared to walk for this latest faux pas by the PP Government? She is unusually silent! I see very dark dark days ahead! ©

Dealing with a parasitic criminal element

I just watched a video clip on Rachel Price’s facebook page from Ian Alleyne’s crime show, showing the CTV clippings of a man who was shot and killed while waiting to buy bread at a bakery when some men stole his vehicle. This man had a wife and a four month old baby at home waiting for him and that is the first point I want to make, criminals do not care that their victims whom they slaughter like pigs, have loved ones waiting for them to come home. These criminals also do not value the lives of their victims, the lives of us law abiding citizens means nothing to them hence they have no qualms about pulling out a gun and shooting us for a vehicle that we’re most probably still paying the bank for.

For someone to kill another human being with such ease, that person has to have the mentality of a cold blooded parasite, what I call a locust mentality. A locust does not work in the field but it will fly into a garden and clean up everything without once thinking about all the hard work the farmer put into that garden. These criminals are human locusts, they are parasites but unlike locusts which just takes what they did not work had to grow without murdering the farmer, these human locusts are not only taking what they did not work hard for, they are also heartlessly murdering the hard working law abiding citizens of this country and by extension murdering the soul of this nation, because when a father, mother or child is murdered a family is also damaged or in some cases completely broken and the psychological scars remain long after the decomposition of the deceased loved one.

While we the law abiding citizens go to school to get an education, to get a good job, get up 5 am every morning to go to a job that some of us hate but we do it anyway to make ends meet, these criminals waste their schooling years, they then spend the majority of their late teens on the block smoking illicit drugs and then when they mature into young adults they come out with guns in hand to rob and steal from and kill hard working law abiding citizens for what they worked hard for, all so that they and their ‘baby mamas’ could wear the latest brands and go to the latest fete driving a car that they killed a father of a four month old baby the previous night for. That is the mentality of a parasite, feeding off of a productive host to the point of killing it. We the law abiding citizens are nothing but a fat succulent host to the criminal element in this country.

When a farmer encounters locust in his garden he does not capture them and put them somewhere and try to reform their parasitic mentalities /instinct because he knows all too well that is their nature. Nothing he does will be able to convince the locusts that it has no right to just fly onto his farm and kill his crops. The farmer gasses them, he sprays them he eradicates the locusts. So too we as a country need to eradicate these societal locusts from amongst us. I cannot for the life of me understand why successive government after successive government refuses to implement our laws on the death penalty, as far as I’m concerned the government is being negligent, is in contempt of our courts and the death sentencing judgements they have delivered thus far and is violating the constitution of Trinidad and Tobago by not upholding the death penalty. On the 19 of June the United States executed a convicted killer by firing squad, I’m pretty certain if we start putting criminals in front of a firing squad many of these gun toting cowards would think twice about their actions. Criminals are cowards and while they are more than prepared to take a life they are not prepared to lose their own.

We also need to change the outdated colonial laws concerning the ability of law abiding citizens having the right to bear arms. As it stands there is no law granting law abiding citizens the right to carry a fire arm, yet still the criminal elements has an abundance of weapons and ammunition while law abiding citizens are virtually unarmed defenceless sitting ducks keeping their fingers crossed that today is not the day their ‘number’ is going to be called. Many uninformed people like to proffer the thesis that giving citizens the right to bear arms will give the criminals more guns. This is an absurd argument as the criminals already have guns in the absence of any such law. Citizens having the right to bear arms will level the playing field, it will give citizens the opportunity to protect themselves and their families when the law is not around and it will make criminals think twice about brazenly walking up to someone and try taking their vehicle or breaking into their homes.

These laws preventing citizens from having arms is an old outdated colonial law that was used to ensure that our enslaved forefathers never had the capability to rise up against their colonial oppressor and they have to be changed now! As long as the death penalty is not enforced criminals will continue to kill without compunction and as long as law abiding citizens are not given the right to bear arms we will continue to be sitting ducks in the hunting fields of the criminal elements. The new government needs to take urgent action concerning these issues, for far too long we have been silent and ignoring them as a nation like a the proverbial ostrich burying it's head in the sand which has only lead to the death of more unarmed law abiding citizens, as the maxim goes “Fight Crime, Shoot Back!” ©

Ghosts of Governments Past

Once again, after a politician of East Indian descent has ‘risen’ in the form of Mrs. Kamla Persad-Biessessar due to the overwhelming support from the beautiful citizens of this country of ‘all races’, we have a ‘political zombie’, rising up from the political cemetery in the form of former UNC Government Minister Mr. Trevor Sudama to preach about the plight of the Indo community at the hands of a racist PNM. A PNM that has had people of East Indian descent in its cabinet as well as holding top positions in the hierarchy of the political party itself. Is Mr. Sudama saying that the nine Indian Cabinet Ministers of the recent PNM Government and PNM stalwarts such as Ralph Maraj, Jerry Narace, Errol Mahabir and Kamaluddin Mohammed are Indian sell outs? What about Christine Sahadeo, Christine Kangaloo and Mustapha Abdul-Hamid? And where would Mr. Sudama put Mr. Parsanlal’s loyalties after all he’s half Indian half African.

Mr. Sudama has alleged by quoting a ‘commentator’, that where the Indo has done well in education, professions and small business, it has largely been through their own efforts and not because of any special favours from the PNM government. Are we to take it then from Mr. Sudama that the Indo population does not utilize GATE? Do they not apply and attend the University of the West Indies, COSTATT and UTT like their fellow citizens of other races? Do they not utilize the government’s small business loan programs? The interesting thing about people like Mr. Sudama is they never seem quite capable of articulating that which they claim, that the PNM as a government has systematically excluded the Indo community.

All the services provided under the PNM Government was and has been available to all citizens of Trinidad and Tobago be them African, Indian, Syrian, Dougla or Chinese, and this not only pertains to education it also pertains to government grants for people with differently abled children, CDAP etc. If it is said that the PNM is racist against the Indos then who they favour the Africans? If so then what is the status with the East West Corridor? No scholar worth his degree can accuse the PNM of being biased against Indians while refusing to put a big question mark over the East West Corridor which is comprised primarily of people of African descent, who have always supported the PNM and who have been systematically ignored by the PNM for the last 41 years.

Mr. Sudama then went on to make reference to the racial composition of the various State Boards, the police and army. Apart from the fact that Mr. Sudama made no mention as to how many Africans were placed on state boards when he was a Government Minister under the Basdeo Panday UNC, this is an age old accusation that has been repeatedly refuted with facts and as I pointed out in a July article in 2009 the statistics from the Central Statistical Office and Council for the Professionals clearly show there being a disparity of Indo Trinidadians in certain fields as most probably being a circumstance of cultural choices. 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 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. 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. Shall the African community along with the Mixed, Syrians et al now accuse the UNC of racial bias because 80% of this country’s doctors are of East Indian descent?

Mr. Sudama further makes reference to Mr. Manning’s vetoing of Indos to top positions in the public service as further proof that the PNM had something against Indos, but it is interesting to note that he makes no reference of Mr. Manning’s repeated unceremonious and unexplained vetoing of Mr. Williams as Police Commissioner and Mrs. Carla Antoine-Browne’s appointment as Director of Public Prosecution, both of whom are of African descent. It is this type of wish washy analysis by people like Trevor Sudama that does more hurt than good to the ethnic fabric of T&T.

With regard the refusal to grant a radio license to the Sanatan Dharma Maha Sabha, on this point at least Mr. Sudama is correct in saying it was a blatant act of bias, but bias for what purpose? Was it because it was an East Indian organisation requesting it, or because it was an East Indian organisation from the core support of the PNM’s political foe the United National Congress? How come when East Indians like Mr. Hafeez Karamath get big time contracts under the PNM it is not perceived as racism but when the PNM refuses to grant the Sanatan Dharma Maha Sabha, an organisation openly supportive of the UNC a radio license it is perceived as racist as opposed to political? That is nothing short of selective interpretation by the likes of individuals like Mr. Sudama who rather than engage in nation building prefer to embark upon a path of speratists.

The biggest joke in Mr. Sudama’s article is when he makes reference to the crowd at the PNM’s political gatherings being comprised mainly of African descent and boast about the fact that the People’s Partnership had a much greater cross-ethnic appeal and that the PNM must embark on a ‘journey of transformation’ in order to re-engineer and reconstruct itself to appeal to Indo voters. This from man who was part and parcel of the Basdeo Panday UNC that was fixated on the Indo Community and the Indo Community alone. Let’s be real, the People’s Partnership is a new kid on the block and more specifically it was the only ticket to Parliament for the UNC. What Mr. Sudama should ask himself is if the UNC was so all inclusive why did it take so many years for them as a political party to appeal to the other races in the country?!

Yet still the core support of the UNC cum People’s Partnership is still predominantly of East Indian descent. I supported the People’s Partnerhip, I attended the rally in Fyzabad and I could count the amount of people including myself who were not East Indian, I felt like an exotic flower, like a tulip standing out in a field of roses! And when one looked at the People’s Partnership’s political rallies and their election night victory party, even though the election results showed people of all ethnicities voted for the Partnership the crowds was 99% East Indian probably with exception of Mr. Warner, Gypsy Peters and Maakandal Daaga all of whom were on stage! So Mr. Sudama I say to you, one ought not to throw stones when one lives in a glass house!

It is a crying shame that at a time like this when the country is actively involved in a critical form of political metamorphosis, blossoming and shining like a woman with child, full of potential and promise that people like Trevor Sudama should seek to invoke baser emotions in an attempt to stir up trouble. Just as I was certain there would be no hope for political revitalisation in T&T should the PNM regain government in 2010, so too I'm certain should the People's Partnership not keep it's distance from people like Mr. Sudama it will not only be the downfall of the Partnership, but will also signify the derailing of all that the Partnership promises to be for the people of Trinidad and Tobago. People like Trevor Sudama are what I refer to as the political un-dead. They are political zombies vying for attention in the wilderness. Mr. Sudama is in political purgatory, haunted by his own racial insecurities and fallacies and this beautiful rainbow country will do well to look forward and celebrate life with the living rather than be distracted with the corrupt soothings of Ghosts of Governments past. ©