STATEMENT OF OPPOSITION LEADER, THE HONOURABLE MRS KAMLA PERSAD-BISSESSAR, S.C, MP, ON THE PASSING OF CULTURAL ICON DEOKINANAN SHARMA
It is with deep sadness that I learnt of the passing of one of Trinidad and Tobago’s most significant, most beloved cultural icons and patriots, Pundit Dr. Deokinanan Sharma. My heart goes out to his family, friends, and many followers at this difficult time.
Dr. Sharma was a major pioneer and pillar of national culture. He significantly expanded our cultural landscape and helped redefine Trinidad and Tobago’s culture to be more inclusive of the many forms that exist in our multifaceted and multilayered society. He was a great nation-builder.
I salute the lifetime of commitment and service the late Pundit Sharma gave to our nation, especially in the fields of religion and culture, which always promoted and embodied our cherished democratic principles of diversity, harmony, tolerance, and unity.
In his great, inspiring life, Dr. Sharma, who came from a family of Pundits, was a beloved Hindu spiritual leader, guru, academic, scholar, and cultural colossus for over seven decades, influencing thousands of citizens directly and indirectly for generations.
To his friends, he is fondly known as “Pope.” His pedigree and roots are worth noting because they guided and inspired him throughout his life.
Deokinanan was the son of one of the last indentured labourers, Pundit Jankie Persad Sharma. His father came to Trinidad in 1912 at the age of 18 to work on the estates as a bound labourer. His father soon moved from being a worker in the estates to being apprenticed by Pundit Jaan Maharaj in pundit work, eventually becoming a founder of the Sanatan Dharma Maha Sabha, alongside such giants as Bhadase Sagan Maharaj and Simbhoonath Capildeo.
Dr. Sharma’s father became the Dharmacharya or Spiritual Head of the Hindus in Trinidad and Tobago, and can be seen in his dhoti and turban in the famous clip of Independence night when at midnight the British flag was lowered and the Trinidad and Tobago flag was raised.
The young Deokinanan returned to Trinidad and Tobago that very year, 1962, after studying in India for six years. He then threw himself into strengthening, organizing, and promoting Indian culture through several organizations.
Deokinanan Sharma was a civil engineer who dedicated his life to decontaminating wastewater for human consumption. Similarly, in his cultural work, he provided water for the thirsty souls of our country’s people.
He is best remembered for his pioneering, pivotal work in developing, inclusivity, and nationalizing Indo-Trinidadian culture, which he did as a longstanding cornerstone member of the National Council for Indian Culture (NCIC).
In 1986, Dr Sharma was among the pioneering cultural titans who founded Divali Nagar. They wanted to teach and promote the sacred Hindu festival of lights and Indo-Trinidadian culture to the broader Trinidadian community.
This was by far his most outstanding and most impactful project. Without state funding or support, it came from nothing to become the largest national festival in Trinidad and Tobago, second only to Carnival.
Under Pundit Sharma’s stellar, inspiring, dedicated, truly diligent, and highly efficient leadership of the NCIC for nearly four decades (which he gave up in 2023), the iconic Divali Nagar would grow and evolve to become, today, one of the country’s biggest, most beloved annual cultural events on the national calendar; a tourist attraction that habitually draws thousands of local, regional, and international celebrants each year.
Divali Nagar has become a premier National event and a prominent Trinidad and Tobago international export, with Divali Nagars being organized in New York, New Jersey, Miami, and elsewhere. This inspirational event is a Trinidad and Tobago invention and innovation.
For his unparalleled, selfless, unwavering, inspiring role in promoting and developing culture and tourism in Trinidad and Tobago, Pundit Sharma was recognized with many national, regional, and international accolades, most notably a National Award in 1995(the Hummingbird Medal) and an Honorary Doctor of Laws (LLD) from the University of the West Indies in 2012.
Yet, his impact and service to our nation and citizens go even further. By his living example, Pundit Deokinanan Sharma embodied a sublime faith in his fellow citizens and an enduring belief that despite our innate ethnic and religious differences, the common thread of our rare cultural beauty would eventually unite us in a unique, beautiful tapestry of togetherness, and evoke the best expressions of our collective humanity.
As a nation, we owe a debt of eternal gratitude to Pundit Deokinanan Sharma for this truly beautiful gift he taught us to claim, realize, and embody and for the very rich, inspiring heritage he has left us for posterity.
Although he was a giant in the community, he lived with great humility and always dedicated himself to service to others. In his final years, he was well prepared for life beyond this janam, or birth. As a devout Hindu, he was preparing for what karma would bring—Moksha, or a return in another form.
Dr. Sharma was a great friend to us in the UNC and to everyone in Trinidad and Tobago, regardless of affiliation, background, or ethnicity. He was a model Trinidadian and Tobagonian. His friendship, warmth, and acceptance knew no bounds.
On his passing, I urge all who were touched by his extraordinary life and legacy to know that even as we grieve the loss of this great, beloved national hero and patriot, his spirit will always live on, as will his monumental contributions to our nation’s cultural, spiritual and social landscape and, indeed, its very soul.
For my part, I valued every opportunity I had over the past forty years in public life to have met with him and benefited from his profound intellect, advice, and philosophies that often influenced the social and cultural policies I would have adopted in my political career, especially when I served in Government.
On behalf of the UNC, my family, and myself, I extend my deepest condolences to his family and friends.
May Pundit Deokinanan Sharma’s great soul attain Moksha, and may we always be comforted in his eternal legacy, embodied in the words of the great Nobel Prize Laureate, Rabindranath Tagore, who said: “Death is not extinguishing the light; it is only putting out the lamp because the dawn has come.”
Om Sadgati.
