Trinidad and Tobago, contemporary Indian Trinidadian history, has lost an irreplaceable figure with the passing of Kamal Persad, educator and public commentator who died last week. I had the pleasure and honour to meet Kamal in Trinidad on countless occasions from 1981 and until recently. There are many fond memories of correspondences and of meeting and engaging him and of his published writings and activism. He was warm, kind, wise, bright, clever, smart, brilliant, tenacious, and resourceful. Not many are aware of his contributions to T&T because he was removed from mainstream media two decades ago and unfortunately, he fell ill a decade ago. His writings became sparse over the last several years. But he remained steadfast in his principle of equality.
I first learn of Kamal Persad from his writings and socio-cultural and political activism while he was a student at UWI during the 1970s and subsequently as a teacher while I was a student at City College of City University of New York and subsequently as an educator as well. This led to exchange of correspondences with him, Samaroo Siewah, Kumar Mahabir, Ashram Maharaj, Ramdath Jagessar, Rajnie Ramlakhan, and other youthful activists and writers; we shared community newsletters and other publications for well over two decades. A Trip to Trinidad in the summer of 1981 allowed me an opportunity to engage Kamal and several other activists and a pressure group was formed to support a New York pioneered movement championing free and fair elections in Guyana. The Trinidad group included Kamal, Siewah, Kumar, Ashram, Rajnie, Roodal Moonilall, John Jaglal, Mukesh Baburam, and Ramdath Jagessar. Devant Maharaj and Doolarchand Hanoman would in later years supported the movement for free and fair elections in Guyana during the tenure of the Forbes Burnham dictatorship. They all played some kind of role in the struggle for restoration of democracy (1992) in Guyana although they were never recognized for their contributions by the (selfish) beneficiaries in Guyana.
Besides teaching for some thirty years, Kamal was a distinguished community activist and among the best researchers (on Indian issues) and commentators (columnists I read) in the Express and of letters in other papers. He also published his own magazines, newsletters, and booklets. His first love was reading and writing and his focus was on Indian issues. He was addicted to newspaper reading of almost every newspaper daily and maintained a collection of clippings for many years for future writings. He made a remarkable contribution on contemporary social history of Indo-Trinidadians although he also wrote booklets and columns on Indians in the Caribbean exposing racism and electoral fraud in Guyana.
He was no doubt an Indian nationalist. His voluminous writings were a sign of extraordinary intellectuality. Also, he had a presence at every seminar, lecture, and conference on Indians. He admired and respected academics like John Laguerre, Kusha Harracksingh, Kelvin Singh, Brinsley Samaroo, and others who taught him at UWI. He was also a great admirer of Trevor Sudama and Kelvin Ramnath for parliamentary contributions and Ramesh Lawrence Maharaj for his legal brilliance. He praised Sudama for his writings exposing racial inequities. Kamal also played a role in the campaign to get the UNC elected and of Basdeo Panday becoming PM. He was there in the rain at the Aranguez Savannah when the party launched and among the earliest to join membership and was also in the court when panday was charged. But Kamal was not shy critiquing errors of the administration. He was disappointed with the corruption that beset the administration as he was also during the Kamla Persad government.
Kamal was widely known for his research, writing, and supporting publications on Indians, often providing financial support for these at a time when funding was scarce. He roamed through libraries on early Indo-Trinidadian history and did some research on previously unknown Indian pioneers in various fields not the least being in journalism. Kamal subscribed to the idea of an unwavering commitment to truth, honesty, and compassion. More than a writer; he was a consummate advocate for fairness and equality for Indians. He courageously and fearlessly exposed societal and governmental misconduct and racism. He was one of best columnists of his time often taking on Selyn Ryan and other commentators, and it was always a great pleasure reading his writings. He wrote with incredible candidness, supported by facts and great research. Hardly any fault or inaccuracies could be found in his writings.
Another of his finest human qualities was his unassuming nature. Although a deep thinker, an intellectual, he was simple and down to earth as uncovered in multiple trips by Siewah and myself to his home.
Kamal, like a few other activists like Rajnie, Ashram, Kumar, Siewah, and others assisted with polling of NACTA, volunteering time to interview many respondents in dozens of polls from 1995 onwards. Kamal was always praiseworthy of NACTA polling that he stated countered that of Prof Selyn Ryan’s. Kamal collated data for NACTA and based on findings also suggested ideas for commentaries in press releases.
I am disappointed that Kamal was never honored for his contributions to the Indian community and to the UNC. But such is life! Those who sweat under the sun rarely get credit for the work while others who are sheltered reap the benefits!
Thank you my friend for your contributions to your country, and to the Indian community in particular and to my intellectual growth. It is hoped that this tribute will galvanize people to turn to the writings of Kamal and that young scholars will be encouraged to undertake research on the Indian community in Trinidad and the region. He started a serious investigation into critical issues affecting Indo-Trinis that has been picked up by other commentators. A great amount of work on the community still needs to be done.