It is disgusting that blacks have to always be questioning the patriotism of Indians in this country. It was not surprising for me to hear Rowley and his government describing the opposition as unpatriotic. Blacks have always convinced themselves into believing that they are more loyal to Trinidad and Tobago. However, the history proves otherwise.
Reginald Dumas and Professor Selwyn Cudjoe have joined hands to defend tooth and nail the blunders of this PNM government. Both men were silent when the Opposition cried out to the Prime Minister to state in Parliament the nature of the visit by Venezuela’s Vice President. Now the government has made further blunders by selling fuel to Venezuela, thus incurring the wrath of the US and prospect of a trade embargo.
Instead of chastising the government for its blunders, Professor Cudjoe and Dumas have come out to make the UNC the scape goat. More than that, Professor Cudjoe went back to the 1940s to make H.P Singh and other Indians the genesis of Moonilal’s writing of a letter to the US Ambassador.
Blind ethnic and party loyalty is stifling the growth and development of the Caribbean region. The ongoing attempt by the Granger government to stymy the results of the general elections of March 02, 2020 in Guyana speaks volumes of the mindset of black leaders. But this debased mindset has found its way into the US House of Congress. Imagine Hakeem Jeffries, a US Democratic Congressman, has the gall to condemn the US State Department’s call for a transparent counting of ballots as interference in the internal affairs of another country!
Such is the hypocrisy of blacks. Across the globe blacks have skillfully harnessed the support of all freedom loving people and institutions to struggle against apartheid in South Africa, to end white minority rule in Rhodesia (Zimbabwe) and other injustices against black people. When Africans countries are in financial and social crises, the US Congress have always been lobbied to intervene. However, the action of the State Department to threaten sanctions against the Guyanese government unless it implements a transparent counting of votes is deemed ‘interference in the internal affairs of a sovereign nation’ by a black Congressman. What a shame!
If Dr. Rowley, Reginald Dumas and Professor Cudjoe have forgotten, then I need to remind them. The Black Power of 1970 and the Muslimeen Uprising of 1990 are not the best examples of patriotism. Thankfully, Indians did not fall for such theatrics, thus avoiding the nation the chaos and murders that befallen Grenada in 1983.
Professor Cudjoe, writing in the Sunday Express (May 10, 2020), quoted Albert Gomes, a journalist of the 1940s to support his (Cudjoe) labelling of Indians as unpatriotic. What were those crimes that the Indians had committed? Indians leaders were making appeals to the community to build schools, to develop strategies to eradicate poverty and to address the housing needs of the community. D. P Pandia appealed to Indians to hold on to their faith and master the English Language and took the initiative to build an Indian Night Shelter for destitute Indian in Port of Spain. Murli Kirpalanis set up the Bengal Famine Relief Committee that raised moneys to assist the plight of starving millions in India. S. M. Rameshwar initiated the building of India Club, a venue for socializing when other ethnic and racial groups had their clubs like the Country House in Maraval and numerous Friendly Society Halls across the country. (The Observer, 1942).
Those were the “unpatriotic acts” that Albert Gomes alluded to in his writings that Prof Cudjoe now uses to justify his diatribe against Indians.
According to Congressman Hakeem Jeffries what is happening in Guyana with relation to the counting of ballots should not be spoken about. However, in 1957 and 1964 it was convenient for the PNC to align itself with the C I A to remove the elected government of Dr. Chedi Jagan. Congressman Jeffries must go a step further educate his colleagues on the Wismar Massacre of Guyana in 1964!
The reality is that the PNC/APNU+AFC and the PNM have failed their people in Guyana and T&T respectively. The blacks have had their chances at governance and have made a mess of things. It’s now time for them to step aside and give way to the people’s choice of leaders to govern their affairs.
