Ram Babu’s blessings is exactly what Kamla Persad Bissessar, the Opposition Leader of the United National Congress, needs to return as Prime Minister of Trinidad and Tobago. It appears that she did not experience the blessings of Lord Shiv in the recent Shiv Ratri festival. Now it is left for Ram Babu, the evangelist from India, to deliver a miracle! Even the need for the blessings of the Baptist community may no longer be necessary now that Ram Babu has placed his hand on her head and blessed her in the name of Jesus, the only Savior for humanity.
It is now clear to me that policies and programs and the hard work that goes with it no longer wins election. It is absolute faith in Jesus, the one Savior, that would help Kamla Persad Bissessar to regain power to lead her people to the Promised Land! Ram Babu’s blessings will bring about such miracle!
As for the PNM and those who may want to accuse Kamla of being an idolater they would now have to think again. By allowing Ram Babu to rest his hand on her head, Kamla can no longer be labelled an idolater and sinner but one who is now washed by the blood of Jesus. Amen!
And Kamla is right: Why be bothered with imperialism and its erosion of traditional belief systems and practices? She has rightfully heeded the increasing influence of the evangelists among the electorate. This is a growing phenomenon that she must bow her head to. After all, she is no Narendra Modi to freeze the accounts of foreign NGOs who uses monetary bribes, food hampers and medicines to convert poor Hindus to Islam and Christianity.
As for the silence of Dr. Roodal Moonilal, it only demonstrates that he is waiting for a miracle. Never mind that these belief system degenerates into self-contempt and an erosion of self-esteem, the mindset of V. S Naipaul’s Willie Chandrans of this world, shunning regular and disciplined labor for a culture of dependency and hope.
The evangelists have been with us since the 1960s quietly uprooting marginalized Hindus from their traditional moorings in exchange for an American brand of Christianity that endorses US foreign policies which include the invasion of countries, the overthrowing of elected governments, the extraction of natural resources and the implantation of American consumer culture. But should Kamla Persad Bissessar be bothered with these issues right now? Her immediate objective is for victory at all cost!
Have the social and economic conditions of converts from Hinduism to other faiths improved. Has the evangelical movement helped the development of the Indian community? Are these converts in the forefront of business enterprises and the professions? (It was most disheartening seeing the large number of people waiting for alms outside the mandirs on Shiv Ratri night. The majority were definitely not Hindus.
This is a study that must be done but given the current leadership of the Hindu community such an exercise is beyond their comprehension. Have the new converts to the evangelical movement improved? A good exercise would be to compare these converts with their Hindu cousins and relatives and your findings will shock you!
The members of the evangelical faith in India are amongst the poorest. Mahatma Gandhi referred to them as “rice Christians” because they converted to fill their empty stomachs. More so, the caste system was blamed for their low status instead of hundreds of years of foreign rule. The Brahmins, the teachers in the Hindu social system, were painted as oppressive and responsible for the poverty of the masses. Has Kamla Persad Bissessar and her political opportunists bought into this false and vicious propaganda designed to obfuscate historical wrongs? By Kamla allowing Ram Babu to rest her hand on her head, she has endorsed such lies and propaganda.
With the government of India struggling to put an end to this undermining of the Hindu society by evangelists, it would be interesting to know how the Modi government views this act of the UNC leader.
Sadly, the UNC has endorsed a mindset that places miracle before hard work. This act of the Opposition Leader is not one of strength and ecumenism but one of hopelessness. What is worse than Kamla Persad Bissessar are the Moonilals who stand silently endorsing this ill-advised act of making the Hindu community willing sheep to the slaughter. I await a miracle!