You don’t have to be an elected representative sitting in Parliament to serve the people or to be in the news. It is only through genuine concern for the welfare of the people that individuals rise to be leaders. The people always gravitate to them because of their concerns for their interest and wellbeing.
Mahatma Gandhi, the Indian freedom fighter, was never elected to office, yet to date his struggles for social justice remains unsurpassed. The same can be said for Nelson Mandela and Basdeo Panday who began their public life fighting for social justice.
Through the Caroni Builders Community Glenn Ramadharsingh has brought to the attention of the nation the plight of parents and students of the Preysal Government School. I was saddened to learn that more than 200 pupils are crammed in the community center with only a single toilet. I also learned that the Preysal Government School has been under construction for the past ten years and the site is now overrun with bushes and the project abandoned.
Several schools across the country are in similar plight and no one is doing anything to highlight the problem. The Reform Hindu School is still housed in a mandir compound in a structure that is more than 70 years old. The Rowley government failed to complete the new structure built by the Peoples Partnership government and hand it over to the Maha Sabha. When Sat Maharaj was alive, many complaints were made to draw the attention of the public to this injustice. Today Sat Maharaj is not with us and so too is the new structure that has been vandalized with several of the electrical and other movable properties stolen.
Rodney Charles, the sitting member of parliament, has failed to highlight the plight of the affected students. Instead of mobilizing the community of Reform to highlight the situation, Rodney Charles is engaged in internal squabbles with his political leader. Had he understood the basics of politics he would have known that the welfare of his constituents was foremost and not winning the next general elections.
Citizens need to stop relying on elected politicians to solve their grievances. They must learn to organize themselves into groups and struggle for their welfare. It is from these local struggles that genuine leaders are born.
The current vandalism of the Watts Street mandir did not happen overnight. Almost every fortnight for the last few months a mandir is vandalized in this country despite the idle boast of politicians that Trinidad is a global exemplar of racial and religious harmony.
The failure of citizens to take charge has allowed a few politicians to believe that if they appear universal that they would attract cross ethnic support and thus their hesitance to condemn the vandalism of our mandirs.
It is now time for Hindu leaders to step forward. If not, we shall have the new age Ravanas and Putnas using every trick in the book to win political office. They would not visit your family when a loved one passes on because they deem your house to be unclean, yet they want to speak on your behalf.
We need leaders who have risen from within the community with a track record of service, not those boys and girls who are favored by political leaders because of personal loyalty and naked sycophancy. We need more Glenn Ramadharsinghs who are willing to stand with the common man and woman in their struggle for social justice.