Now that the Opposition Leader is calling for an investigation into ballots found on a compound of a company in Arima, I hope that those Hindu leaders would come out and join her in her call. It is an undeniable fact the company on whose compound the ballots were found was a beneficiary of a US 5M bailout grant from the government.
In 1909 young Jewish immigrant women employed at garment factories in New York struck for collective bargaining, better working conditions and the right to join a trade union etc. Where did those young Jewish girls who spoke Yiddish, hardly understanding a word of English, got the power to make such bold demands?
The Jewish community never failed to support one another. Class and gender divisions are absent…a Jew is a Jew first and his social background remains secondary. So when the Jewish daughters struck at the garment factories, Jewish ‘ladies’ from established families rallied with them. One such lady was Mary Dreier who was from a middle class background.
Clara Lemlich, another leader, was self-thought. In her native country her father resisted her learning to read or write but she secretly took the limited money she earned and paid students from a nearby school to teach her to read. When her father came to know, it was too late.
In New York Clara Lemlich visited the public library after work and studied till closing time. It is this love for learning that has been the backbone of the Jewish people. When the Russian Communist Party was born, the majority of leaders were Jews. Leon Trotsky, a leader of the 1917 Communist revolution in Russia was the organizer of the Red Army. His writings on the revolution and communism were demanded throughout the world and sustained him after his exile from Russia.
Learning is a fundamental feature of Jewish life. The men met weekly in the synagogues (not the rum shops) to learn from the Old Testament and to create awareness of their social and political life. Certainly, they planned strategies for survival and triumph against all threats and pogroms that were unleashed time and again. That love for learning has made the Jewish major players in both banking and intellectual thoughts. Not surprisingly, Jews were the ideologues of social uprisings and revolutions throughout Europe and North America. Karl Marx, the author of the Communist Manifesto, was a Jew!
Today, there is a culture of Hindu leaders turning a blind eye to racist actions and disparaging remarks against Hindus. The boycott of Ramsarran Dairy Products immediately following the General Elections of August 10 was resisted and challenged in social media. Many felt that they had had enough and fearlessly voiced their opinions on race relations in the country. This bold stand alerted a few leaders to come out of their ivory towers and appeal for racial harmony and peaceful coexistence. Had the people not spoken out, those leaders might have remained silent and turned a blind eye (a cheek) to the media and verbal assaults of politicians.
Now that the Opposition Leader is calling for an investigation into ballots found on a compound of a company in Arima, I hope that those Hindu leaders would come out and join her in her call. It is an undeniable fact the company on whose compound the ballots were found was a beneficiary of a US 5M bailout grant from the government.
When Jewish community is attacked, all its sons and daughter rally to defend the integrity of the community. In 1908, when Theodore Bingham, the Police Commissioner of New York City, wrote an article that half the criminals are Jews… “burglars, firebugs, pickpocket and highway robbers,” the Jewish community rose in unison and denounced Bingham. Louis Marshall, a renowned constitutional lawyer and Jacob Schiff, a banker, protested and within weeks Bingham unreservedly apologized.
Today we are witnessing youths being intellectually prostituted in the altar of race relations. Could you imagine that all that was said in a paper presented at a forum on race relation is that ‘we are a soul and not a body and that Hindus see humanity as one.” It is clear that a minority of us want to conveniently forget that an entire population was enslaved and killed and their lands stolen by their murderers. We live in a society where State institutions are controlled by one-half of the population while the other half is shut out. And not forgetting that a 1% owns 80% of the wealth! Despite these social inequalities our young sons and daughters are brainwashed to parrot that we are souls; not bodies!
Why shouldn’t the Hindu masses be fooled? One individual received thousands of dollars to write on an aspect of our indigenous culture from a tertiary level institution and to date a first draft is yet to be presented. Yet, this individual continues to give discourses on dharma and karma and the exploits of Sri Ramachandra. Jai Sri Ram!
We must learn from the young Jewish women like Clara Lemlich and Mary Dreier that led the strikes in the garment factories in New York in 1909. These girls were brave and fearless amidst brutality from police and thugs paid by owners of these garment factories. They were definitely not a band of moronic monkeys dancing to the music of individuals who are exploiting the injustices in the society to prop up their big egos.
