Kamal Persad, a Trinidadian educator, activist, and public commentator died last week. He championed equality for Indians in T&T, Guyana, Jamaica, Grenada, St. Lucia and elsewhere in the region. And during the Guyanese dictatorship when Guyanese were seeking refuge in Trinidad and Tobago, Kamal was supportive of their presence. He also welcomed and provided comfort to visiting Guyanese activists to Trinidad. He is known for coining and promoting the concept of Bharatyadesh (cultural union among Suriname, Guyana, and Trinidad) during the 1980s as well as a political union among the three states because of the commonality of ethnicity and culture. He and Dr. Devant Maharaj started a radio program Voice of Hindus in Trinidad. he also pioneered other activism.
There are many fond memories of correspondences and of meeting and engaging Kamal and of his activism and reading his published writings. He was warm, kind, wise, clever, brilliant, tenacious, resourceful, analytical. Kamal met Cheddi Jagan several times in Trinidad and read virtually all of Cheddi’s works. Not many are aware of Kamal’s contributions to the Indo-Caribbean people or were aware that he contributed to the struggle for free and fair elections (FFE) in Guyana.
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 and while I was a student at City College of City University of New York and later an educator. This led to exchange of correspondences with him and other Indo-Trinis. Baytoram Ramharack also corresponded with him and other Trinis on behalf of our NY group that was formed to combat electoral fraud and human rights abuses in Guyana.
Ramharack flew to Trinidad in 1981 and met him and a number of other Indian activists seeking their assistance in our struggle for restoration of democracy in Guyana. A trip to Trinidad in the summer of 1981 allowed me an opportunity to engage Kamal and other activists that was followed by many trips involving struggle for equality of Indians and restoration of democracy in Guyana; they were influenced to form a pressure group to support our NY movement. The Trinidad group included Kamal, Samaroo Siewah, Kumar Mahabir, Ashram Maharaj, Rajnie Ramlakhan, Roodal Moonilall, John Jaglal, Mukesh Baburam, and Ramdath Jagessar. Devant Maharaj and Doolarchand Hanoman would in later years support the movement for free and fair elections in Guyana. Kamal and several other Trinis worked closely with our NY group that also included Ravi Dev and Vassan Ramracha. Those and a few other Trinis contributed to the struggle (from late 1970s onwards) for restoration of democracy (1992); they were never recognized in Guyana for their contributions to democracy. A group of us in 2017 at a reception in Trinidad honored Kamal, Kumar, Siewah, and a few others; they were conferred with a Guyana Medal of Freedom established by our private group.