Former councillor, Paras Ramoutar, has urged the Indian diaspora to set new paradigms as the community advances to the 200th anniversary.
Ramoutar underlined this point in a message marking the 177th Indian Arrival Day, May 30, 2022, in Caparo on Sunday morning.
“It is time that we change the narrative about the abuse, the suffering, the discrimination, the economic, social and political turmoil on their arrival to Trinidad between 1845 and 1917,” Ramoutar said.
Ramoutar who has just released his autobiography, “A Call Within A Call–All Politics Is Local”, pointed out that in every generation there are periods of abuse and discrimination, but we have weathered it for 177 years, and now is the time to build on those unfortunate moments.
“Now is the time to revalidate our presence and demonstrate that all is not lost. The history of nations and peoples is replete with such incidents, but all were overcome at the end of the day. We must continue to express permanence here, as this is a nation of immigrants,” he said.
Ramoutar spoke of the need for the continued demonstration that, ” Trinidad and Tobago is our home, and no kind of political or social or economic challenges must take away the fortitude we have for the land and its people. A nation is strong as its people,” and added, “Let us resolve to continue to maintain and respect our national anthem and other strains of nationhood.”.