It is about time the UNC leadership and its ardent supporters come to the accept that racism against Indians in Trinidad and Tobago is a reality that they cannot ignore but must address. Unfortunately, the standard UNC reaction is to ignore such blatant attacks and more so, to see it as Sat Maharaj’s fight though he is no longer with us.
The racist remarks that continue after the Indian Prime Minister’s visit are allowed only because those perpetrators understand that the vast majority of Indian professionals and politicians would be silent. In fact, if the average Indian politician who sits in a safe UNC seat is asked his views on race relation, he will parrot ‘here every creed and race find an equal place,’ and the ‘Nile meets with the Ganges’ and ‘the pan and the tassa blending in a symphony of rhythm.’
Why the Debe Campus was abandoned and many children are housed in cramped settings while new buildings constructed by the UNC remained shut? Why do agriculture and the dairy industry in particular continue to be sabotaged and ignored? Why was Caroni Ltd dismantled while millions are made available for CEPEP annually?
The reality is that the Indian community is vulnerable. No one is ready to protect it. It is like a young lady whose brothers, husband and father leave her to fend for herself while they are mesmerized with an ‘eat ah food culture.’
But I am a bit puzzled? Why is there racism in the country and more so in social media? Sat Maharaj, Ramdath Jagessar and Kamal Persad are now dead. Is it that the spirits of these racists are still stalking the land, causing racial flares? May be our senior pandits should be called upon to do special rites to pacify their souls and send them off to the land of the ancestors.
We have struggled thus far and its is time for us to enjoy what our ancestors have left for us. We need not wait till we reach our 90s like Clint Eastwood, now old and washed up with $400 million in his possession and cannot spend it but opting to give it to poor students and veterans. Good for him! I want to spend and enjoy mine going on trips to India… Modi says we don’t need visas! Let’s get an exorcist and rid the land of those racists who caused us so much pain when alive and even after their death! We need to act fast! We must take back our country from those racist ghosts!