What Independence?

 

 

 

A few weeks ago  we all celebrated Usain Bolt’s victory in the men’s 100m finals as one Caribbean. Bolt didn’t run for the red white and black, but we were happy for him and Jamaica. As he preened before the camera in his inimitable style, he reminded his detractors that he had promised Jamaica a birthday present. It was a lovely present that he and his fellow sprinters gave to Jamaica this at the Olympics: gold and silver medals and the promise that Jamaica was making strides on the international stage. As the other Caribbean island celebrating its 50th year of Independence in the Caribbean, Jamaica has done theirs with considerably more style and passion than Trinidad and Tobago. I keep having to remind myself that we are in our month of celebrations too. Despite 50 years of achievements there seems to be precious little happening to commemorate anything. Go over to iTunes and you will see that Jamaica has a series of podcasts titled How Jamaica Conquered the World. The series looks at the ways in which the little island has become a cultural giant. Months before August 6th their Independence song was launched and on the lips of its citizens. Here in Trinidad we have an ambassador to Geneva who doesn’t know the words to our anthem, and a foreign service so bogged down in politics little can be done about her. Instead of an Independence song, we have one artist getting a grant to produce a record with foreign artistes on it. Instead of a national song competition, we now have the 50th Anniversary Chutney competition and a separate Calypso Competition. Separate distinct and apart. And the chutney form is there to give a pretence at ethnic parity, because no musician worth his salt will ever be convinced that the chutney form is perfect for narrative and story telling. The classic chutney song depends on repetition and a hook line. And let’s not forget the embarrassing website the Ministry of Planning had to pull down about a month ago.

It seems as if 50 years later our road to independence is mired in as much controversy and confusion as when we started. And that’s another thing. There’s absolutely no attempt to talk about the nation’s path to self-autonomy and independence because it brings two things to the fore: the PNM’s role as architect of the Independence movement, and the ethnic groups who lobbied against the movement. It really wouldn’t do, fifty years later to remind the country that there were groups here that we’re entirely against Trinidad and Tobago gaining independence and some groups even went so far as to petition the Colonial Office to persuade them to not grant the colony independence. Similar groups were also against the West Indian Federation forming; and the reason given on all occasions was the fear of ethnic dominance by a black government.

I can’t see the People’s Partnership government wanting anyone to bring up the petitions of 1925 by Indian groups requesting political ethnic segregation of the island. It was turned down by Major Wood on the grounds that if one ethnic group asked for it, what was to prevent all groups present from wanting their separate legislatures.

I doubt very much too that the Partnership will want a history of Independence that shows the DLP and its leaders then, such as Bhadase Sagan Maharaj and Rudranath Capildeo, as being opposed to the idea of Independence and strenuously so. They probably also don’t want excerpts of that famous letter of 1958 to be part of the historical record anymore, because then it raises questions about loyalty, nationalism, civic pride and intentions. Difficult questions that 50 years later we are uncomfortable asking and answering. And they remain difficult because we still have people here, from all groups that think Independence was a bad idea and that Trinidad and Tobago started going downhill August 31st, 1962.

When you pair this history and these sentiments along with the dismal planning of our milestone anniversary despair creeps in. In a country where we are capable of throwing exciting impromptu limes and sumptuous all-inclusive fetes; in a country where not more than four years ago with a constrained economy we successfully held two international summits; in a country where every government is accused of treating Parliament like a fete…we can’t celebrate ourselves.

Instead what we will get in lieu of a celebration is a series of policies that are really an election campaign in disguise, with tax payer’s money being shared out to party hacks as part of the celebration. And while the party hacks get fatter, things like history and culture get thrown aside. Every single group in this country should have had their arrival and their achievements here be celebrated. Instead what we have is a government so afraid of its mediocrity that it denies the successes of any other group; and so preoccupied with holding onto the reins of power it strangles any kind of progress and development. It’s not even August 31st yet and already the number 50 has become empty of meaning: a hollow reminder that though we have travelled far we seem to have learned precious little from the journey.

So…About That Recalcitrant and Hostile Minority…

Bhadase Sagan Maraj Leader of the DLP in 1958, third from right, with members of the Sugar Workers Union

 

So, about that recalcitrant minority…

 

Get into a conversation about race in this country, especially one that compares the policies of the PNM and the UNC (or any other Indo-led party) and the conversation will invariably go to the most memorable comment Eric Williams ever made about some members of the Indian community here when he called them the “recalcitrant and hostile minority”. It is a phrase that has haunted both Williams and the PNM since its utterance in 1958, but few Trinbagonians know the context and background of the speech and its content.

 

The phrase has become a virtual get out of jail free card for members of the Indian community hellbent on an ethnocentric agenda. And it is often made out to be the first racist comment ever made by  Trinbagonian….EVER! As a result of Williams’ use of the phrase national history is often re-invented with Williams described as the father of racism, the PNM is depicted as racist and oppressive, in fact, the only racist and oppressive party, and as having an oppressive “African” agenda that everyone must be afraid of. As a result of Williams’ folly the party has spent almost all of its political life either avoiding discussion of the issue, or giving in to the demands of religious and cultural leaders who claim to be promoting Indian interests. In an effort to not appear racist and to underscore its all-inclusivity as a government and a party the PNM has opted to instead give in to silly demands and pander to the demands of some, rather than address Williams’ statement and come to terms with its legacy.

 

By 1958 Trinidad and Tobago was well underway to negotiating for a federated government. Williams was one of the chief negotiators of the process, it was his desire to have Trinidad and Tobago be the regional seat of power. But the DLP here, a party that was a coalition of interest groups that represented Hindus, Roman Catholics, the business class and members of the white elite, had aligned itself with political parties from both Jamaica and Guyana that was opposing the move towards a federation. At a public meeting, Williams, freshly returned from the Bandung Conference in India, revealed to the crowd that during the campaign for federal elections a letter had been circulated. According to Williams the letter accused him of both “favouring his own kind in the cabinet’ and practising ethnic tokenism by selecting “a few Indians merely to mislead other Indians into supporting his movement in order to have a majority.” The closing paragraph of the letter stated: “If, my dear brother, you have realised these occurrences, and the shaky position in which our Indian people people are placed, woe unto our Indian nation in the next ten years.”

 

Unsurprisingly, Williams saw this campaign, attributed to the DLP, as undermining his ambitions for the country. Williams lashed out at the use of the term “Indian nation” because as far as he was concerned, the Indian nation was continental India. He felt that the DLP was conveniently using the phrase as an ethnic rallying point, and that ethnic politics had no place in the West Indies, least of all Trinidad. He described the group circulating this letter as a ‘recalcitrant and hostile minority masquerading as the Indian nation, and prostituting the name of India for its selfish, reactionary political ends.” I quote the entire sentence because few people ever do, and in its entirety it makes a very strong statement about what Williams thought was the political agenda of the DLP then.

 

Indo-centric writers and cultural activists, more interested in promoting the warped agenda of a group than a healthy national agenda of respect and co-operation have taken advantage of the PNM’s reluctance to address Williams’ comments. Long before the formation of the PNM our local politics had the taint of racism attached to it. And ethno-specific voting has become a feature of our electoral system. Another feature of our politics here is giving in to the cries of oppression by groups that claim to be in the minority. Land and ethni-specific holidays for everyone! But while members of the People’s Partnership keep using the ghost of Williams and Manning to provoke feelings of guilt among blacks, and to rally the clans to keep separate and vote tribe instead of issues, their ethnic-flavoured political policies that they insisted was new politics are taking the country nowhere fast.

 

Williams’ statement was extremely unfortunate, because it was an angry generalisation that painted an entire group with one brush stroke. It is a statement that the current leadership of the PNM must address if they really expect to move forward and be the all embracing party that Williams claims he started. More than 50 years later Williams’ statements begs certain questions about politics, race and nationalism here. Has any group here prostituted its ethnic identity to rally political support? Is ethnic identity more important than national identity to groups here? When a Prime Minister takes a trip at the tax payers’ expense to search for roots does it promote national pride or ethnic identity? In 1958 Williams felt that exploiting race as the base of political power was the greatest danger facing the country, and given the current state of our politics, he was not mistaken.

 

Incredible Skulks

Where to start boy? Within four days we have generated more scandal and kuchoor than a regular one-month cycle. If you put aside the fact that is 2 murders a day under Warner’s tenure as Bess Minister of National Security….a man who spends more time fighting the media and Opposition Leader than he spends attempting to deal with crime…..imagine that this is Kamla’s biggest weapon….then you will realise that since his appointment as Min of Nat Sec Jack has done fuck all. There has been no crime plan elaborated on or implemented to date. Jack takes up more tv time than any other Minister, yet think about what he has really accomplished in the 3 months he’s been in office? We can’t tell a thing either because the public no longer has access to the police service’s statistics.

Last week we hear that Warner copy from the PNM Copy book and negotiating with thugs. He back pedal faster than you could say FIFA Corruption and instead claim his latest BFF Louis Lee Sing set him up and dupe him. Unfortunately he didn’t share that info with Witless Duke who came on the i95.5 Morning Show with Tony and Dale last Friday and basically said that he can’t cay if he, Duke, was at the meeting, but he was surprised to see ,Warner at the meeting, and he can’t say if he was at the meeting, but it wasn’t a meeting, with gangsters, he prefers to call these people brothers and sisters. You confused yet? You want to kick Duke and Jack out of office and maybe the country yet?

If that wasn’t enough bacchanal to keep up occupied for the weekend by Sunday we hear that Jack, fed up of the Mirror newspaper bussing mark on him and Kamla twice a week so he decide he not just going to plant a reporter at the papers or sleep with the Editor, (Maxie not cute enough for you?), no those activities are for a different type of politician, instead ,he Jack, going to purchase the entire newspaper no doubt to change it into a government mouthpiece and propaganda machine. What concerns me is that Jack is a sitting minister….negotiating a business deal openly….why am I thinking that govt ministers aren’t meant to have business interests while in govt?

And still there was more. By Sunday morning we were hearing that a Min of Nat Sec official had been caught drinking and driving. And I wondered, aye aye, Jack take over we news cycle…..but no, it was Colin Partap, apparently leaving Zen night club drunk as a fish, and doing his part to instill our trust in our Ministers and dispel all ethnic stereotypes about Indians and alcohol. He and Vasant on a roll…..and speaking of Vasant, he ever answer questions about driving and alcohol and running over women’s feet? So Colin get he BFF the AG CoP to come down in the station and help him out when he refuse to take the breathalyzer test. Kamla, sensing the level of clusterfuck this coulda cause for she buss Colin Partap throat one time. But expect to hear Colin involved with something else that allowing him to make money. One thing Kamla does do is make sure that the members of her clan eat ah food constantly.

It is the week of our Independence….50 years have gone, how you feel?

De Vice Cyah Done!

Hard Thugging!

In yet another move that shows us this government relies heavily on a stolen PNM copy book from the Manning era, the Kamla Persad-Bissessar small goal side has met with “community leaders”‘ also known as gangsters and thugs to anyone with a lick of sense.

Don’t hold your breath waiting on a coherent comment from Prakash Ramadhar. His job these days is to remain as mum as the mime artists in Covent Gardens and hope that we the voters forget what we really elected him to do….I haven’t forgotten Prakash….and you’re going to regret my long memory….trust me.

But let’s examine the latest cock up by this government….cock ups that their supporters continue to blindly support or apologies for. When in 2002 Patrick Manning took it upon himself to meet with gang leaders, I felt that was a bad precedent to set, when it happened again in 2006 this time with MP Roger Boynes leading the charge, I wondered what on earth kind of trend this party was creating here by having government getting into bed with criminals and giving into their demands.

Of course between now and then I have had the plan explained to me by people who understand criminal activities better. The only way to get criminals out of crime is to actually lure them into more legitimate forms of business that pay them just as quickly and well. It is alleged that CEPEP and several other make work programme schemes allowed for people with very few openly marketable skill sets to be able to make quick fast money without having to sell drugs and guns. So, let’s say you took the biggest community leaders and put them in charge of CEPEP programmes in their communities then it’s possible to give them and their lieutenants and foot soldiers avenues for making money that don’t necessarily have an impact on violent crime rates, though it might send white collar crime through the roof. But white collar crime doh bother us….so we doh other it…..right?

Now using programmes such as CEPEP to control violent criminal activity can only work if there are CEPEP contracts to actually distribute to community leaders. If, for instance, you have established businessmen taking over CEPEP, and the contracts are only being doled out to a handful of family members of politicians then what is likely to happen is a return to violent criminal activity….drug and gun running and fighting for turf. This of course leads to a spike in violent criminal activity….the kind of violent crime that not even 107 days of lockdown can solve. The kind of violent crime that two Canadians could never cope with, nor crop dusters, nor an equally corrupt former football official.
You see, to go into negotiations with these warlords you must have something to put on the table… and if the plum contracts already belong to party hacks and faithfuls then there is nothing to negotiate with.

And let’s for the sake of argument say that a minister of national security tried organizing meetings with said crime lords, and they laughed in his face at what he offered and word of the meetings made its way into the newspapers and you had nothing to show for the meetings….not a grand charge photo op….nothing…what would you do to save face?

In a government where PR is everything and crime is nothing that minister might look like he had shit on his face and blood on his hands….because if at the end of the day you negotiating with crime lords and more murders taking place then that make you a kind of shit hound. If you negotiating with criminals after your leader state categorically in a 2011 speech in Parliament that she would never negotiate with criminals, and it looking like you doing exactly what you lambast Manning for…..well then I would laugh myself into another stroke, especially if you decide that to save your ass you look to blame your foolish decision on a Chinee PNM Hobbit.

De Vice Cyah Done!

This SOE and SOE Govt: Looking Back

Last year at around 8pm later this evening the PM and her Cabinet would gather at the PM’s private home before television cameras and issue a State of Emergengy on the country to counter an unknown menace. Many speculated that it was the spate of 11 murders over the course of a weekend; others whispered that there was a missing container of ammunitions belonging to the govt stolen by a drug lord. The govt eventually maintained the SOE….which was first limited, fully limited, fully unlimited, then just plain SOE….was as a result of a clear and present danger from Columbia, then from Beetham, then from 2 tins of peas, then a 14 year old girl.
We are yet to get a reason for the SOE or a proper analysis of its impact.
During the 107-day period the Government named specific hotspots that at first were predominantly black urban communities. None of the hotspots then were on the country’s coastline. Night after night we were treated to pictures of scores of black men being tossed into the backs of trucks.
The govt declared it was going after the Big Fish!
Many citizens sighed with relief. Finally somebody has developed the balls to deal with crime. Finally our rights could be randomly suspended and people arrested without cause.
Many citizens were glad the real criminals, aka young black males from single parent homes who resemble John Sandy, were being arrested. Few cared about the illegality of the SOE, about the suspension of their rights and about the many abuses citizens were being subjected to by its government. One pro-Kamla feminist had proudly announced that she was in favour of the SOE because she could now sit on her front porch with her baby. A week later we began to hear accounts of women being raped and abused by police and soldiers during the SOE and its concurrent curfew. 
The country was immediately polarised between those for and against the SOE. At its start the President of the country, the Commissioner of Police and Deputy Commissioner of Police were absent from the country. The President left for vacation soon after the declaration. The CoPs left before and returned during its first week.
After 2 weeks the Govt met to debate over a three day period extending the SOE, changing the curfew hours amd extending the number of hotspots!
To be continued….

Whither the COP?

Anybody remebers Prakash Ramadhar? Or Carolyn Seepersad-Bachan or Roger Samuel? Or Lincoln Douglas?
Anybody remmbered their loud, principled stance on new politics amd accountability and transparency?
Anybody remember their bold grand charge to dissolve the partnership if they didnt get the mayorship…and then the major bhagi boil down when Kamla Rani wave the big stick at Prakash? Well, since the Cabinet reshuffle that gave them back their mayorship and put more COP people in the Cabinet like Larry Howai and Jamal Mohammed, where the COP? And while we out looking for COP can we look for their principles too?
The COP has lived up to all my expectations and predictions of being a Trojan Horse Party. Prakash doesnt even pretend to be anything else beyond a UNC operative anymore…in fact we should simply rename the party UNC B Team…or stop calling them COP, period.
In 2007 after tqking a drubbing at the elections Dookeran had lashed out at the electorate. He had thought they were ready for principled politics yet the UNC and PNM had still gotten more votes than his party.
In 2010 the COP campaigned hard to put a veneer or respectability and morals to the UNC-led coalition…the veneer has now cracked.
Kamla announced a curious $10m per MP that has the potential for corruption….not a word from Prakash.
Jack Warner with mounting allegations of corruption against him by international bodies is appointed as Min of National Security and Prakash actually endorses it as a good thing. But this is a man who endorsed Reshmi…chew on that.
We hear of Devant’s many phones, corruption at the EMA, corruption in CAL, the PMs office, Therese Baptiste’s infamous speech caught on video. In short, scandal after scandal….and not a word from Prakash.
Whither art thou, Prakash? Enjoying the spoils of selling out? Figuring out how exactly to market your party come the next elections? Negotiating with Kams for a next safe seat?
You remain the biggest disappointment of May 2010!

Dear The Keith…WTF?

Dear The Keith,
I’ve been on vacation, but trying my best to keep keep up to speed on events at home. I can tell you it’s no easy task because as soon as I start to come to terms with one thing up jumps another. I hear is rampant corruption at EMA, Devant have three phones that he does use to call himself with every day even when he out the country. I hear both Gibbs and Ewatski choose to resign and yet somehow we pay them for choosing to resign. I hear the Olympic team of 30+ plus athletes real represent for we in London but Kamla only reward one of them and now she riding he back as she knew PR jackass. I hear too that Therese buss the mark and let the world know thay Kamla corrupt as hell and does real practise nepotism.
I hear plenty things while I on vacation, but it have two things i hear that make me come off my vacation and write to you.
The Keith, now i know being leader of the PNM cyah be easy. It pretty clear for anybody with 2 brain cells and one synapse to see that within your party it have factions and ranks. It aint hard either to see who settling in which camps. It also not hard to figure out that the one thing the People’s Pappyshow Govt have going for it right now is the refrain of “Who is the real PNM leader?” Even their constant Blame The PNM routine getting stale for their diehards because you see is only for so long they coulda ever get away with blaming the PNM and continue underperforming. The rampant corruption, nepotism, inefficiency amd racism is now very plain for all citizens to see. All Kamla petticoat showing.
In this light, I say it woulda behoove the PNM to take advantage of the situation and start to trot out new ideas and policies. Seize people imagination nah. Start to do thing that will breathe life into the politics. Not like Prakash new politics that basically making him a very fat political wolf in tight sheep clothing. No, I say here is an opportunity for The Keith to show people what kind of political leader he could be. Seize the moment to really show them what Rowley is made of….or have you?
Is this it The Keith? Is what we getting from you and your party right now all that I can look forward to as an alternative to Kamla and she shitpot small goal team? Dont get me wrong, I appreciate that you call them out on their follies…but Keith isnt there more to your leadership?
I stay quite up the Caribbean and hear your chief champion Fitzie Hinds make some kinda backward comments about Gays and Lesbians here and my blood crawl. Anybody tell Fitzie that not only are homosexuals and transgendereds people they are more often than nor tax paying citizens? And right now what your party telling me is that tax paying citizens can’t have rights because it interferes with the “moral” sensibilities of others. You really think it fair that people who contribute to the society in so many spheres need to be told by a political party that they abnormal amd therefore their rights don’t count?
If I cant expect you to look after the rights of one small group here why on earth I should trust you to properly represent the rights of other groups? What about your party’s current attitudes to homosexuality right now could persuade me that your attitudes to the needs of other groups going to be any more progressive?
And you know the sad part? Kamla position just as regressive…but you wouldnt know it because nobody from her party goes on public radio and makes jackass statements that represent the party’s policies. In fact they dont talk policies…they only talk ethnic parity and fete!
And what madness is this I hearing about PNM MPs accepting $10m of funding that as yet has no structure for how it will be disbursed or managed? I thought we does vote in MPs to advocate for people in government? Since when MPs become their own private chancellors of the exchequer with every constituency it’s own private fiefdom?
Keith, to accept that money is to become complicit in Kamla’s nasty game of government corruption. To accept that money is to give the Chief Buffoon Roodimonster the excuse to wine on you and all PNM MPs in Parliament and say all yuh aint mind taking money that not properly disbursed and legislated. Then what happens in 2015? You could be painted with the same brush as the Kamla Rani!
So this is the alternative to Kamla you giving us? A party that still has ignorant and backward ideas when it comes to human rights and a party that will accept questionable funding in constituencies?
Keith is your petticoat I seeing there in truth?
Regards,
The Pantomime

Getting Some R &R

You might have noticed I havent been posting of late. Im on a short vacation and will be back on Monday August 13tb in full force to deal with Kamla, Therese, Jack, Gibbs and the rest of the small goal side. See you soon!
De Vice Cyah Done!

The Return of The Manning!

Manning’s Return

It’s Emancipation Day, and one of the truly amusing images attached to the holiday this year is the picture of Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan straight from the continent, dressed in western garb, complete with cowboy hat, being greeted by Kamla Persad-Bissessar in full West African regalia from head wrap to dress, along with her Parliament similarly dressed.

I have long since wondered about our penchant for gallerying in multi-ethnic garb without the slightest clue about its origins or meanings. But I know that Kamla’s handlers are thorough people and must have researched the particular garment she wore to the airport yesterday.

This Emancipation Day is a likely to be a crucial one for Trinidad and Tobago, because I sense that moreso than any Emancipation Day in the last 2 years, this year’s celebration will be a call to the clans. Whether supporters of this government wish to acknowledge it or not, this government’s policies have been tinged with elements of ethnic prejudice, and whether the Emancipation Support Committee knows it Afrotrinbagonians are hopping mad at the injustices, real and perceived, they are experiencing. But I doubt sincerely that the ESC is in a position to channel the outrage and frustration felt by the community.
But we needn’t fear, Trinis are always on the lookout for a messiah figure, and the People’s Partnership with their rotten, effed up approach to governance (that its supporters are now blaming on the PNM….it never gets old you know, every mistake they make is the PNMs fault. Apparently Kamla dont have a mind of her own…oh wait!) has managed to do the Impossible….make an ailing, formerly despised PM, a man who was enthusiastically voted out of office, into a triumphant returning hero.
With Manning returning to Trinidad last night on the eve of Emancipation and walking out of the Piarco International Airport on his own steam, Kamla and her government of relatives and missteps have just become their own worst enemy. Not even the Court of Appeal resurrecting an old case about annoying language against him will detract from Manning’s star power now. In fact all The Patos has to do is continue to sit quietly in Parliament and the government’s inability to reduce crime or charge Calder Hart will be his vindication. With two more years to go the facts of Manning’s weaker administrative policies will fade into memory, and memory will become myth. All that will remain is the harsh reality of the PPs rapacious and greedy governance, and policies of ethnic parity, or is it dominance, by any means necessary.

The Keith also has his plate full coping with The Patos’ return. San Fernando East real like up their boy Manning because despite all his national foibles, word on the street is he pays attention to his constituents. There are many in Rowley’s Diego Martin West who complain about his service in their area…he’ll need to look at that. It remains to be seen how Manning’s return is going to impact on The Keith’s performance as a leader. It also remains to be seen how the other dynamics and factions within the party are now going to align, or realign themselves. Rowley’s tenure as political leader and as Leader of the Opposition has lacked a certain je ne sais quoi. He remains efficient and competent in attacking the Government, yet is unable to seize the public imagination and firmly establish himself as anything beyond an interim leader. If between now and 2015 the party has the opportunity to select a new leader, expect Manning to be returned as political leader even if all that remains of him is a tombstone….PNM faithfuls will vote for that tombstone.

The cycle of waiting for the messiah for deliverance continues. In 2010 Kamla promised the country to do better than the PNM and serve the people. She promised the entire nayshun that We Will Rise. Eager to be rid of PNM corruption they voted them out in exchange for the rape of the treasury and government being run like a family business, while everybody’s favorite corrupt FIFA Official plays Kojak!

PNMites once again seem to be hoping that Manning’s presence will mean an end to their suffering. Not yet understanding that such power resides in their own hands. The Emancipation holiday still remains lost on them. So like Kamla, they will put on rich cloths that are full of symbolism, but empty of meaning in their ignorant state, and parade their ignorance for the world to see, while waiting for someone or something else to come to their aid.

Kamla’s pandering to the anger of the Afrotrinbagonian community by giving the ESC $4m and funding the state visit of the Nigerian President is hardly the real Emancipation story today….the return of Manning from political death is!

De Vice Cyah Done!