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Habit7 wrote:UML/netsket
How can you be opposed to T&T Mirror's articles done by investigative journalists, yet you quote write-in letters to editorial desks as having more worth than the tuner who posted his opinion before you?
rfari wrote:netsket wrote:http://www.trinituner.com/v3/forums/posting.php?mode=reply&f=4&t=479700
Walk that talk, Mr London
Story Created: Jan 30, 2013 at 11:53 PM ECT
Story Updated: Jan 31, 2013 at 12:12 AM ECT
I do not wish to dwell on the present race talk which has been heating up the flames between the sister isles, but, since the People's National Movement (PNM) has since disassociated itself, apologised and insisted that the Calcutta statement does not represent any principle or foundation of the party, I wish to request the party to prove this to me.
I would like the Orville London-led THA to show more respect to the Hindu/Indo-Trinbagonian society which is alive and contributing to the community and economy of Tobago. I recall in 2009 promises were made by the Chief Secretary that monies were allocated as well as land for Tobago's first temple, but we are now in 2013 and Tobago still stands without a Hindu temple, despite having a considerable amount of Hindus residing there.
This is a huge insult that the Tobago Hindu Society (THS) has had to endure for years.
If we consider ourselves a multi-racial society where all cultures and ethnic groups are embraced by each other without bigotry, and the PNM unreservedly endorses this, then we should not see any ethnic group being disadvantaged, regardless of their numbers.
Maybe, in addition to donning Indian ethnic wear, attending various Hindu festivals and functions, opening inaugurations with Hindu mantras we could see some more tangible approaches to incorporating and acknowledging the Hindu/Indian society in Tobago, like a temple, for instance. In doing so, we would actually be able to believe the claims made by the PNM about its true principles and foundations. We are prepared to disregard Mr Sandy's xenophobic statement, but only if the PNM proves that to us. We will not support by believing in what can be mere puffs. We need to see real action and equal opportunities for all.
I look forward to the enthusiasm of the THA in fulfilling this dream for the THS and me.
Reshma Arjoonsingh
Mt PleasantNew Tobago Hindu group fights for land
Thursday, July 29 2010
THE TOBAGO House of Assembly (THA) is yet to finalise the lease arrangements for four lots of land given to the Sanatan Dharma Maha Sabha’s Tobago Hindu Society (THS) arm, for construction of a temple, as the THA received an application for that piece of land from another Hindu group.
Pulwatie Beepath, former president of the SDMS’ THS, yesterday told Newsday that the THS was never legally registered by the SDMS. She has since legally registered the society and has applied to the THA for the parcel of land.
She said this new organisation is in no way affiliated with the SDMS and commands the full support of Hindus living and working in Tobago. “We have over 75 members, which is nearly all the Hindus on the island, who totally support the new organisation,” said Beepath.
Beepath, who was president of the Maha Sabha’s THS arm, insisted that she should be awarded the lease for the parcel of land. “This land was granted to the THA and not the SDMS. Since my new organisation is one which encompasses all the peoples of Tobago, the land should be given to us for the people,” said Beepath.
However, Maha Sabha secretary general Satnarine Maharaj refuted these claims. “This is not true, we hold the documents regarding the Tobago lands. The land has been granted to the SDMS, since the THS is a subsidiary of the SDMS,” Maharaj said.
Rayan Ramoutar, the current president of the SDMS’ THS yesterday confirmed to Newsday that the application for the lease agreement has indeed been halted as a result of this new development.
“The new organisation has also applied for the land and since this has to be investigated the THA has halted the process of finalising the lease,” said Ramoutar.
http://www.newsday.co.tt/news/0,124843.htmlHindu land still on hold
Story Created: Nov 11, 2010 at 11:53 PM ECT
(Story Updated: Nov 11, 2010 at 11:53 PM ECT )
President of the Tobago Hindu Society Pulwaty Beepath says that despite the dispute over lands located in Signal Hill for the establishment of a Hindu Temple, she remains hopeful someday the dream of a temple to worship will become a reality.
"We are waiting to see what God has in store for us, and may Mother Lakshmi shower her blessings on us, that someday the Hindus in Tobago, and the Tobago Hindu Society, will get a place to build a temple," Beepath said. She was speaking with the media after participating in Divali celebrations at the Hope Anglican School.
The issue of the land for the construction of a temple in Tobago came to the fore when two competing factions of the Hindu Society claimed ownership of the land that was handed over by the Tobago House of Assembly based on a request by the group.
Chief Secretary of Tobago Orville London then opted to halt the transfer of the land title pending the resolution of the differences between the two groups. However, the group headed by Beepath has since registered the Hindu Society as a Non Governmental Organisation and says it should have full rights to the land.
Speaking with Tobago News at Mason Hall on Thursday, the Chief Secretary said nothing has changed. He insists, the land will remain the property of the THA until there is some resolution. "The advice from my legal people is that until such time that I get a clear determination, either because they have come to some arrangement or through the court of law, it is not advisable for me to make any decision," London said.
http://www.thetobagonews.com/news/Hindu ... 76978.htmlSat calls for Tobago boycott, says Indo-Trinidadians not welcome there
Published:
Sunday, January 27, 2013
SHASTRI BOODAN
Text Size:
Sat Maharaj, secretary general of the SDMS
The leader of the Sanatan Dharma Maha Sabha (SDMS) wants independence for Tobago. Speaking with the Sunday Guardian, Sat Maharaj, secretary general of the SDMS, said Tobago should fend for itself and stop being a drain on the treasury.
Maharaj said billions of dollars were being spent in Tobago to benefit a handful of the national population. Maharaj said he wants the Government to stop subsidising the cost of the fast-ferry service and the airbridge service to Tobago. He said millions of dollars were being spent to send tourists from Trinidad to Tobago. “Let everyone pay the full cost to travel,” he stated.
Maharaj said the Government cannot continue to help pay for joyrides between the islands. Maharaj said he saw no relevance in maintaining a unitary state of Trinidad and Tobago since the Indo-Trinidadian population, which makes up 42 percent of the national population, did not feel welcome in Tobago.
Maharaj claimed that Trinidadians were generally ill-treated by Tobagonians when on business or vacation on the island. He said Indians are now feeling alienated and are refusing to go to Tobago since the “Calcutta ship” comments by THA executive member Hilton Sandy.
The Maha Sabha leader also claimed that Tobagonians had always rejected Indians and Hindus, in particular. Citing an example, he said the SDMS had purchased land in Tobago for the construction of a temple at Carnbee over five years ago but the THA had refused to grant permission for construction even though there was a Christian church in the area.
He said the THA also promised to grant a half acre of land at Signal Hill to the various Indian organisations on the island. However, the THA came up with an excuse at the last minute and reneged on its promise. “Calcutta ship can’t land, but one from the Congo can,” Maharaj commented.
Maharaj said until Tobago gets independence he wanted everyone to boycott Tobago. Maharaj said Trinidadians could enjoy themselves vacationing elsewhere. In the meantime, he suspected that the THA would move to patch things up and save face by giving “curry favour” to one of the three Indo-based organisations on the island.
http://guardian.co.tt/news/2013-01-27/s ... come-thereMaha Sabha Urges Indian Envoy to Stay out of Local Issues
BY PETER BALROOP
Sanatan Dharma Maha Sabha (SDMS) secretary general Satnarayan Maharaj is accusing Indian High Commissioner to T&T, His Excellency Malay Mishra, of attempting to destabilise the Hindu community of T&T and dictate the pace of the group. Maharaj, 79, who has been SDMS head since 1977, has dispatched a strongly-worded letter to the India Foreign Office accusing Mishra of continued intervention by way of “intrusive and divisive actions” into the affairs of the Hindu community in T&T. The letter has also been copied to T&T Foreign Affairs Minister Dr Surujrattan Rambachan. Maharaj also withdrew the SDMS’s invitation to Mishra to attend yesterday’s Baal Vikaas finals. The issue stems over the use of four lots of land at Signal Hill which the Tobago House of Assembly (THA) is willing to lease to the SDMS for construction of a Hindu temple and cremation site. Mishra’s office was closed yesterday and efforts to contact him for comment failed.
But a source close to the Commissioner said it was an “extremely sensitive” matter and if Maharaj’s complaint was seriously entertained by the Indian Government it could cost the Commissioner his posting. According to the letter, the SDMS has been engaged in a 20-year-long quest to secure land in Tobago to build a temple and a cremation site for Hindu use. The effort eventually bore fruit with the decision by the THA to deed four lots of land at Signal Hill to the SDMS to display murtis indicating the Hindu presence in the island. However, Maharaj stated, he was “shocked and amazed” to learn Mishra had a meeting in Tobago on Wednesday, making a case for residents of the island, in general, to lobby the THA to have a community centre at the site, rather than the proposed and agreed-upon temple and cremation undertaking.
“...despite the fact that the Hindu community has no place of worship on the island while the Islamic and Christian communities each has houses of worship. “This is the latest in a series of intrusive and divisive actions taken by this High Commissioner among the local Indian population which are inimical to the interests of the community,” the letter states. “The SDMS views this intervention into domestic affairs of the local Indian community by the Indian High Commissioner as improper and as such we seek your immediate intervention in this matter,” Maharaj wrote. The letter, which was copied to Mishra and directed to his 6 Victoria Avenue, Port-of-Spain office, was described as “an official letter of complaint” against the High Commissioner “for his conduct in our country.”
In an interview at the Baal Vikaas Festival final at the SDMS headquarters in St Augustine yesterday, Maharaj said the SDMS separates the secular from the religious and does not allow politicians to interfere in its affairs. He suggested Mishra should be concentrating on building the Indian Cultural Centre, land for which was made available by the T&T Government 25 years ago, bordering the Butler Highway, close to the Priority Bus Route. Rambachan told the Sunday Guardian he could not comment as he is yet to receive a copy of the letter.
http://www.southasianoutlook.net/issues ... ssues.htmlTobago’s Seeta Beepath gets award in India
Monday, November 19 2012
Nineteen-year-old Tobagonian Seeta Beepath recently received an award from the President of India, Pranab Kumar Mukherjee. Beepath performed a classical dance at the president's house in India on October 13 during a Raam Leela function. She later received the award at her school, along with other members of the dance group.
Beepath attends the Shri Raam Bharatiya Kala in New Delhi on a three year scholarship made possible by Trinidad and Tobago High Commissioner to New Delhi, India, Chandradath Singh; Malay Mishra, Indian High Commissioner to Trinidad and Tobago; and facilitated by the Chief Secretary of the Tobago House of Assembly, Orville London and the Assembly. She is pursuing studies in Indian classical dance.
Beepath is the daughter of the Tobago Hindu Society, Pulwaty Holass Beepath. Speaking at the society’s recent Divali celebrations at Gulf City Mall, Lowlands, Secretary for the Division of Community Development and Culture, Tracy Davidson-Celestine offered special congratulatory to Pulwaty Beepath on her daughter’s success.
Seeta Beepath also sent special wishes to the Hindu community of Trinidad and Tobago and wished them happy Divali celebrations. She also expressed her gratitude to Ramona Ramdial, Pearl Chin, the TIMA Group and Zanifer Hosein who took her to the Children of Mastana programme.
http://www.newsday.co.tt/features/0,169461.html
Rooki3 wrote:zr actually its easier for a trini to buy land in tobago than any foreigner, realll red tape.
.
netsket wrote:Seems more like blatant religious discrimination by the THA to me
pete wrote:So the Hindus can't come together and pay to have it built? That's not the purpose of the SDMS?
rfari wrote:I cant answer that. It appears that money has been allocated
netsket wrote:rfari wrote:I cant answer that. It appears that money has been allocated
so money allocated to the right org? so then we can assume the land belongs to them?
pete wrote:So the Hindus can't come together and pay to have it built? That's not the purpose of the SDMS?
zoom rader wrote:pete wrote:So the Hindus can't come together and pay to have it built? That's not the purpose of the SDMS?
What you may not know is that are more that one groups of Hindu associations. SDMS is the largest hindu body the other groups are far smaller. There is even a PNM hindu group call SWAHA. Any hindus that you see in PNM belong to SWAHA.
kurpal_v2 wrote:zoom rader wrote:pete wrote:So the Hindus can't come together and pay to have it built? That's not the purpose of the SDMS?
What you may not know is that are more that one groups of Hindu associations. SDMS is the largest hindu body the other groups are far smaller. There is even a PNM hindu group call SWAHA. Any hindus that you see in PNM belong to SWAHA.
BS.
My family follow SDMS loosely and I can say the majority support the pnm. Falsifying statistics on the Internet gains you nothing my friend.
zoom rader wrote:kurpal_v2 wrote:zoom rader wrote:pete wrote:So the Hindus can't come together and pay to have it built? That's not the purpose of the SDMS?
What you may not know is that are more that one groups of Hindu associations. SDMS is the largest hindu body the other groups are far smaller. There is even a PNM hindu group call SWAHA. Any hindus that you see in PNM belong to SWAHA.
BS.
My family follow SDMS loosely and I can say the majority support the pnm. Falsifying statistics on the Internet gains you nothing my friend.
Yup ur family following SDMS loosely
zoom rader wrote:What you may not know is that are more that one groups of Hindu associations. SDMS is the largest hindu body the other groups are far smaller. There is even a PNM hindu group call SWAHA. Any hindus that you see in PNM belong to SWAHA.
PNM history of close ties with Hindus
Story Created: Nov 22, 2012 at 12:01 AM ECT
Story Updated: Nov 22, 2012 at 7:28 AM ECT
The confusion concerning Dr Keith Rowley attending the Divali Nagar celebrations, appropriately dressed for the occasion, is a national non-issue and purely political rhetoric that we in the People's National Movement (PNM) can adequately manage.
The PNM has always acknowledged the value of each section of our national community to nation-building. Over the 56 years of the PNM, our leaders have embraced the Hindu community and developed a good working relationship with the major Hindu and Muslim organisations.
Dr Eric Williams had a very good working relationship with a tower of a man, Mr Bhadase Sagan Maraj, whom he consulted before the Divali holiday was declared in 1964.
Former prime minister Patrick Manning met with the executive of the Maha Sabha in 1991 and maintained a very close relationship with the general secretary, Mr Satnarine Maharaj, during 1991-1995.
On instructions, the then minister of education collaborated very closely with Mr Maharaj and proceeded to renovate and maintain all primary schools of the Maha Sabha. We also saw the construction of the Lakshmi Girls' Hindu College.
Manning worked very closely with the Maha Sabha and Swaha organisations and even apologised to the Hindu community for any perceived misgivings done to them by the PNM. An executive member of Swaha, Pundit Manideo Persad, was also appointed our high commissioner to India from 2002-2010.
I am certain our Hindu community is then fully satisfied that the PNM is very facilitative of each and every ethnic and religious section of our beloved nation.
Dr Rowley and I attended Divali Nagar celebrations on more than two occasions. On one occasion, he addressed the audience. Mrs Joan Yuille-Williams, as then minister of culture, also attended the Nagar.
In 2006, former minister of local government Mr Rennie Dumas approved $450,000 for the construction of a car park at the Nagar.
The PNM cabinet, of which Dr Rowley was a member, approved $500,000 on the recommendation of then minister of local government Mr Jarret Narine for the completion of the Siewdass Sadhu Temple in the Sea in Waterloo.
Dr Keith Rowley always attended Divali celebrations at the home of deceased Kumar Doon Pundit in Arima and at our home at Las Lomas. On November 10, Dr Rowley was our chief guest at Divali celebrations of our Shiva Joyti Temple in Las Lomas No 1. He was well received by the residents.
I can give the national community the assurance that over the years, the voice of my Hindu community is well received, appreciated and respected by the People's National Movement.
We the Ojah-Maharaj family are also fully conscious of our responsibilities to the peaceful and harmonious development of our nation.
Deodath Ojah-Maharaj
Former PNM executive and
member of the Maha Sabha
http://www.trinidadexpress.com/letters/ ... 58801.html
Tobago, we hardly know ye
Published:
Sunday, February 3, 2013
Dr Sheila Rampersad
Among my frustrations as an educator at the University of the West Indies—apart from the academic essay in which a student defined euthanasia as the killing of youth—was that students invariably referred to Trinidad as a country.
They were, of course, mimicking uncritically a widespread blindness to Tobago as an essential component of the nation that is Trinidad and Tobago. My frustration deepened when I realised I had little support from other lecturers, to whom this looseness of thought and writing was a small thing, suggesting that Trinidadians’ disrespect for Tobago was pervasive even among those who ought to know better.
It is one of the most common errors made by Trinidadians—including journalists—many of whom also write Trinidad on official forms that ask about nationality; immigration forms is one example.
Trinidadians’ stubborn labelling of Tobago as the sister isle or Trinidad’s little sister is another obvious example of how, daily, we thoughtlessly speak of Tobago in the diminutive and constantly speak of it in relation to Trinidad; Trinidad is always our primary point of reference and Tobago an addendum on the fringes of the Trinidad main stage.
On an election-night radio panel in 2007, technicians tried in vain to establish a communications link with Tobago to conduct interviews about the Tobago East and West electoral constituencies. An otherwise simple exercise was dogged by dire “technical” problems; the link was never established. I commented then that maybe these are the reasons Tobago feels resentful of Trinidad.
And the resentment is deep and old. For most Trinidadians, Tobago is a long-weekend getaway, a place to relax, drink plenty alcohol, behave obnoxiously, drive badly and play music loudly. We overrun Tobago for the Great Race weekend, Tobago jazz and for after-Carnival cool-down parties, displaying sometimes atrocious behaviour.
There are many who make frequent trips to Tobago but know only the western stretch from Crown Point Airport to Black Rock or maybe Plymouth. We do not know the landscape of the place, its villages and earthen ovens in which bread is baked with bay leaves.
We do not know its potholes and panoramas; its cemeteries and superstitions; its night-time noises and morning airs, its basilect, acrolect and idiolect where Tobago’s cultures reside. Our understanding of Tobago’s cultures is the Tobago jig, Tobago Heritage Festival, blue food and Shurwayne Winchester.
For the most part, Trinidadians have a superficial and arrogant relationship with Tobago. Tobagonians know this, and they take profound objection to it and us.
The THA election, cast as a referendum on all involved, drew us into Tobago’s districts in a way that had not happened before; Mt St George, L’Anse Fourmi, Golden Lane, Whim and Belle Garden rolled off our tongues with feigned familiarity.
In the heat of the politics, Trinidadians who had minimal or moderate knowledge of the place were all opening grand pronouncements with “Tobagonians are…,” that telltale demonstration of ignorance that we do not accept for ourselves.
Tobago has been signalling for years that it is in no one’s back pocket, its political allegiance is not permanent, and its vote is independent of Trinidad trends. So although Hilton Sandy offered a scapegoat that successfully distracts from deep considerations of the Tobago’s complexities, more thorough and more respectful analyses are required.
If Tobagonians do not like Indians and are so terrified of them, how is it that in 1986 they voted for the NAR, of which the UNC was an essential component? How is it that although they voted a UNC-less NAR in 1995, they coalesced with the UNC so Basdeo Panday could be written into history as, among so many other things, the country’s first Indian prime minister?
Tobago has voted for Trinidad’s Indian-based political party in all its incarnations, and its opposite, the African-based PNM, has suffered decades of defeat in Tobago. Who, therefore, are these Indians that Tobagonians do not like? What subset? And who are these Tobagonians who do not like Indians? What subset of Africans?
African Tobago is not African East-West Corridor or African west Trinidad. To read the election result as African versus Indian relies on a view of Africans and Indians as monolithic groups; surely by now we are smarter than that.
In reality, Tobago has more in common with Indian Trinidad than it does with African Trinidad; both have been marginalised by PNM hegemony and its East-West Corridor support base.
The Prime Minister, political leader of the UNC, refuted the tribalism analysis by Jack Warner, chairman of the UNC, with a porous statement about “not race but fear.” If this is sincerely her view, did the chairman issue a statement without consultation with his political leader? And assuming the political leader endorsed the skewed, superficial and inflammatory statement, why would she? Did she so do so she could end up smelling sweet?
Also, in her analysis, what are Tobagonians fearful of? Change? Historical evidence proves this is untrue. Fear of the PNM? That is illogical, since the PNM is not in power and therefore not positioned to starve the island of financial goodwill. There are times when simple explanations are the most truthful.
Perhaps Tobago simply doesn’t like the Indians who are in Government. Perhaps Tobagonians vote for Tobago and, in this election, saw Ashworth Jack not as an independent Tobagonian but as a Trinidad PP puppet. Perhaps the PP’s ignorance about Tobago resulted in election campaign strategies that worked against them.
Perhaps the PM was front and centre in the campaign not so much because she adores Tobago, but because she adores adulation and the campaign opportunity was irresistible.
And perhaps, despite all our trips on the Tobago Express and Caribbean Airlines, we just don’t know Tobago.
Perhaps the PM was front and centre in the campaign not so much because she adores Tobago, but because she adores adulation and the campaign opportunity was irresistible
wagonrunner wrote:Perhaps the PM was front and centre in the campaign not so much because she adores Tobago, but because she adores adulation and the campaign opportunity was irresistible
exceptionally well said
