Pundit: Time for Sat to retire

As remarks by Sanatan Dharma Maha Sabha (SDMS) head Satnaryan Maharaj continue to be widely condemned by members of the Tobago community, prominent Hindu pundit Satyanand Maharaj has called on Maharaj to retire as head of the religious organisation.

In a media release yesterday, Satyanand Maharaj, who is the spiritual head of the Satya Anand Ashram Temple of Truth and Bliss at Aranguez, described the Maha Sabha secretary general’s recent remarks about Tobagonians on his Jaagriti television station as “obscene and disgusting.”

He said his office had been flooded by callers who took offence at Sat Maharaj’s broadcast in which he described the Tobago community as rapists and lazy.

“Just as we were correctly incensed when Nalini used vile terms to describe Africans, or when minister (Fitzgerald) Hinds called Diane Hadad abnormal, or minister Lovell Francis called UNC supporters yellow bellies, Darrell Dookoo's offensive videos, THA's Sandy described Indians coming to Tobago as the Calcutta Ship, or the PNM Family Day sari skit, we must be equally offended by and condemn the statements of Sat Maharaj.”The latter, he said, has "essentially driven out all right-thinking persons out of the Maha Sabha, as he consolidates power.”