SAT UNDER SEDITION PROBE

SATNARAYAN Maharaj, secretary general of TT’s largest Hindu organisation, the Sanatan Dharma Maha Sabha (SDMS), is under a sedition investigation by the police.

This as nine police officers raided the Maha Sabha’s Radio and TV Jaagriti station off the Churchill Roosevelt Highway in Tunapuna yesterday in search of a video file.

But a defiant and unbowed Maharaj declared he won’t be intimidated even as he claimed yesterday’s raid was the result of government’s “aggression” through the Telecommunications Authority (TATT).

He said he was visited by police who produced a warrant for tapes of video footage from the April 15 airing of his programme Maha Sabha Strikes Back, in relation to comments referring to Tobagonians as lazy. He said there were no such tapes of the show, as he was ill and unable to record, but he still complied with the police and gave them recordings of other shows instead.

He also said his remarks about Tobagonians were taken out of context as he was only quoting from newspaper articles. “Of course I stand by my remarks,” a defiant Maharaj said. “Dr Rowley and allyuh politicians, you cannot intimidate a man called Sat Maharaj,” he declared.

“Everything I said on my show was already in the public domain and published in newspapers. I was only reading from a newspaper clipping, and they called that racism. I never referred to any race, either African or Indian. I received a letter yesterday (Wednesday) afternoon at 3.30 pm from TATT in which they gave us seven days to respond by providing the tapes of the footage.

“Before we could act upon that letter, we received another one two hours later from TATT again, this time saying they were made aware of some ‘divisive’ remarks. How come they gave us seven days to reply in one letter and then found us guilty two hours later?”

Maharaj slammed TATT, saying the letter was circulated to media houses before it was sent to him.

He accused TATT of acting on behalf of the government to try and stifle freedom of expression. He also claimed a video being circulated on social media was doctored.

He accused TATT of filing a “bogus” complaint against him.

He said his attorneys Dinesh Rambally and Stefan Ramkissoon were prepared to file legal action.

“If they could do that to me, what would they do to you, or the small man with a radio station,” he asked. “Once we have a police state we are dead! They are in for a fight if they think they can do this, and we will take them to court.”

A release issued yesterday by the TTPS confirmed the visit by police to the television station. The TTPS said the “visit” was intended to verify the authenticity of the video.

The police were led by Insp Wayne Stanley of the Special Investigations Unit, who executed the search warrant under Section 13 of the Sedition Act, Chapter 11:04. The release added the exercise was incident-free.