[UPDATED] SAT WAS LIKE MARTIN LUTHER KING JR

HISTORIAN and academic Prof Selwyn Cudjoe has likened the late Sanatan Dharma Maha Sabha (SDMS) general secretary Satnarayan Maharaj to US civil rights leader Dr Martin Luther King Jr.

He was speaking at the funeral for Maharaj at the SDMS Headquarters, Lakshmi Girls' Hindu College, Eastern Main Road, on Tuesday. Maharaj died on November 16 after being hospitalised after a stroke. He was 88.

Cudjoe said some people had compared Maharaj to Indian anti-colonial nationalist Mahatma Gandhi, but he preferred to compare him to King, "whose major contribution was to make the US a more perfect union."

Cudjoe said TT was a broken nation in the 1970s and it was up to Maharaj and others to keep up the fight for minority rights, even though the minority Indo-Trinidadians were now a majority.

"Like Dr King, Sat Maharaj would go down in our history as one of the major architects in helping to perfect our union, to make ours a fairer society and to make this a better place in which to live."

He said while people may attack Maharaj's patriotism, he was was "Trini to the bone," and wished for his ashes to be scattered in the Gulf of Paria and not in the Ganges in India.

Cudjoe also pointed out that while many tributes spoke about his contribution to education, religion, culture and his fight for the rights of his people, he felt Maharaj would feel most honoured if each member of this multicultural and multireligious society recognised that he was indeed Trini to the bone.

"Sat served his country by serving his people, but in so doing, he helped us all to develop our national identity and to recognise that Trinbagonianism comes in different forms and in different shapes, in different theological formulations and in varying religious alignments.

"Most importantly, Sat understood that service to others, in all of its manifold ways, is the primary obligation that Trinidadians and Tobagonians have and owe the country. He did that by constantly demanding that (citizens) constantly rise out of the darkness, see the light and discover what we have in common as people, and not as individual units."

He paraphrased the Bible, saying that greater love has no man than one who would lay down his life for his friends and for his country.

"No man or woman in this twin-island nation loved this island better than he did. And he loved with a rare devotion and pride."

Cudjoe thanked the Maharaj family for having him at the funeral.

"Sat Maharaj is dead. His spirit remains," he said, a refrain for his tribute.

He recalled he was in Maryland when a dear friend called him at 6 am to tell him that his "dearer friend" had died.

"Sat Maharaj was dead, and I knew I had to return to Trinidad to honour the life of this great patriot."

Cudjoe recalled he met Maharaj when former prime minister Patrick Manning set up a race relations committee. He and Maharaj had previously exchanged insults in the newspapers, "but we were only chasing shadows." He said they were initially hostile to each other, as they had to overcome the stereotypes in their minds.

"After a while, however, we discovered we had one thing in common – each of us was concerned about the welfare of our group and determined to advance its interests."

He said the problem remained of how to disagree without being disagreeable and how to share views without being obnoxious. He recalled Manning's committee created a safe space where they could respect each other's ideas and respect each other's humanity and the explanations of the various communities in the country.

Cudjoe said while Maharaj made demands for his group, he never forgot the needs of other groups.

He called on people to honour the contributions Maharaj had made and he predicted that 50 years in the future, he will come to represent "the soul of our nation and of our people."

This story was originally published with the title "Cudjoe: Sat was like Martin Luther King Jr" and has been adjusted to include additional details. See original post below.

HISTORIAN and academic Prof Selwyn Cudjoe has likened the late Sanatan Dharma Maha Sabha (SDMS) general secretary Satnarayan Maharaj to US civil rights leader Dr Martin Luther King Jr.

He was speaking at the funeral for Maharaj at the SDMS Headquarters, Lakshmi Girls' Hindu College, Eastern Main Road. Maharaj died on November 16 after being hospitalised after a stroke. He was 88.

Cudjoe said some people havd compared Maharaj to Indian anti-colonial nationalist Mahatma Gandhi, but he preferred to compare him to King, "whose major contribution was to make the US a more perfect union."

Cudjoe said TT was a broken nation in the 1970s and it was up to Maharaj and others to keep up the fight for minority rights, even though the minority Indo-Trinidadians were now a majority.

"Like Dr King, Sat Maharaj would go down in our history as one of the major architects in helping to perfect our union, to make ours a fairer society and to make this a better place in which to live."

He said while people may attack Maharaj's patriotism, he was was "Trini to the bone," and wished for his ashes to be scattered in the Gulf of Paria and not in the Ganges in India.

Cudjoe also pointed out that while many tributes spoke about his contribution to education, religion, culture and his fight for the rights of his people, he felt Maharaj would feel most honoured if each member of this multicultural and multireligious society recognised that he was indeed Trini to the bone.

"Sat served his country by serving his people, but in so doing, he helped us all to develop our national identity and to recognise that Trinbagonianism comes in different forms and in different shapes, in different theological formulations and in varying religious alignments.

"Most importantly, Sat understood that service to others, in all of its manifold ways, is the primary obligation that Trinidadians and Tobagonians have and owe the country. He did that by constantly demanding that (citizens) constantly rise out of the darkness, see the light and discover what we have in common as people, and not as individual units."

He paraphrased the Bible, saying that greater love has no man than one who would lay down his life for his friends and for his country.

"No man or woman in this twin-island nation loved this island better than he did. And he loved with a rare devotion and pride."