Kamla at Indian Arrival Day celebrations: Never be ashamed of who you are

MEMBERS of the East Indian community and all citizens of Trinidad and Tobago must take pride in their past, present and future, says Opposition Leader Kamla Persad-Bissessar.

At Indian Arrival Day celebrations at the Penal Rock Hindu Primary School on Monday, she told her audience, "Be not ashamed of who you are or where you came from."

She said this applies to people from all ethnic backgrounds whose ancestors came together to forge what is now modern day TT.

"We are a great people. We are even greater now that we have come together in this twin-island republic with other great people from other parts of the world.

"Never be afraid to stand up and be counted."

She said there was a time in TT when it was unthinkable that people wearing East Indian clothing would venture into Port of Spain.

"Our culture is no longer strange or foreign. How different it is that in town now, they are wearing our clothing."

She recalled when she was first elected Siparia MP in 1995, she attended a function at President's House in St Ann's wearing East Indian attire.

"It was the first time, I am told, that someone went to President's House for a function wearing a sari.I was brave enough to do it."

Reflecting on the strides made by many members of the East Indian community over the years, she attributed this to the sacrifices made by their parents to ensure they had a good education. She reflected on her life as an example, telling her audience that she still grows crops like bodi, ochroes and tomatoes at her home in Palmiste like her parents used to when she was a girl.

Persad-Bissessar cited Opposition MPs Dave Tancoo and Dinesh Rambally, who had relatives who were taxi drivers and sugar cane workers respectively, as examples of how people from humble beginnings could achieve great things.

Persad-Bissessar also praised the Sanatan Dharma Maha Sabha (SDMS) for keeping East Indian culture alive. She also had special memories of former SDMS general secretary Satnarayan Maharaj who died on November 16, 2019.

"I would call him Sat and he would call me Kamla. We had a great understanding. He would invite me and then he would uninvite me. But he was always a great brother and a great soul to all of us."

Persad-Bissessar also praised the SDMS for its contribution to education through its schools in different parts of Trinidad. She was proud to have helped in the development of some of those schools as a member of the UNC government of 1995-2001 and as prime minister from May 2010-September 2015.

While describing East Indian indentureship as one of the worst forms of discrimination which must never be repeated anywhere again, Persad-Bissessar said it reinforced the courage of the indenturers to ensure their children never had to endure the hardships they did.

Dharmacharya Pundit Rampersad Parasram said Indian Arrival Day was a reminder that members of the East Indian community has aspired to and became leaders in many spheres of national life in TT. He opined that some of these people who left TT, went on to become leaders in other countries.

In a post on his Facebook page, Tancoo claimed that 177 years after East Indians arrived in TT, ignorance and discrimination continues. He said a state institution does not know that East immigrants came to TT in 1845. He also claimed some PNM members have described citizens of East Indian descent as "alligators in the murky lagoon" and celebrate Indian Arrival Day as Arrival Day.