An equal place?

THE continuing attacks on Hindu places of worship has raised political concerns about organised efforts to perpetrate religious intolerance in TT.

That's a difficult road to travel and these incidents should be treated like the crime scenes they are, and beyond the damage, they should be regarded as crimes against national harmony and social peace.

A place of worship should never be defiled without consequence. A Christian church facing such a desecration would cause a national uproar.

Many Hindu temples tend to be smaller, more intimate spaces of worship, most tied closely to the communities in which they are established. These acts of brutal disrespect may offend fewer people directly, but the affront runs much deeper. The widespread nature of desecrations in the last two years is troubling.

In May 2022, a determined effort at religious desecration took place at the Carapo Shiva Mandir in Arima, when the house of worship was subject to the targeted malice of thieves who broke into the building and used vessels normally used to make prasad to cook corned beef, a sacrilegious act to Hindus. Jewellery and clothing laid in offering on murtis were stolen, just as they were in September 2023 at the 100-year-old Williamsville Hindu Temple, where tiled floors were methodically destroyed. In October 2023, an effigy of Ravana prepared for upcoming celebrations, was burned at the Tarouba Ramleela celebration grounds.

By December 2023, Chaguanas West MP Dinesh Rambally was calling into question the police record of solving these crimes against Hindu temples after clothing and jewellery offered to murtis at the Munroe Road Hindu Temple were stolen and the temple robbed and ransacked.

Add to these acts instances of grave desecration. The grave of Whitney Bourne was dug up the night after her burial at Los Bajos in Palo Seco in January 2023. Later that month, the grave of Leroy Calliste (Black Stalin) at Paradise Cemetery was found desecrated with rubbish and human waste. The penalty for grave desecration is just $75.

The Malicious Damage Act does not specify fines or charges for desecrating a house of worship, though it does have a five-year penalty for damage to a building and another charge for damage to statues or monuments in a place of divine worship with a penalty of two years' imprisonment.

For acts of wilful destruction not specifically covered by the act, damage to property exceeding $500 can lead to imprisonment for two years. By comparison, the same act cites a prison term of seven years for killing or wounding cattle.

Understanding this rise in temple desecrations should be a national priority. It isn't just a matter of stopping criminals, but of understanding what's driving the threat of divisiveness in a country that prides itself on aspiring to national unity.