Maharaj: Maha Sabha 'purged' of UNC

THE Sanatan Dharma Maha Sabha (SDMS) says it has purged itself of any ties to the opposition UNC and rejects any insinuation that it was ever aligned to any political party.

At the presentation of the UNC Coalition of Interests's 39 candidates at the Centre of Excellence, Macoya on April 5, UNC political leader Kamla Persad-Bissessar said, "I have purged the politics of caste, class, nepotism, family connections, segregation, discrimination and dynasty from the UNC."

A subsequent newspaper article quoted some political analysts suggesting Persad-Bissessar was referring to UNC founder Basdeo Panday and the SDMS when she made those comments.

In a signed statement on April 10, SDMS general secretary Vijay Maharaj made it clear the SDMS "does not endorse, support or align itself with any political party."

He said the SDMS had always been an independent, religious and cultural organisation.

SDMS members, Maharaj continued, are free to pursue political activity within their constitutional rights and have been members of different political parties over time.

He cited the case of SDMS first assistant general secretary Dinesh Rambally as an example.

Rambally was the former UNC Chaguanas West MP and one of five former UNC MPs who publicly questioned Persad-Bissessar's ability to lead the party to victory in the April 28 general election. The others were Rushton Paray, Anita Haynes-Alleyne, Dr Rai Ragbir and Rodney Charles.

Maharaj said Rambally made a personal decision weeks before April 5 to resign from the UNC. Rambally's resignation, he continued, happened long before anyone engaged in a tirade about a purge.

Maharaj said, "The resignation was merely the final step in a broader and already well-understood separation between the SDMS and the UNC."

He advised people, including political analysts, who did not understand the SDMS's role in society not to engage in conjecture.

Maharaj repeated, "The SDMS is neither a political vehicle nor a political party group of any purported political entity."

He said any interpretation of the SDMS in such a manner is disrespectful to the thousands of people its serves in the spheres of religion, education and culture.