New political era demands we confront old wounds

THE EDITOR: The recent electoral victory of the UNC-led government signalled something far more powerful than a routine change in leadership; it marked a decisive shift away from the entrenched tribal, racial politics that have long plagued TT.

The new generation of voters is not blinded by race-based loyalty; these voters are guided by issues, performance, and principle. This awakening should not be underestimated as it is the future of our democracy.

However, in moving forward we must not erase the past. When chairman of the Dr Eric Williams Memorial Committee, Reginald Vidale, urges Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar to honour Williams by placing his portrait in every school, it is essential to acknowledge the deep historical wounds many still carry, wounds caused by words and policies that vilified entire communities.

Williams once referred to Hindu schools as “cowsheds” when Bhadase Sagan Maraj fought to establish Maha Sabha educational institutions. He branded Indians the “recalcitrant minority,” a phrase echoed decades later by former PNM prime minister Dr Keith Rowley in April 2020.

At a PNM meeting in Belmont, Fitzgerald Hinds made a comment about alligators in a murky lagoon, there was the THA’s Hilton Sandy’s “Calcutta ship” comments, and also the PNM’s strategy of running East Indian candidates only in “safe” or unwinnable constituencies are not forgotten. These acts compound a feeling that Indo-Trinidadians are often expected to stay silent about their pain – that their hurt is somehow less valid than others.

This erasure extends to other communities – too the Chinese and Venezuelans who endure scorn and stereotypes while national conversations disproportionately spotlight one narrative. Yes, “black lives matter,” but in a truly equitable society, all lives and all histories must matter.

TT is a beautiful, multicultural, multiethnic society. If we are to thrive we must actively reject divisive symbols, language, and gestures that continue to reopen racial wounds. Calls to honour figures with complicated, painful legacies, especially in institutions such as Hindu schools, or any schools for that matter, should be met with critical reflection, not blind tradition.

This new political era must be one of courage, accountability, and healing. We owe it to ourselves and to the generations to come.

SASHA DALKAN
via e-mail