The forgotten hero

In most accounts of the attempted coup by the Jamaat al Muslimeen, Dr Emanuel Hosein is rarely mentioned.

A humble, modest man whose slight build and hobbling gait were a lifelong reminder of his childhood battle with polio, Dr Hosein began his career as a politician in 1976 with the United Labour Front, the predecessor of the UNC. Elected MP for Tunapuna in 1986, he served as minister of health for the National Alliance for Reconstruction coalition government.

Dr Hosein, 75, died on August 5 after an illness.

He was a member of the House of Representatives during the Third Republican Parliament (1986-1991).

He served as chair of the TT Chapter of Disabled Peoples International. He was also chair of the UN Secretary General’s Council on Disability, advocating for the disabled.

Dr Hosein's most critical role as a politician would come in July 1990, when he was held hostage at the Red House along with most of the NAR cabinet.

It wouldn't be until the 2014 Commission of Enquiry into the attempted coup that he would receive overdue congratulations from his surviving colleagues who noted the courage and heroism of his role.

In the commission's account, after the late ANR Robinson, the prime minister, commanded the Regiment to "attack with full force," both AG Selwyn Richardson and Mr Robinson were shot by Bilaal Abdullah, the leader of the insurgent force at the Red House.

A piece of cloth was then shoved into the PM's mouth, leaving him gagging. It was then that Emanuel Hosein, the doctor, became the most important minister in the room. At gunpoint, Dr Hosein demanded that an armed insurgent remove the gag and was obeyed. He persuaded his captors to allow him to search for tea and coffee for the dehydrated prisoners.

When Mr Robinson's glaucoma became severe, it was Dr Hosein who insisted that the insurgents allow him to arrange for medication. After a Muslimeen insurgent cracked under the strain, he stepped up to sedate the man.

Along with Winston Dookeran, he moved his attackers from meaningless violence to negotiation. Astonishingly, Dr Hosein would express appreciation to the members of the commission for giving him a chance to speak about his experiences during the six-day attack on the Red House. Nobody had asked him before, not the media and not the ministry to which he was assigned. He was not singular in that experience.

Dr Hosein was on the commission's list for a proposed medal to be given to courageous nationals who showed their mettle when tested by their attackers in July 1990. That recognition was never minted.

Dr Hosein would continue his work, championing the cause of people with disabilities. That earned him the Chaconia Medal (Gold) in 2022, but this country remains indebted to his quiet work during the six days of constitutional siege, when his courage and medical skill prevented a terrible situation – when a sitting prime minister might have been murdered – from becoming catastrophic.