Dr Rowley ‘unreservedly apologised’ for sari skit—don’t mangle facts to make racism point

“[Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley] unreservedly apologised for the skit on his own behalf, on behalf of his party and all PNM supporters… [Letter writer Sanjay Dhalla] seemed to have missed all of that.

“[…] More than 70-75% of the students [at Presentation College, Chaguanas] were Indians. If some of them changed their religion in order to be admitted to these prestige schools, how is that the fault of black people, or the PNM?

“Those colleges and convents were and are still run by mainly Catholic and Presbyterian churches. Afro students who were Moravian, Methodist and Spiritual Baptists also changed their religion for the same reason…”

The following Letter to the Editor, which disputes some of the assertions made by Sanjay Dhalla in his case of discrimination suffered by Indo-Trinbagonians, was submitted to Wired868 by ‘Zigalo’:

I am a lifelong supporter of the PNM and lived nearly all of my 64 years in Chaguanas. Firstly, Mr [Sanjay] Dhalla is distorting history. I don’t know if this is deliberate or just poor research on his part.

When at a PNM sports day a skit put on by a party group turned out to be offensive outside of the politics, he claimed that Dr Keith Rowley doubled down and refused to apologise for the religious insult.

Dr Rowley spent more than 30 minutes in a speech on the political platform educating the PNM massive on his own ignorance and subsequent understanding of the hurt that was caused by the skit. He delved into the religious significance of the disrobing of the woman and sought to educate us all.

He then unreservedly apologised for the skit on his own behalf, on behalf of his party and all PNM supporters. He didn’t apologise generically for ‘hurts caused in the past’; he directly addressed the particular issue. Sanjay seemed to have missed all of that.

I attended Presentation college. The one in Chaguanas. The best one. More than 70-75% of the students were Indians.

If some of them changed their religion in order to be admitted to these prestige schools, how is that the fault of black people, or the PNM? Those colleges and convents were and are still run by mainly Catholic and Presbyterian churches. Afro students who were Moravian, Methodist and Spiritual Baptists also changed their religion for the same reason.

I agree with Mr Dhalla’s general position that we all have to address these racial issues and I am not defending ‘African-on-Indian racism’. It too, is a reality.

Please don’t mangle the facts to make what is an otherwise good argument.

Editor’s Note: Click HERE for the initial Letter to the Editor by Sanjay Dhalla, which was itself a response to the furore over racist statements by Naila Ramsaran.

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