“[…] Former president of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, Noor Hassanali was a member of the Muslim faith. It was widely known that no alcoholic beverages were served at the official residence of the President when he was in office and he was the head of state for ten …
Read More »Emancipating old narratives of ‘emancipation’ and examining colonials’ ‘deceitful bait-and-switch’
In defiance of the rapid community spread of Covid-19, Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley, kept the promise he made on Emancipation Day 2019 to unveil T&T’s first emancipation monument—the only live public event on Emancipation Day 2020. Like many thousands of other Trinbagonians, I missed the commemorative spectacles of the …
Read More »Raffique Shah: ‘Black power’ and Indians; when flowering racial unity sparked a revolution
The following column was written by Raffique Shah on 9 June 2000: IN 1970, I was the only Indian officer in the Trinidad and Tobago Regiment. I was also the youngest officer, having graduated from Sandhurst in July 1966, some four months after I had turned 20. When I returned …
Read More »Dear Editor: PM Rowley can’t count Indians; Dr Mahabir disputes claim of 50% Indian gov’t
“According to Government’s CSO population survey in 2011, Indians consist of 35 percent of the population, the largest ethnic group in the country. Comprising 26 percent in the government, Indian ministers are, therefore, underrepresented and do not find a proportionate ‘equal place’ in Rowley’s PNM administration.” In the following Letter to the …
Read More »Balderdash and intellectual acrobatics; Fergus responds to Baldeosingh on race and Afro-history
“[Kevin] Baldeosingh […] uncritically regurgitates the defunct racist hypothesis that ‘darker-skinned people’ are judged less intelligent and ‘more primitive’ than ‘fairer-skinned people’. “[…] During the first century of this era, Ethiopians were the majority in the town of Barygasa (now Baruch) in western India. By the time of the Mughal …
Read More »DEAR EDITOR: Force-fed freedom? Must Muslim women move backwards to Islamic Front?
“Is Abdullah suggesting, however irrational that may appear, that anyone who raises questions about the advisability or wisdom of wearing the hijab is encouraging Muslim women to tend towards prostitution? “Clearly, Muslim women, hijabis or not, can think for themselves. Evidently, Aisha Sabur didn’t feel she wanted to remove her …
Read More »Hijabbing still?! Liburd looks at Baldeosingh, religion, the Guardian and the hijab
In the year of our Lord 2017, when we routinely hand money to indiscernible faces behind tinted windows—at places ranging from the gas station to a government office—spend thousands in online transactions with no personal interaction whatsoever or troubleshoot complex issues over the phone with people we will never meet; …
Read More »Hijabonomics explained: Baldeosingh responds to column that saw him axed by Guardian
“The entire column makes the point that, rather than being a symbol of repression, Muslim women who choose to wear the hijab do so for cogent and rational reasons. It appears that Mr Umar Abdullah either does not understand this, or is pretending to not understand it.” The following is …
Read More »Fire Baldeosingh immediately! Islamic Front responds to Guardian’s controversial hijab column
“Kevin Baldeosingh has crossed the line to suggest such, and enough is enough! We are calling for his immediate dismissal. “If this is not done Waajihatul Islaamiyyah (The Islamic Front) together with the entire Muslim Community of Trinidad and Tobago will have no reason but to believe Guardian Media Limited …
Read More »Not every salaam speaks for Islam: A Muslim’s response to Kevin Baldeosingh
Alana Abdool takes a closer, sympathetic look at Kelvin Baldeosingh’s controversial Trinidad Guardian column in our Letters to the Editor page: Dear brothers and sisters in Islam, I have a confession to make. And a warning to sound. Truth be told, Kevin Baldeosingh said atheists and white people are offended …
Read More »The battle against ISIS extremism and why T&T should care
Of all the photos following ISIS’s horrendous assault on Paris, among the most moving are those of the long lines of people waiting to donate blood outside hospitals where the wounded had been taken. There’s a good chance that among them were persons of Islamic faith standing in line to …
Read More »Rats, revenge and recycling: Daly looks at UNC’s internal elections
The UNC leadership contest is boiling. Ostensibly the challenge to the political leadership of Kamla Persad-Bissesar is a revolt against her running the losing election 2015 campaign in which the party lost Government as “a one person show.” There is nothing odd about a member of a political party challenging …
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