Holy crap! Dirty Harrypersad, Back-pedalling Berkley and child marriage

You know you probably need something strong to drink when the least controversial bit of an interview is the complete rejection of a woman’s right to an abortion.

Brother Harrypersad Maharaj, head of the Inter-Religious Organisation (IRO), made it clear in a Power 102 FM interview—in 2016 mind you—that under no circumstances would Trinidad and Tobago’s religious leaders fathom the possibility of giving up the right to marry children as young as 12 or 14 years old.

Photo: Marry you?! Your name is Ro'dey?! Man, get a Blue's Clue eh!
Photo: Marry you?! Your name is Ro’dey?! Man, get a Blue’s Clue eh!

Let me repeat that: while the country is fretting over a soaring murder rate, a crumbling economy and a ludicrously outdated traffic law, the top of the to-do list for “Dirty Harrypersad” and the boys is hanging on to State-sanctioned pedophilia.

In surely one of the greatest ironies of modern time, a country that will arrest a mother for corporal punishment is happy to let the same mother give her daughter away for a hard-back man to make mas.

Allow Mr Live Wire to speak candidly here. If you’re planning your wedding and your bridal registry is at Toys R Us, then you’re sick as $%^&!

But as much as Maharaj has rightfully replaced the Lue Shues as the country’s villain of the week—thoroughly screwed local gymnast Thema Williams is 20 years old, after all—he is not the only religious leader worthy of some e-tomatoes and worse.

Maharaj pointed out that 17 of the IRO’s 25 members came out for their religious meeting, which somehow was allowed to proceed without any police intervention under the anti-gang legislation.

And, according to the IRO boss, all 17 voted unanimously to defend the right of certain religious sects to marry young girls.

Photo: IRO head Harrypersad Maharaj.
Photo: IRO head Harrypersad Maharaj.

(Harrypersad did not say whether dalliances with alter boys or fiddling with photoshop were also on the holy agenda).

Enter Bishop Claude Berkley, head of Trinidad and Tobago’s Anglican Church, to set the record straight.

And, let’s face it, shooting down the right to molest children should have been as easy as fishing with dynamite.

According to the United Nations: “child marriage is a human rights violation… (that lingers only) because of persistent poverty and gender inequality.”

Although, to be fair, the latter insinuation clearly gives Dirty Harrypersad way too much credit.

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights in 1948 stated: “Marriage shall be entered into only with the free and full consent of the intending spouses.”

And that was even before the 80kph speed limit.

While girlsnotbrides.org—which leaned on passages from the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC), the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW)—suggested that child marriage: affects children’s and women’s rights to health, education, equality, non-discrimination and to live free from violence and exploitation; and when children are bought and sold under the guise of marriage for the purposes of sexual exploitation or when they are trafficked into forced marriages, their cases meet internationally recognised definitions of slavery or slavery-like practices.

Photo: Majed, 25, (left) and his eight year old child bride, Ghana, in Yemen. (Copyright ABC News)
Photo: Majed, 25, (left) and his eight year old child bride, Ghana, in Yemen.
(Copyright ABC News)

So what say ye, Bishop Berkley? Does God love pedophiles?

“Asked if such a decision (to defend the Marriage Act which allows girls as young as 12 and 14 to be married) was unanimous,” stated LoopTT, “the Bishop said it is difficult to get consensus in a matter such as this when you are in a place of contention.”

Eh? Wtf?!

That’s right Bishop Berkley refused to clarify whether or not he voted to allow Maharaj and his merry men free access to our Girls Scouts’ cookies.

“In 2011, there was a national consultation and there were concerns were expressed as to if we were infringing codes we were signatory too,” Berkley told LoopTT, “such as the rights of the child and in that way we are looking at it to see if we are in sync.”

Yes. But, five years later, didn’t your religious body just give those concerns the full R Kelly after-party special?

“We need to decide what our standards are,” said Berkley. “We are a melting pot of peoples and nations and therefore we would have mixed practices but at the same time as one nation we need to decide the level that we operate on.”

Hold up. Tell us more about the child molesters that you are encouraging in our national pelau…

Photo: Eh?
Photo: Eh?

“I am not against the discussion of the role of religion in governing laws,” said Berkley. “In some situations, the practice and culture have changed the mechanisms that allowed the system to work. We need to bring the discussion on and have these hard questions grappled with.”

You are not against the discussion?! That’s your retort when your IRO colleague is talking about grappling with girls who should be watching Phineas and Ferb?!

“What do we as a nation require?” Berkley continued. “Even if there may be a point of not wanting sex education if it was a national policy various groups would have to allow for interventions to bring this in place.

“What we have is everyone talking about my rights but as a nation, the mother of consensus is lacking. We have not agreed on a way forward.

“If that is a national policy in education we have to see how that could be enforced in a place of worship or in school. We have a lot of conversations to happen.”

Photo: Anglican Bishop Claude Berkley. (Courtesy The Caribbean Camera)
Photo: Anglican Bishop Claude Berkley.
(Courtesy The Caribbean Camera)

And at that point, when Bishop Berkley morphed a chat about pedophilia into a discussion on sex education, referendum and State policy on education, Mr Live Wire had a eureka moment.

There might be a logical reason that Dirty Harrypersad is the head of the IRO.

True, he might have an abnormal, criminal obsession with Austin and Ally viewers. But at least he isn’t a bleeding hypocrite.

If back-pedalling from under-fire colleagues, hurdling morals and tossing away shame were Olympic events, Bishop Berkley might have put Usain Bolt to shame in Rio!

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About Mr. Live Wire

Mr. Live Wire is an avid news reader who translates media reports for persons who can handle the truth. And satire. Unlike Jack Nicholson, he rarely yells.

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163 comments

  1. Some figures of child marriage in Trinidad and Tobago:

    https://www.facebook.com/rhodabharath/posts/10154176251937812 in Trinidad and Tobago: :

  2. You must tell Father Harris and Father Griffith that having sex with Acolytes and altar boys and then condemn other people costoms is a sin
    You all reading this CAN YOU TELL ME WHEN AND WHO GOT MARRIED TO A LITTLE CHILD

  3. Some of the questions that stand out most to me in this topic are what constitutes a minor, is a minor determined by age or faith?

    If the law recognizes that a minor is a person under the age of 18, by what data are proponentsof child marriages using to support the practice?
    What makes an Orisha, Muslim or Hindu child less ill-prepared for the institution of marriage than their counterparts of other faiths who must be 18 to be considered of the age of consent?

  4. Say what you will eh, but the gap separating the political ideologies of the PNM and UNC are growing ever more pronounced.
    As in the U.S. where one of the most visible differences between the Republican and Democratic parties is their stance on abortion, one of the most visible differeces between the PNM and UNC is their stance on child marriages.

    #SilenceIsConsent

    • there may be a difference on a platform of “child marriages” but are we really willing to say there is a difference of child sex , child predatory practices, child abuse, child trafficking, trade and selling? between these two groups? one marries, the other have sex rings. of and for their elites

  5. They are our moral compass I think Tanya. *cough cough*

  6. Ok can someone tell me why TT has an IRO and do they receive a government subvention?

  7. Dirty Harrypersad is correct
    12 to 14 year old girl is still a child!
    Why do you want to continue with such an archaic law?
    Now girls are educating themselves and in fact there are more educated girls than boys!
    You as head of the IRO and as a pundit is a stinking dutty pervert loving pedophile. You and Sat and all the other men of various organizations are sanctioning pedophiles except for father harris head of the catholic church.
    Shame shame shame on alyuh dutty old men! Child marriages are banned in those countries you hiding behind on cultural grounds. You all are big hypocrites!
    No respect for young girls or women you male chauvinistic pigs!
    Children are not to be used and exploited to satisfy your insatiable lustful desires.
    You are no better than the rapist in Barrackpore all you who holier than thou but are greater sinners than us!

  8. This thread is about the situation in Trinidad regarding the inconsistencies pertaining to religion, the age of consent and statutory rape.
    If you wanna discuss America I have my criticisms there too, just create a post.

  9. correct you didn’t …however you mentioned Trinidad….as though it is unique to here

  10. I mentioned no religion by name, I used a simple analogy. What made you think of Hinduism and Islam, why not Orisha?

  11. Notice the age for the good ole US of A you so like to praise?

  12. Vernal Damion Cadogan…sometimes I does read what you does type and seriously wonder about you inno….Islam and Hinduism are only religions in Trinidad?…STEUUUPPPSSSSSSS

    http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/the-lowest-age-you-can-legally-get-married-around-the-world-10415517.html

  13. Hear how I just explain this thing to a country bookie yesterday eh……

    Consent is like dhal……12, 14 and 16 year old girls really can’t crush dhal properly.
    The problem in Trinidad though is that in some religions paratha is considered buss-up-shot if you are single, but if you’re married paratha is considered dhalpouri even though it conains no dhal.

    Would you believe that after all my efforts the country bookie realized he hadn’t had breakfast and abruptly left to dine on sada?

    I kyah win!

  14. All I can say is these religious leaders who voted unanimously to uphold abusive and outdated child marriage laws are a bunch of pricks with no balls. They have shit for brains and should in no way be leading a marble pitching club far less an entire religious body. No wonder people are loosing all respect for religion and leaving it by the droves.

  15. Religion has no place in making laws the head of all religion are made by men who make laws to oppress women I am an AC and right now I am very ashamed Berkley should say whether he is for child marriage or not when these old perverts sit down in their meetings they don’t want to offend each other but Berkley better clear the air no this matter because all the people who are are Ac disagree with child marriage I love God but I hate religion hypocrites hide behind it to exploit children and women and without women their churches are doomed stand up for our young women

  16. I think now would be a good time to distinguish between
    Rape: unconsentual sex
    Statutory rape: Sex with someone under the age of consent.
    Sanatam commited rape, not statutory rape.

  17. They claim the reason for child marriages is to prevent sex between children. Lol. So gard stones man could f(:& little children once the parents teach the practicals. WTF???

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