Wired868 Wired868 for smart sport news and opinion
“We used to call it the People’s Negro Movement and sometimes the People’s N—r Movement because we saw nothing national about it. We saw the PNM as the enemy and [Dr Eric] Williams as the chief enemy. And Williams made it quite clear he saw us Indians as the enemy too.
“When the PNM won the 1956 election and announced their expenditure policies, we were not surprised that Williams had thrown the lion’s share of expenditure at his black urban supporters (a minority group, remember) and all but ignored the Indians living mostly in the rural areas.”
The following Letter to the Editor, which was submitted to Wired868 by Ramdath Jagessar, is a rebuttal to former People’s National Movement (PNM) general secretary Ashton Ford’s blog about the racial inclusiveness of the PNM.
(Courtesy Information Division)
I suppose I will have to answer that dumbo PNM official Ashton Ford’s comments about the great national policies of his great leader Dr Eric Williams, which he claims benefitted every sector of the population and which succeeded with the help of PNM Indians who put country first.
It’s all b/s and pretty rotten b/s at that. Eric Williams was no national leader but only the leader of the black group that were always a minority group compared to the Indian majority group who mostly did not support him or the PNM. Williams’ PNM policies were never true national policies but overtly racist policies aimed to benefit mostly the black ethnic group and to exclude the large Indian community.
Every sector of the population certainly did not benefit equally in proportion to their size by the PNM policies. The Indians who supported the PNM were always a despised minority of the Indian community, never more than 15% of the Indians, which meant the remaining 85% of Indians did not support the PNM. Those PNM Indians were despised by the non-PNM Indians because they took their benefits and never said a word about the racist anti-Indian policies of the PNM over the last half century and more.
Allow me to give a personal rant from the other side about the PNM, Eric Williams, and those disgusting traitorous sell-out PNM Indians.
I spent the late fifties and the sixties as a young man in the PDP/DLP Indian stronghold of Siparia, in a tiny village on the Mora Dam Road in Penal to be exact. When Eric Williams and his PNM came about in 1956, we saw clearly that he was heading the black group in competition with the Indians for political power. His agenda was Massa Day Done, with the subtitle “Negro to take over.” They called themselves negroes in those days.
We used to call it the People’s Negro Movement and sometimes the People’s N—r Movement because we saw nothing national about it. We saw the PNM as the enemy and Williams as the chief enemy. And Williams made it quite clear he saw us Indians as the enemy too.
When the PNM won the 1956 election and announced their expenditure policies, we were not surprised that Williams had thrown the lion’s share of expenditure at his black urban supporters (a minority group, remember) and all but ignored the Indians living mostly in the rural areas.
It was a pattern that would continue for decades. The PNM hired mostly black people in permanent jobs in the state sector, and some areas like the police, army, telephone service, WASA, and many more were overwhelmingly black in a country where blacks were less than 40% of the population. Government built housing was over 90% allocated to blacks, telephone services, electricity, sewerage systems, community development, cultural development, sporting facilities, library services, you name it, they went mostly to blacks and black areas and avoided Indian population areas.
There was plenty mouth talk about agriculture and rural development which would have benefitted Indians, but little or nothing in reality. This was hardly a secret. It was done openly. The complaints of the Indian political party were ignored and the PNM Indians were deaf, dumb and blind to it all.
So much for Mr Ford’s national policies that benefitted all sectors of the population.
(Courtesy News.Co.TT)
As for Eric Williams, we hated him in Penal. I hated him. My father hated him. Nobody in my little village had anything good to say about the short, deaf (sonofa)bitch. I never considered him my chief minister or my prime minister, but always saw him as the black people’s leader. I never saw the flag as my flag and never stood up for the anthem.
In all my years in Penal I never saw a picture of Eric Williams in an Indian home, which is a big comment on the man as a national leader. Nobody I knew would want to go to see Eric Williams if he was visiting the area or dream of shaking his hand. Indians would sit around in the rumshop drinking and sometimes saying they wished somebody would shoot Eric Williams.
There was the well-known joke about the Indian boy who saved Eric Williams after his official car was in a bad accident. Williams asked the boy what he wanted for saving the prime minister and the boy said he wanted a state funeral.
“Why a state funeral?”
“Because my father will kill me when he hear I save Eric Williams’ life!”
As for Eric Williams’ national policies, we saw nothing of it in my village. The roads were bad, more potholes than road, DLP roads as we called them. We had no electricity, even though Mora Dam supplied cooling water to TTEC’s electricity-generating station half a mile away. There was a water pumping station on Mora Dam Road but we had no pipe-borne water in our homes and had to go to a standpipe and bring water on pitch-oil tins on our heads or on boxcarts.
(Copyright Noel P Norton)
There was a working oil well on Mora Dam Road, with pipes taking away the oil to Shell in Penal but, except for my family, nobody saw anything of the oil royalties. My neighbours grew rice and other food crops but could not get a stall in the Penal Market to sell their food—those were reserved for vendors who were not farmers to make the profits. We had no garbage pick-up, no sports facilities, no jobs. The kids walked five miles barefoot on the hot pitch roads to school in Siparia or two miles to Penal.
There wasn’t a lot of hope in Mora Dam Road, Penal but my neighbours didn’t do a lot of complaining. What good would it do? The same kind of thing was happening to Indian villages and towns all over south and central Trinidad.
Anybody who got the chance to leave Mora Dam Road and Trinidad altogether was glad to take it and leave Eric Williams and his PNM nation behind. Four of the eight children from my house have migrated to North America, and at least one from every other home there as far as I know. We have voted with our feet on Eric Williams and his PNM and his PNM Indians who have made my old homeland a dump without a future for Indians.
So how many Indians have departed the Trinidad PNM paradise of Eric Williams? I believe it’s at least 250,000 Trini Indians and their descendants who have voted with their feet on the PNM great national policies and now live mostly in Canada and the United States, with 500,000 remaining in Trinidad. That’s one third gone and two thirds of the Indos stay.
(Courtesy Embau Moheni/NJAC)
Why have so many left the richest island in the southern Caribbean with the highest GDP? Great national policies must be the answer. I hear quite a few black people have also left Trinidad, as many as 150,000 in the black Trini diaspora, maybe also because of great PNM policies for all sectors.
Which brings me back to Eric Williams and his undeserved reputation as a great national leader. I say he was no national leader at all.
A national leader is the leader of the nation, the whole nation, whose job is to bring the national together to work for the national good in harmony. That was not Eric Williams, that was never Eric Williams. Ask why my circle quietly rejoiced when Eric Williams died and you have the answer.
He tried to govern for his black people and some window-dressing (like the PNM Indians) and some like Ford believe he succeeded in uplifting much of his base. But he did so at the expense of the rest of the nation and in particular the Indian part of the nation that didn’t support him politically. He divided the country instead of uniting it, and that is why to this day Trinidad has no national unity on any important area.
Let’s face it, you can’t bring a nation to unity and hard work and sacrifice for the national good when half the nation is standing around steupsing and looking only for their own interest.
Now for the role of the PNM Indians in Trinidad over the last half century or so. What can I say but that we hated and despised them as conscience-less stooges as much as we hated and despised Eric Williams and his black supporters. Those PNM Indians joined the PNM for what they could get for themselves as long as they kept quiet about what was being done to the Indians as a group.
Kamal Mohammed and Errol Mahabir and the Muslim and Presbyterian gang saw how Eric Williams introduced crooked voting machines and gerrymandered the boundaries to cheat (and) win the 1961 elections and said nothing.
They saw how Williams opened the doors and flooded the country with tens of thousands of illegal small islanders and gave them voting cards to cheat (and) win the election and said nothing. They saw how Williams was destroying agriculture, the lifeblood of the Indians, and they said nothing. They saw Williams erecting thousands of NHA houses and giving nearly all to the blacks and said nothing. When Williams died and the President made an openly racist choice of George Chambers as prime minister over Kamal and Errol, neither of those stooges said a word.
The crimes of the PNM Indians go on and on to absurdity. Try this one on for size: Once, I went to see Sham Mohammed with some friends interested in setting up an Indian radio station, which the PNM had denied repeatedly. Sham, who was then the minister in charge of telecommunications (the body to authorize new radio stations), said to us, “As long as my government is in power, we will never get an Indian radio station!”
You see, Sham, himself a Cabinet-minister-cum-PNM-Indian, had been trying to set up an Indian radio station and couldn’t get it! Go ahead and laugh. That is a PNM Indian for you. Deaf, dumb and blind to the horrible nation-destroying policies of his party!
I don’t know what country Mr Ashton Ford thinks they were putting first but it was certainly not the nation of Trinidad.
(Courtesy Allan V Crane/Wired868)
I must confess a great weariness when I think of that man Eric Williams, his PNM now back in power with Williams’ stupid policies intact, the PNM Indians still loyal to the balisier. I am glad to leave that all behind in the dustbin of my memories and even more glad that they are not my only countrymen and women anymore.
I have a new country now and a new Canadian passport, and my family is safe and far away from Mr Ashton Ford, the PNM blacks, the PNM Indians and the legacy of that nasty, nasty man, Eric Williams.
I feel great pity and sadness for the non-PNM Indians who remain in Trinidad, but I can’t do anything for them.
Eric Williams and his demented gang have fixed the wagon of those Indians and done a good demolition job on the wagon of his faithful PNM cohorts too, as some of them are finding out when they look at the position of Trinidad after so many decades of PNM rule.
Editor’s Note: Click HERE to read former PNM general secretary Ashton Ford’s blog about the racial inclusiveness of the PNM.
“[…] A true Gens de Arime, Raymond was loved and appreciated for his kind and generous spirit. “He Read more
For some weeks this column had been focused on the good, the bad and the ugly of Carnival and its Read more
“[…] Yes, Basdeo Panday was much kinder to certain individuals and organisations than PNM ever was or will be, but Read more
Ancestry © is possibly the most extensive software package that helps us to develop our family tree. Knowing your family Read more
My close friends are worried for the safety of commentators on violent crime. In my case, they firmly believe that Read more
“Silence in the face of evil is evil itself.” Dietrich Bonhoeffer, German Lutheran pastor, theologian and anti-Nazi dissident. The Holy Read more
Racist retards
I have read the racially diverse contributions and I’m proud to say that the general concensus is that we as a people have come a long way. For those who continue to see value in racial divide I sincerely hope that you catch up with the rest of us who are trying to build a nation for future generations. Now, lets focus on cleaning up our political leadership in the UNC and the PNM.
well said and on point. Ms Tyson are you a SJSS alumni
No sorry but my brother and sister attended.
was your brother a Muslim at one time. Are you from Jogie Rd San Juan, Is he still around, I hope you don’t mind all these questions? Thanks
Don’t mind at all but you know this may not be the forum as there is a section for inbox messages. I want to keep the topic relevant and on point.
ok
Envy and jealousy is a hell of a thing. If someone of East Indian descent was as successful as Williams worldwide all races would have been proud. In this small tiny minded envious little clique they still griping after the man dead over 37 years ago. Sorry people he is still revered the world over and if you and others of your small clique don’t support him noone gives a rats behind.
Blah blah blah he hated Indians he was a racists
https://wired868.com/2018/02/02/dear-editor-indians-hated-pnm-williams-blasted-recalcitrant-minority/
https://politics868.wordpress.com/2017/09/21/trinidad-and-tobago-was-dr-eric-williams-a-hero-or-a-zero/ (Dieu-Deus-Dios)
Because of the many racist views that the opposition party ran on. It has always been the politicians creating the dagger , therefore the followers will eventually fall on it. The Indian race were made to believe they were superior. The nigger word were used a lot during williams rein. 1977 PNM were not favored to win the general election. They did prevail because one of the many phrases that were used leading up to the general was ” all yuh nigger goh suffer when we get in power. That I cannot forget , as such the tide turned in PNM favor. Throughout the world the politicians are people to pay close attention too . We allow them to divide us from who we realy are and as such their main objective is to help you believe you are very different from other races. Nothing can be further from the truth.
Earl though I agree with much of what you say, I will be honest and say that the East Indians were not the only ones back in the 1977 time throwing around racist slurs.
That is true, that is a fact.
The race card has always used by some members of both parties, but what is sad is it is still being perpetuated along with lies. If you DO NOT read your History, you will believe their lives. What is more frightening are books being written by people who don’t know African history spreading untruths. There are certain writers in the dailies who write racist columns weekly and the MEDIA is aiding and abetting these lies. One ethnic group has the money and sponsor authors to put these lies in Books, Where are the sponsors of African writers (limited or non existent) mostly UWI History lecturers and you still need monetary support for this, while the other side churning out blatant lies, Hate is such a dangerous element in MAN. I once remember one of my lecturers saying to me “if you upset with the African/East Indian racist diatribe, why not add the ‘dougla perspective? To me that is adding another subjective element to the conversation. I can only give my own views not generalize about the ‘douglas’ ‘mixed ‘and ‘other” who are part of TT landscape. We pay taxes and enjoy all that our country provides (peace , stability and rights) We don’t need to tout our views we are entitled like every other groups to our views. The thing is this is my country where I grew up among both ethnic groupings. I and my 4 brothers and our children ALL attended St Joseph TML, We lived opposite a Hindu Temple ,(visited both) I am a Christian all this in harmony. Our parents (Indian mom, and negro father (both deceased) taught us to LOVE EVERYONE, never hate, I have ‘douglas nieces and nephews so the cycle of mix love continues. Why do we allow these empty and vacuous people to divide us. My Bible tells me that I am marvellouslly and wonderfully made and I am 100% sure of that , I love me. I am unique , there is no one else like me, but I look at others and see the beauty in his creation. In the midst of our country’s darkness. We NEED TO LOVE EACH OTHER, Throw out HATE
Very well written
I can see many angles to tackle a rebuttal to this article. But I will leave that up to Mr. Ford. I will only make a few comments to help clear the air, a bit.
Let me say this up front: The issues or main issue, racial politics, highlighted in the article, can be addressed n redressed, if we pursue once n for all, meaningful constitutional change; change that must reflect the Cultural Plurality of the electorate of T&T. N to this cause, Mr. Panday has been very vocal.
Having said that, I must confess, if confess is the right word, that I come from a family that supported the PNM from day one. My uncle was a founding member n he served as Minister of Works for donkey years. We r a Mayaro family, a country family. I remember when there was no pipe borne water in Mayaro – we took bathes at the stand pipe or with a bucket of water in the yard – n no electricity. The nights were dark, so we told stories of Soucouyant n Lagahoo n La Diablesse, until we were frightened enough to fall asleep.
The roads were bad, some r still bad. The Ortoire River flooded ever so often. I lost over 15 goats in one flood. So I can easily say the troubles the author talked about in Penal, we certainly experienced in Mayaro. In fact most country districts, whether dominated by Africans or Indians, can lay claim to those troubles.
In psychology there is a concept called the Drama Triangle. It highlights 3 drama states an individual can occupy when emotions run high: The Persecutor, the Victim n the Rescuer. To resolve any issue with some one who “lives” in that triangle, one has to not get sucked into it – in other words, state the facts n stay away from emotions n emotive words n phrases. I will try to remember this as I continue to comment.
It is my belief that the author wrote the article while in the Persecutor’s role. Proof of that is his use of the word hate, over n over again. The article is chockfull of emotion, with facts hard to find. What facts I stumbled on were twisted n stretched.
Let me explain: Very early in the article, referring to the early days of the PNM, the author stated that the African population was a minority one. He didn’t support this with any figures. But he was able to find figures to show how many Indians migrated from T&T to Canada n the USA. The 1946 census shows a total population of 564000; 47% African n 35% Indian. The 1960 census shows a total population of 834000: 43.3 % African n 36.5% Indian.
I can only assume he set this up this way so it could support his claim that only by the use of thiefing voting machines n illegal constituency boundaries that a minority PNM could win elections – a kind of self fulfilling prophecy approach, as I see it.
The author talked about hating Eric Williams n hating the PNM – Plenty Nigger Men. I remember those words clearly. My uncle was one of those Plenty Nigger Men. I remember that the Indian men that worked for my father n uncles were referred to by other Indian men as monkeys or slaves – always derogatory terms.
Besides the troubles the author encountered while growing up in Penal, which most other country areas shared, he offered no other reason why he hated Eric Williams, except the fact that an urban based party was spending n developing its urban base, although he didn’t phrase it that way.
He didn’t mention it, but the article is of the same vein as those that went before, in time, that pointed to Eric Williams use of the term “recalcitrant minority.”
N I feel strongly that is the basis of the author’s father’s hatred of Williams, n that hatred his father handed down to him so the hate can live on.
The fact is, the entire hating of the PNM by the Indians, or should I say the Hindu population, was (is) based on a mis-reading of the politics of the 1950’s n 1960’s. Ferdie Ferreira explained that after defeating Gomes n the POPPG in 1956, Williams thought they would put their tails between their legs n disappear from the political landscape. But in the Federal Elections of 1958, two yrs after, they resurfaced as victors. This was too much for Williams. He lashed out at those French Creoles, that “recalcitrant minority” for trying to keep the status quo ( neo colonialism ) alive.
For the Indian electorate to have “swallowed” such a misrepresentation of the facts – a confirmation bias to me – they would have had to believe that their parties, the PDP of 1956 n the DLP of 1958, were seen as threats to Williams’ PNM during those early days of party politics in TT. It simply wasn’t so.
I imagine one of the reasons people cling to their hates so stubbornly is because they sense, once hate is gone, they will be forced to deal with pain…Hatred, which could destroy so much, never failed to destroy the man who hated and this was an immutable law. These r the words of James Baldwin – 1943.
Mr. Author u might be surprised to know that u r not the first person to “discover” that Dr. Williams was not a national leader. Neither Panday nor Kamla were either, during their turns at the crease. The literature on Cultural Plural societies, like TT , all share that same view about such leaders. Here u r correct n Mr. Ford is wrong.
T&T is a Cultural Plural society, a society divided along Cultural Group lines. The two major Cultural groups, the Indians n Africans. The African cultural group, in general, supports the PNM n the Indian ( Hindu ) cultural group supports the UNC.
It is a historically divided society, due to its plantation economy origins. The evils that the author attributed to Dr. Eric Williams, were evils more of the system than the man. Those evils, most of them linked to the Clientelistic relationship between the supporters of the party n the party bosses. This Patron/Client relationship has it roots in the old plantation system. Clientelism is something of a political cancer, n it infects the party bosses n the party supporters, alike. Any party in power of a Cultural Plural country will be infected. Believe me, when the UNC was in power, they were so infected ( especially Kamla’s administration ) that they ran a high fever thru out all their terms in office. The UNC surprised me you see, because they knew about the cancer n its effects, having observed it for yrs on end of PNM rule. But when they got in, not one of them volunteered for political chemotherapy.
Sir, to learn about the destructive effects of this political cancer called Clientelism, consult the works of Dr. Furnivall n Jamaica’s Dr. M.G. Smith, our own Dr Le Guerre n Guyana’s Dr. Ralph Premdass, to name a few. While u r at it, u might want to research the Moyne Report of 1945. In it u would find where the Indian population stood in terms of the African population n the French Creole/White population. I think, if u read it with an open mind, u might come to the conclusion that the French Creole/White group was more racist than any PNM administration every was or ever would be.
One last thing: How come a man with so much hate is so proud of his Canadian Citizenship; Canada being such a peaceful n hate adverse country?
JC, I know among our readers we would find someone who could make just the right response. Not to necessarily fight fire with fire but to reach out and explain why the letter writer really ought to throw away that murky glass of water that he has been sipping on for decades.
I’m sure there will be other fine retorts, eh. But I think this hit the mark. Thanks JC.
JC, This stuff is too weighty to be left to go to waste among the Comments, which many readers do NOT trouble to read. If you inbox me or Lasana the requisite permission, we can treat this as a Letter to the Editor.
How about it?
Remember “Recalcitrant Minority “f#@k em
“Class determines how they express their racism, that’s all. Poor racists are more overt, elite racists are more insidious” (Facebook comment)
https://wired868.com/2017/08/26/racist-thoughts-precede-racist-actions-why-charlottesville-and-kaepernick-should-matter-to-tt/
To be happy you don’t have to be black or white, rich or poor , Indian or African, Just A Trini.. Like Me.
Lasana Liburd Bernard Yawching provided the historical excerpts you requested. However we have yet to see his post in response to the abovementioned?! I always viewed this forum as striving for balanced and fair journalism. The gentleman above has made some inflammatory statements, can we please see the other side highlighted here or not?
Lasana Liburd to be CLEAR Bernard Yawching has critically vital information that shows that PNM was and is NOT the issue with people who advance this particular argument/viewpoint. The party could have been CNN and the first PM could have been any other African descendant and the ‘fallout’ as articulated by the gentleman would have been the same. Forde’s perspective did not cover what Bernard is trying to highlight, which is a particular agenda that has been in the making and unfolding through the years according to the information and historical data that Bernard Yawching has researched! And which, the population of TnT is highly ignorant of and based on what Bernard is saying can go research for themselves. Mind you I could care less about the PNM, but surely if there is information available that apparently challenges what may be deliberate or biased inaccuracies, it must be ventilated.
Okay. Good
Ok we have covered the bases of Eric Williams and the DLP and colonialism, Explain to me then with all the degrees floating around and the youth population, why not seek change? If racism and tribalism originated in T&Tso long ago, why in 2018 it is being perpetuated, Tired of the deceased being blamed, if you all know better when will the change come?Some of the comments here are in themselves vile and racist and “us versus them” which exist tin the “Winner Take All Parliamentary system” this is a contributor to the racism. When will it end. I agree with MR Giovianni, PNM and UNC is a toxic scourge, To me sycophants from both side need to move on and seek to unite the country, Going in circles with the blame game is not helping, Additionally how are we as parent socializing our kids regarding the treatment of the diverse groups in our society,because hatred begins at HOME. Many students (young people) get culture shock at UWI when they realized what the were taught by their parents were lies and that we are all one.I reiterate I am not telling anyone to forget their history, since it is integral to moving forward, We need to recognize the errors of the past and create new pathways, not harp on the old, then it becomes a ‘crutch’ which we lean on and become static and not move forward.End the hatred and animosity, Tiindad is the best country ever, and we need to recognize that before we can fully appreciate the beauty of all of us, inclusive we are neither PNM or UNC. WE LIVE here too.
Onika, we advise our letter writers to stay between 400 to 800 words. Our columnists get additional leeway and can go to as much as twice that length.
Bernard Yawching sent us an email that is roughly 3,000 words long. We cannot accommodate that length and I have so advised him.
If he can shorten, we will take a look. Regards.
Lasana Liburd is sycophancy a qualification?
Onika, I responded to you both outside but to clarify again: Bernard did not leave his comment on story nor did he email us.
And I think Ashton Ford is eminently qualified to represent the PNM’s position in this matter and by using Ford’s statement we adequately represented both sides.
Still, we have informed Bernard as to what he must do to have his views considered or published.
Brian Harry good question. Do some introspection.
Hahaha… Stop it allyuh!
Onika Nkrumah-Lakhan why do I need introspection? You can never interpret any post of mine as sycophancy .
Brian Harry then what did you mean by asking that question? Since you replied to my comment I interpreted that as throwing shade at me?
Onika Nkrumah-Lakhan look I paid little attention to what you were saying. I copped out of this conversation a long time ago when someone referred to Ashton Forde. My reference was to his romanticism of the PNM. I’ve really not read your comments
Brian Harry good as long as it wasn’t me, we good.?? Funny how in all that back n forth, you only caught some guy that “romanticize” the PNM but like you missed the guy who used a racist acronym and all the other derogatory divisive drivel contained therein but yeah to each his own. Goodnight?
Onika Nkrumah-Lakhan i commented on the guys racist letter. You missed that eh!
Brian Harry ok nice?????
Onika came loaded fuh bear, lol
Divide and rule
I remember the 1961 election campaign and in fyzabad on the main road ..we. saw all the different trucks .I was abt seven yrs old ….when the PNM truck passes we shout …plenty nigger men and when the dlp trucks pass we would shout dirty little piggies ..my parents were Butlerrites ..DLP won in fyzabad
Ashaki Scot’s uncle aldwyn Scot went up for Apex seat on a dlp ticket and won ..think that was in 1963 …we were so polarised ..that although he was a home boy …he didn’t get the black vote
I
If the letter to the editor intended to start a conversation, the BIGOTRY and HATE moved it in another direction.
What is more shemeful is that this is still going on….we should be ashamed of ourselves to dig into this when we should be going forward….we must remember even then they were singing Indian and Negro unite, we have the battle for human right, out of tears and tribulation it took to build our nation, Trinidad and Tobago is all black and white
He created the racial mess we are experiencing today
After singing the independence decree he was irrelevant to anything Trinidad and should have died.
Why everything is abt race? Are trinis so backward that thatvis all they see?
T&T is better off without the likes of this racist
“Honest” but explicitly sick racist commentary!
I can only hope and wish that all Indos who feel like the Writer can and will leave T&T permanently. However they will soon realize that in White man’s world, the only difference between the Indos and the Afros is the texture of their hair.
There were Africans ,Chinese , whites , Indians and mixed people who started the PNM.
It must be noted that when PNM was started it was a very inclusive party
I remember in those times it was 85% of the indians who felt they were better than the so called blacks and could not understand that Eric Williams a black man was smarter than them.
I am very sorry for Mr Ramdath Jagessar who is a racist.
So much hate…I wish you and your family all the best in Canada.
Lasana Liburd….The article penned by Ramdath Jagessar is the reflection of a backward view of the true history of this country as far as the politics of the PNM,DLP and PDP are concerned. Jagessar’s comments and “toting-feelings” narrow-minded sentiments are a perfect example of the propaganda spread over decades by religious leaders attached to the political parties claiming to seek the interest of decedents of east Indians in this country…persons rabidly using lies and innuendos to further their racist Caste System ideology by means of the ignorant masses among them. History refutes and challenges 99% of the views that Jagessar claims to be factual…views passed on from generation to generation within religious places known as political meeting places. The Monday Night Forum is just an extension of the disrespect that some have for others while they report to only one sector of society…the division spawned in 1913 has been engineered within our state enterprises and government institutions to the extent that sabotage has become commonplace in their campaign to return to power to end what they began…Kackassar should tell the public of the Agenda of one F.E.M.Hosein and H.P.Singh….Her should also read my article on my wall titled..”The Hidden Truth of Race Relations in Trinidad & Tobago – As a legacy of Slavery”….
Bernard you should quote the excerpts you might have from any historical literature that deals with the stuff raised and help provide closure.
Jagessar can fool the ignorant and misinformed among his community…not intelligent persons who know the truth and have done their research. The UNC are the first to use “Fake News”… in Social Media and way way before that…through their predecessors the PDP and DLP….I say with no reservations that those who use lies to promote the dirty agenda of the Caste System in this country are Full-of-Shit!And by the way…I presented a paper in Martinique and Guadeloupe in October 2016 when invited by UNESCO to speak on the same issue….The media promotes what they want to based on their agenda influenced by persons placed there over decades….
Bernard Yawching where, I can’t find it on here?
Neither can I!
Clickbait for wired. Shameful.
That article just serve to divide people on racial lineage why print something of no moral value
A Journalism 101 course would provide your answer after a couple of weeks…if it takes that long. Try online. You might get something free and it wouldn’t take long.
Let me say, however–also for free–that you have a chance to add “moral value.” Do you, HH, have what it takes?
As I remember it the two parties gathered their support from two distinct bases. The urban areas supported the Pnm. The rural areas supported the DLP.
The test was evident when Dr. Williams died and the President had to choose a successor …
Tribalism was alive and well from as far back as then..
So even before the People’s National Movement won the 1956 election the party and it’s leader were seemingly hated based on what the author has written here. Why would the party’s name be referred to by those alternative names BEFORE assumption of power. Clearly, Africans were not considered to be equal in the eyes of certain people. This leaves me to believe that there is something deeper in the self alienating actions of East Indian people. That’s what the conversation should be about….why? If a national party is formed,how come you didn’t make any attempt to explore the options of joining so at least you can get a comprehensive knowledge of it’s policies etc. and be a part of the power brokering. I reiterate, there’s something deeper there but reverse psychology has been used over the decades.