“[…] The 1990 coup demonstrated that unchecked religious freedom and extreme religious ideologies can pose a direct threat to democracy and civil liberties. This horrendous event is a sobering example of how extreme religious beliefs, if unchecked, can manifest as domestic terrorism. “Freedom of religion does not include the liberty …
Read More »Kamla: “The rule of law remains our strongest shield”—lessons from July 27
“[…] Let us be clear: the perpetrators of July 1990 were not patriots. The true patriots defended the Constitution and safeguarded our Republic, some at the cost of their lives, others bearing wounds and trauma to this day. “[…] Today, three months after returning to office, I reaffirm my Government’s …
Read More »Coup Time: Town on Fire
“[…] So, we inside the parliament again. The Prime Minister was in front ah the room way the podium was on a chair. He looking a little frail and he saying, ‘My nation stay calm. This would soon be over.’ “At he side was two men in black and behind …
Read More »Jones P Madeira: A pioneering journalist who transformed Caribbean media
“[…] His death is a profound loss not only to his family but also to the profession he elevated and the region he served so passionately. “[…] Jones P Madeira’s career was a masterclass in the power of journalism as the fourth estate and a vital pillar of democracy…” The …
Read More »Dear Editor: ANR Robinson inherited poisoned chalice; Abu Bakr made things much worse!
“[…] I would like Fuad [Abu Bakr] to tell the nation what other option the NAR Government had than to go to the IMF. “Far from being a heartless dictator, the then Prime Minister Mr ANR Robinson sought to retain all those persons employed in the Public Service by reducing …
Read More »Fuad Abu-Bakr: The Imam put the ‘healthy fear’ of the people into T&T governments
“[…] As a result of Yasin Abu Bakr and 113 other brave men, governments had a little fear for the people after. Thus they at least threw crumbs for them. Also no government dared to go back to the IMF and bring austerity again—as this government is currently afraid to …
Read More »How will T&T remember the colourful 1990 coup character, Yasin Abu Bakr?
I so wanted to write about the theatrics and the vaudeville-type show just recently put on in Parliament by some seasoned actors and let’s say some neophyte starlets who saw an opportunity to have their names lit up in neon lights. The show debuted on 21 October 2021 and from …
Read More »Yasin Abu Bakr: The drugs made me do it; Jamaat boss on 1990 coup
Flashback: The following interview was first published on 27 July 2015… Jamaat-al-Muslimeen leader Yasin Abu Bakr says that the country still does not know the real story of July 1990 but he is not yet ready to share it. What he does share is that it is the Jamaat’s attempts …
Read More »Dear Editor: Should Trinidad and Tobago not give Abu Bakr his due: a national award of dishonour?
“[…] There is no greater example of our misapplication of the national watchword, tolerance, than the way we treat Yasin Abu Bakr… He hosts press conferences, and participates in national discussions as if he is qualified or worthy. He is not. His very presence at the table is an insult …
Read More »Wanted: T&T’s ‘sliding door’ moment; put handcuffs on our high-rolling criminals
Malaysia are many thousands of miles away but share many similarities with Trinidad and Tobago. They beat us to independent status by five years, adopted the Westminster system of governance and enjoyed key financial growth through industrialisation. They are divided along ethnic lines and as such practice race-based politics. They …
Read More »Colleen Holder: My dad, ‘Mac’, and other media workers never fully recovered after 27 July 1990
“[…] Even though ‘Mac’ and his colleagues were sent for counselling by the company, he never fully recovered. I am sure the same can be said for many of the others…” The following letter to the editor on the personal toll of the attempted coup by the Jamaat Al-Muslimeen on …
Read More »Griffith: 1970 mutineers were a ‘disgrace’ and T&T must stop celebrating them
“In some countries when similar acts take place, such persons are put before a firing squad, hung or tried and sentenced to death. “Yet amazingly, some were given the opportunity to become members of parliament and then later permitted to communicate to the country through daily newspapers—which gave them the …
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