I had no idea that Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley might have been seriously ill when I slammed into him last week for failing to take full charge of his responsibilities to the country. Upon reading that Dr Rowley might have an ailment which requires him to have a series of medical …
Read More »Workers welcomed Caroni’s closure; Shah debunks Sat’s “racist lie”
The only thing necessary for myths and mischief to be recorded as historical facts is for informed persons to say nothing. I liberally paraphrase Irish philosopher Edmund Burke’s injunction to responsible persons to speak out or act when tyranny threatens, to respond to one lie Sat Maharaj peddled when he …
Read More »Mixing God with Mammon: The problem with Gov’t funding for religious festivals
The bickering among Islamic organisations over the allocation and distribution of Government funding for the recent Eid celebrations underscores a point I’ve made ever since this nonsense started a few years ago: Government ought never to dispense public funds for religious festivals. A few weeks before Eid, in the midst …
Read More »An accidental leader: Raffique Shah considers the legacy of late ex-PM Patrick Manning
The end, when it came, brought relief from some five years of suffering, and pre-empted additional torture from treatment for cancer, which many have described as being worse than the disease itself. Patrick Manning’s sister, Petronella, who is a medical doctor, said as much in her grief-stricken state. And his …
Read More »Referendum rooted in fear; why Brexit won’t solve British working class problems
The referendum was never about Britain getting a raw deal in the European Union and wanting out so that it can prosper on its own. It wasn’t even about voting to stop the hordes of barbarian refugees at the gates of the castle, given its natural moats, the Channel, the …
Read More »Butler and Rienzi: Raffique Shah looks at their role in T&T’s Labour movement
Within recent years, annual Labour Day celebrations trigger accusations that the trade unions that mark the occasion with marches and speeches at Fyzabad pay homage only to Tubal Uriah Butler, never Adrian Cola Rienzi. Such sentiments imply that Rienzi, whose original name was Krishna Deonarine, is ignored by labour because …
Read More »Thanks Pa: Raffique Shah’s moving tribute to his late father, Haniff
Fathers like mine—ordinary men who are barely literate in most instances and worked hard to provide for their families—are remembered only by their immediate families and maybe some friends and people in the communities in which they lived and died. In a society where success is measured by materialism or …
Read More »Gap between intelligence and action: why SSA probably won’t help war on crime
Really, it does not bother me that the Strategic Service Agency (SSA), or any other State intelligence agency, from the AIA to the ZIA, might want to peep through my back door, monitor what I am writing now, check my email before I do, or listen in on my telephone …
Read More »Maybe America deserves Trump: Raffique Shah muses over US presidential campaign
So what if Donald Trump wins the race for presidency of the United States next November? He won’t be the first fool to occupy the highest office in the most powerful country on earth. Nor will he be the stupidest president ever. Bear in mind that if he does make …
Read More »Call for reformation: Why Archbishop Joe’s petition spells trouble for hardened criminals
Archbishop Joseph Harris’ initiative to petition Government to free from prison petty offenders who have remained on remand for an inordinately long time is laudable and deserving of support. However, if it’s accepted and implemented in its current form, it would deal an unjust blow to many more accused persons, …
Read More »All ah we dead: Raffique Shah says citizens caught in crossfire between police and thief
I had planned not to address crime in my columns; to waste space on an issue that, while it grows grimmer by the day, is seemingly intractable. When last I tackled it, I admitted to having become inured to the barbarism into which the nation has descended. Decapitation, mutilation, suffocation …
Read More »T&T’s 1970 revolution: the rise of people’s politics and the State’s draconic response
The following Letter to the Editor was submitted by ex-PP Minister and NJAC member Embau Moheni on the rise of the 1970 Revolution, People’s Politics and the State’s fightback, which included the controversial Public Order Act and the ban of the ‘Black Power Salute’: In its booklet entitled ‘Slavery to …
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