Tag Archives: religion

“I was surprised, though not very, when Hindu leaders sought to criticise the outfit worn by the President during the Carnival revelry. It is my opinion that such instances actually normalise and homogenise the Indian wear in our culture. “While most of the criticism was focused on the Rudraksha mala …

“The Hindu Women’s Organisation of Trinidad and Tobago reiterates its call for the age of 18 to be established as the legal age of consent to marry with provisions for 16-18 year olds under strict checks and balances as outlined further below. “In so doing, we seek to correct the …

Islamic Council of Scholars official Dr Waffie Mohammed, who was sworn in as a temporary UNC senator, yesterday argued that Trinidad and Tobago should continue to permit the legal rape of minors—otherwise known as child marriages—because it was the ‘command of God’. “Muslims believe that the marriageable age of a …

Are Attorney General Faris Al-Rawi and the Trinidad and Tobago Government making insufficient use of available legislation in tackle the home grown terrorism threat? Attorney Farid Scoon raises some points of concern in his Letter to the Editor: A Turkish newspaper reports that nine citizens of Trinidad and Tobago are …

If Republican US presidential candidate Donald Trump is Sat Maharaj dipped in curry—and that is definitely a dish designed to induce bowel movement—then former president George W Bush is surely Dr Fuad Khan without a stethoscope. Simplicity is certainly not next to genius with those two. Let’s just say someone’s …

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 …

“Crass”, “offensive”, “gratuitously insulting”… And that was just what satirical columnist Kevin Baldeosingh’s patron—the Trinidad Guardian newspaper—thought about his recent work. God forbid you asked the opinion of IBN television host and activist Inshan Ishmael, who led a protest outside the Trinidad Guardian headquarters yesterday on the Uriah Butler Highway …

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 …

It. Just. Got. Flipping. Real! The Hindu community were supposed to be celebrating Arrival Day—no doubt at public expense too—but Maha Sabha general secretary Sat Maharaj used the occasion to tell Roman Catholic archbishop Joe Harris to get lost instead. “Archbishop, mind your own damn business,” said Maharaj. “(…) If …

When I saw the headline “Age has nothing to do with maturity” in last Tuesday’s Trinidad Express newspaper, I wrongly assumed I would be led into an explanation why a majority of Independent Senators would so easily allow themselves to be drawn into an apparent formation of a caucus. I …

The following release was issued by the Office of the Prime Minister in response to the issue of child marriages for Trinidad and Tobago’s religious sects: The Minister of State in the Office of the Prime Minister (Gender and Child Affairs) has noted with concern the statements that are being …

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 …