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By Raffique Shah
June 10, 2024
Senior Lok Sabha official Vijay Maharaj must have been a very disappointed man, his face smeared with mud. According to Maharaj, the Earth should have changed its political axis last Tuesday (June 4) with disastrous consequences. But Mother Earth does not bend to the will or wishes of humans, especially when they bring out the “power” cards with the names of Maharaj, Modi and Lok Sabha engraved on them, as seems to be the case.
What am I complaining about today? Maharaj was speaking at the Indian Arrival Day event in Penar, and after a cleverly scripted speech, he briefly described the journey of Indian indentured immigrants from their arrival in Trinidad to today. He suddenly asked the audience quietly about the significance of Juneteenth. I asked if anyone in my family knew the significance of the day. My daughter said the Indian elections. As Maharaj continued with his script, which was filled with ominous warnings about the brewing power of India and Hindus, I connected what she had told me with the conspiratorial tone the platform had taken – and I must admit, I almost vomited.
Maharaj’s point is that when Modi gets the majority required in India’s parliament next Tuesday to legislate on constitutional change, the Hindu superpower will launch an assault on this vast, religiously and culturally diverse country, transforming it from a sectarian state into a Hindu republic.
Moreover, Maharaj hinted that he did not see a problem with Hindu domination – not just in the East but in the West as well, going so far as to say that the world would no longer be ruled by Washington as it is now, but by India.
I was listening intently and nearly vomited. Even before he became Prime Minister, during his tenure as Chief Minister of Gujarat, many Muslims and Christians were massacred by Hindu fanatics who were never charged, jailed or executed for their crimes. Are these people trying to export their fanaticism to our relatively peaceful country? The son of Sat seemed to be making a thinly veiled threat to Hindu power and domination of the world, including tiny Trinidad and Tobago.
I also know that Maharaj will want to remind readers that I was once a card-carrying insurgent who, in 1970, rode a black power horse and nearly ambushed the government led by Eric Williams. This is the norm in the political process and the writing of history. I would have failed in my duty as an independent commentator if I neglected to point out the inflammatory nature of Maharaj’s speech. In the past, I have advised local leaders who have a handle on the mood of the people of this country, when they have reached the point where they are “all said and done”, “ready to act” – I have been there to do that. I remember well that in 1975, I was at a mass rally at the Oropouche #2 Scale intersection, and a foolish PNM activist tried to drive through the crowd, hurling abuse at them. As expected, the angry mob forced him to stop, pulled him out of the driver’s seat, and beat him up. I know I saw his daughter in the car. I took the microphone and publicly called on my members to take his daughter to safety and stop beating him up. That is what a responsible leader should do.
But I don’t see that in today’s leaders.
Perhaps I can see this because I was a rebel. Remember, I led a rebellion, hundreds of weapons and thousands of rounds of bullets were used, and only one soldier was killed. The “high command” could have been massacred. They were not. The rage of the rebel soldiers was so great that rivers of blood flowed that day; but we were trained soldiers and humanitarian rebels, and we did not want our country to be drowned in blood. This saved Trinidad and Tobago from such an experience at that time.
I use this anecdote to demonstrate my sincerity – when I was between 25 and 30, I saw leaders twice my age abuse the power that often enabled them to overwhelm their opponents.
I also wanted to tell Maharaj that Modi’s failure in India was huge because he promoted religious fanaticism while rational, calm voters believed that such hatred should not exist in India.
It doesn’t belong here, or anywhere else.
Hatred is a primitive instinct, and once released, it is difficult to eliminate.
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