Monthly Archives: July 2016

General T&T, PNM, Politics, Racism Watch, Religion

Workers welcomed Caroni’s closure

26 Comments

By Raffique Shah
Submitted: July 19, 2016
Published: July 25, 2016

Raffique ShahThe 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 Edmundd Burke’s injunction to responsible persons to speak out or act when tyranny threatens, to respond to one lie Sat Maharaj peddled when he spewed cobra-like venom against deceased ex-prime minister Patrick Manning, branding him a racist.
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General T&T, PNM, Politics, Racism Watch, UNC

Let the Jackasses Bray

12 Comments

By Dr. Selwyn R. Cudjoe
July 24, 2016

Dr. Selwyn R. CudjoeMy good friend called. She was irate: “Why don’t you speak to [not with] yo’ good friend Sat?” “Why yo’ say so,” I asked. “He called Manning a racist.” I don’t know if I was supposed to return the insult, but I am aware that if everyone is a racist then no one is really a racist. Counter accusations are generally useless.

Sat claimed Manning was a racist because, among other things, he closed down Caroni 1975 Limited and paid the workers $2m. That Manning may have calculated that the sugar industry was no longer economically viable did not enter into Sat’s thinking? But even if Manning paid the workers $4m it would not have endeared him to Sat.
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General T&T, Passed on, Politics, Religion

Sacrilegious!!!

30 Comments

By Dr. Selwyn R. Cudjoe
July 17, 2016
Dr. Selwyn R. CudjoeNo one can explain with absolute certitude why the nation poured out so much grief at the death of Patrick Manning. While it had much to do with the part he played in our nation’s development, it also has to do with a nation mourning itself, saddened by how coarse its sensibilities have become; a feeling of helplessness at its own futility and its uncertainty about where it’s going and how it intends to get there. It matters little (it may even be inconsequential) that the PNM is now in power.
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General T&T, Media, PNM, Politics, Racism Watch, UNC

Sat torches ex-PM’s legacy

44 Comments

By Shaliza Hassanali
July 14, 2016 – guardian.co.tt

Secretary General of the Sanatan Dharma Maha Sabha, Satnarayan MaharajGeneral secretary of the Sanatan Dharma Maha Sabha (SDMS), Sat Maharaj, yesterday launched an extraordinary verbal attack on former prime minister Patrick Manning, describing him as a “racist.”

In a harsh assessment totally out of step with laudatory ones heaped on Manning in the week between his death and his burial, Maharaj said he and several members of the public came to that conclusion on a talk show programme on Radio Jaagriti on Tuesday, based on a series of discriminatory practices Manning perpetuated against Indians in T&T while he served as PM.
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General T&T, Passed on, PNM, Politics

Preserving Historic Memory

3 Comments

By Dr. Selwyn R. Cudjoe
July 10, 2016

Dr. Selwyn R. CudjoeBy the time you read this article you will have heard everything about the life of the late Patrick Manning: the good, the bad and the ugly. Many of his admirers (and non-admirers alike) will have told us about his numerous accomplishments. Mrs. Hazel Manning has asked us to “know” Mr. Manning’s legacy while Prime Minister Keith Rowley has assured us that “he will continue in our history” (Newsday, July 3).
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General T&T, Passed on, PNM, Politics, UDeCOTT

An accidental leader

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By Raffique Shah
July 07, 2016

Raffique ShahThe 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 wife Hazel, who stood solidly at his side during the worst of times, both physically and politically, absorbed the shock of his death with aplomb.
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England, European Union, France, General T&T, International

Take Yo’ Language an’ Go

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By Dr. Selwyn R. Cudjoe
July 07, 2016

Dr. Selwyn R. CudjoeFor all intents and purposes, GB (Great Britain) has not only lost its political and economic standing within the EU (European Union), it has also lost its linguistic clout. English, French and German are the three working languages of the EU. Documents are published in these three languages, but its business is conducted primarily in English. Now, the EU has demanded that Great Britain take its language and leave. It’s almost like asking Great Britain to take the great out of its name.
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England, France, General T&T, International, Syria, USA

Referendum rooted in fear

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By Raffique Shah
June 28, 2016

Raffique ShahThe 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 North Sea, which, at other critical moments in history, stopped would-be invaders like Hitler dead in their tracks.
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