By Laurel V Williams
Tuesday, May 31 2016 – newsday.co.tt
“Go to hell!”.
That was the “message” Secretary General of the Sanatan Dharma Maha Sabha (SDMS) Satnarayan ‘Sat’ Maharaj sent publicly for Roman Catholic Archbishop Joseph Harris in light of the controversial debate on child marriage and the law.
“Mr Archbishop and all you other people, look at the mote in your own eye before you point out the mote in the eye of the Hindu.
If I have to leave one message, the message is ‘Allyuh go to hell’. This is a business of the Hindu community and the State. If we require a change in the law, we will invite the government to speak to us and change the law,” Maharaj said.
He was delivering the feature address yesterday at the Indian Arrival Day celebrations held at Parvati Girls’ Hindu College, Debe.
He supports child marriage while Roman Catholic Archbishop Harris views it as “legalised statutory rape”.
Referring to the controversial debate as a “spectacle in Trinidad in recent years”, Maharaj accused the RC officials of “corrupting more young children more than anyone else”. Describing himself as a aging warrior, Maharaj charged that RC has the most corrupt church in the whole world and called for Harris to mind his own “ damn” business.
“The Pope in Rome had to pay tens of millions of dollars for corrupting the children of the world.
And here we have a Catholic Archbishop telling us how to get our girls married. ‘Mind yuh own damn business. Archbishop, mind yuh own damn business,” Maharaj repeated. For the third time he called on the Archbishop to mind his own ‘damn’ business saying that children are having babies for old men in TT.
“No body locking up the ole men.
Mt Hope reported last year that 74 teens between the ages of 12 and 14 made child and they eh know who the father is. But you have an archbishop who want to tell us how to get married, how to make children.
I say Archbishop, Mind yuh own damn business.” Not one “Hindu girl” under the age of 18 has gotten married within the last two years, Maharaj charged.
Maharaj also threw jabs at ambassadors who are in the country, accusing them too of telling Hindus at what age devotees should get married.
Maharaj charged: “They want to tell us when to get married, how to get married, how to dance, how to make love. They might even give you a license when to make love to your wife, how many days a week, or how many days a month. As soon as you give them an opening, they would want to enter your bedroom.” Although he did not referr to any of the ambassadors my name, he noted that in each State in the US there is a different age for marriages.
A person as young as 13 years old can be married in the US. US Ambassador to this country John Estrada had weighed in on the debate of child marriage and was reported as saying: “Let the child be a child,” Maharaj said: “Mr Ambassador, cure your own evil before you come to tell us how to cure our evil.
We don’t instruct anybody at what age your daughter should make ah child. We don’t tell them that. We leave that up to the parents, parental control.” The Hindu leader added that three-quarter of the problems in the nation’s schools is not delinquent children but rather delinquent parents. Parents, he said, have lost control or not interested in their children.
He emphasised that the issue of child marriage is the business of the “Hindu community and the State”. Maharaj explained: “ It is only there as a safety net. When you are young , you take chances and if a girl at the age of 14 took a chance and get pregnant, the two sets of parents would come together and they will give support. They will send them back to school and they will take charge of the child.
This is the culture of our community.
So don’t discuss our business out there.” He suggested that both the State and media should discuss the business of the Hindus with the Hindus.
Maharaj reminsced that from 1845 to 1945, Hindus got married with parental consent and the the entire village attended the ceremony.
But that marriage was not recognised by the State and it was only in 1945 that the Hindu Marriage law was passed. To Hindus, a marriage is not a secular event, it is a religious event, he noted.
Maharaj further criticised Canadian missionaries accusing the foreigners of viewing Hindus as animals as well as for trying to convert them to Christianity.
In a fiery mode, Maharaj said “English education had its price.
The price was conversion. They did not leave Canada and came here to educate us out of the goodness of their hearts. They regarded us as animals to be converted into Christianity.” Speaking about the arrival of East Indians to this country , 171 years ago, he said they came with their jahaji bundles which contained, pieces of scriptures, plants and seeds. Today the products of these jahaji bundles overwhelmed TT and Maharaj estimates that about 40 percent of all the trees and plants in Trinidad were from the bundles.
I support raising the age for marriage across the board to that of the age of consent for sex. However, I disagree with the tone of the discussions taking place, especially that of Roman Catholic Archbishop Joseph Harris in calling it legalised rape. Much of these discussions are taking place without the requisite history of how we ended up with laws that appeased different interest groups. Marrying young is nothing unusual and has been the practice across most ethnic groups. So if the tone of the discussions involve religious bigotry, notwithstanding the bigotries inherent in popular Hinduism, then we are not fixing a problem but instead continuing existing social prejudices.
We need proper national dialogue that exposes the ills of Hinduism and all other religions so that we can start addressing some of the prejudices inherent in our society as a means of arriving at a position of harmony one day.
We already know ho this mess occurred in T&T as well, Justwrong! African leaders- be they Papa Deffy Eric, George Chambers, and Patrick Manning , turned a blind eye , to the barbaric atrocities, by competing, “recalcitrant” clans , in order to hold on to Hindu, and Islamist votes , so as to win the last 95 , out of 100 national elections.
That is about to end,and why? Our new progressives , looking out for the interest of oppressed women, and abused children, refuse to kowtow anymore.
If these immoral , unpatriotic creatures , don’t like that , then let dem pretend their T&T ,is another Afghanistan, Iraq , Libya, or Syria , and so join the long refugee line toWhite European fiefdoms such as Australia, Europe , Canada, and USA , otra vez.
http://www.newsday.co.tt/news/0,228699.html
Idiots ,like this anachronistic old goat Sat Maraj , would be taken more seriously , when he , and similar self serving elites , such as his ex PMs Kamla ,and Basdeo, allow their grand pickinees to marry at 9, 10 , 11, 14 , and 16.
Oh , and by de way / for the record it’s “organize rape ,” as claimed by the Archbishop.
If Hindu ,and Islamist leaders ,wish to start a religious war against Christian Catholics , let then go after the pedophile Priest, that have saturated the churches , and corrupting our kids. That would be a win/ win for our country. One thing we can be assured of is , that T&T will be mixed up in this mess, from Slavery to present day.
http://topdocumentaryfilms.com/vatican-inc/
It’s unfortunate , that historically dehumanizing, horrific acts , only become news worthy , when White Europeans have become incensed . The question we should ask, is what role did the Catholic church played in the Caribbean ,Africa, and Latin America,during Imperial reign, and why have they never paid a price.
http://www.nytimes.com/topic/organization/roman-catholic-church-sex-abuse-cases
Time to take a stance T&T , in defense of the Human Rights of the poor.
Stay tune .
I luv this land, Y tu?
I agree with Mr. Sat on this matter. I also respect the views of the Christians at the age of 16 and the Muslims at the age of 12.
If these are found in their religious teachings then being a citizen of Trinidad means to have one constitutional rights.
“Every creed and race will find an equal place” – this is what the Gov’t is bound to.
To impose one person’s law above another is to commit transgression and oppression.
There is also the need to redefine the ‘child’. Since when an 18 yrs. old is a child. This is unacceptable. Who has given the UN the authority to define a child at this age and then make it mandatory for all others to accept it. Further to this, a the law cannot be made across the board for all.
The thing which defines us is our culture and diversity.
Leave the age of marriage the same with conditions and guidelines with consultations with the relevant communities.
I disagree. Religion may continue with its habits but the government is the authority to determine ‘age of consent’ or give a license to marry. Sat might cuss and do what the hell he likes in the Hindu religion but Cannot tell the government what should be the admissible age to issue a license.
Hmmm… in other words Sat in charge … and everybody else can go to hell…
The SDMS community should reflect, as they follow this leader, that the name, “Satan”, is embedded in his…
Prideful to a fault…
Shalom.
Archbishop: You don’t go to hell for speaking the truth
ROMAN Catholic Archbishop Joseph Harris says he will not be involved in a religious war between himself and general secretary of the Sanatan Dharma Maha Sabha(SDMS) Satnarayan Maharaj.
Just to amplify my earlier comment about pridefulness…
Sat cannot just be grateful for the work of the Canadian missionaries on the behalf of the indo in T&T. There is a resentment, because the missionaries “regarded them as animals”.
There can be no objective proof of that assertion, unless the Canadian missionaries confessed same in their diaries. That I doubt. So the assertion must have a subjective basis.
All that we may be sure of is that the missionaries tried to convert them, and succeeded with many. The pandits would obviously have resented losing some of their flock. In a prideful brahminist mind, that could well be the entire basis of the claim that the missionaries regarded them as animals.
Obviously, it must be granted that at some point in the conversion attempt, the missionary attempting the conversion must assert that there is something wrong with Hinduism, for example that Hinduism is heathenism, or idolatry, or man-made, all of which are condemned by the Most High in Holy Scripture. That will certainly rub a prideful pagan soul the wrong way.
But does it mean that the missionary regards, let alone treats, the *person* he is seeking to convert as an “animal”? The opposite seems to me far more likely. For what missionary has ever sought to convert an animal?
The same pridefulness of the brahminists and pandits is present when the indo must negotiate knee-gah teachers, knee-gah authority figures, and knee-gah rule in general. They cannot merely accept and be grateful for what this country, under knee-gah rule, has provided them, –namely escape from their dharma of being hereditary caste coolies,– they must cultivate a resentment at being ruled by knee-gahs.
Fine.
Then go back to India and be forever rid of missionaries, and of “negroes”, like Naipaul.
The only fly in the ointment, which is why that option would never be exercised, is that they would have to re-assume their dharma of being hereditary caste coolies. As varnashramadharma dictates. Never happen. It is telling that Naipaul chose mother England rather than mother India to effect the escape sought.
The hypocrisy is staggering. The ingratitude is like unto witchcraft.
Sat’an Mahar is of course the worst example. For here he is, head honcho of varnashramadharma in the land, and he is the poster-child for escape from one’s dharma. He can be no kind of “Maharaj”, which is no one’s personal or family name in India, because it is a title that means “great king”, not a name. If he were to return to India the first thing he would have to do is change his name, or be a perpetual object of mirth. Far better to remain in T&T and act like a Maharajah for real, and command a band of willing followers, –based on well watered and highly cultivated grievances against the knee-gah,– in a literal insurgency against the creole host. Why not, it actually has worked in Mauritius.
But it is a satanic agenda, grounded at the very least in hypocrisy, with a huge dollop of pridefulness thrown in. Both are an affront to a just God.
I’m here to say that it will not work here. For as long as we the Israelites wake up and return unto our God, –even just one of us,– then like Elijah, we His chosen, would have the power of the word to bring down kings and maharajahs, especially fake ones.
Shalom.
Sat is using those statements to keep Hindus in the foal. Rev Morton did more for Indians than Sat could do in ten lifetimes. When Morton came to Trinidad to recover from some health problems he met Indians who show him great respect hailing him as “sahib”. He saw an opportunity to help educate Indians and over the years some of the most prominent schools were built by Presbyterians. My family on my mother side was educated in one of those schools.
The prestige school in south was Naparima college, Iere High school amongst others. Hindus long for their children to attend those schools. If your child was attending one of those schools you were assured of a great education. The former Prime Minister Alma Mater was Iere High School Siparia. Without the work of Morton Indians would have remain a recalcitrant uneducated set of coolies. Thousands passed through those schools and found good jobs. I know many of them. Sat should be grateful to Morton instead of using every oppotunity to cry foul. No Morton did not see Hindus as animals Sat, get your history right.
Mamoo:
FOr the first time that I can recall, I actually can agree with something you said. I hope this signals a generally improving trend.
Nevertheless, I continue for the moment to withhold my peace from you, but to others as usual I say
Shalom.
I told you guys this Mamboo , ain’t as dumb as he is pretending to be . What do ya know folks, for even my savvy Hermano Yorouba Israelite , is surprisingly ,falling into his ungrateful spider trap. Go figure!
No my country hating , Afro Trini people despising bozo. It was not some opaque ,foreign born Reverend ,who ensure that you, Tman , Kamla , and V S Naipaul could read and write , it was progressive African leaders.
Get it straight- as we like to say on de streets.
They set the socio – political climate ,so dat -unlike Sri Lanka , Fuji, and Uganda -‘you alze’ could thrive.
If Basdeo Panday, Deosaran, Rambachan, Trevor Sudama , Ramnat , or SAT Maraj , was running this country, for 40 out of the 54 years of our Independence , and not Papa Deffy Eric, Bright Bouy Chambers, AHHH wee Bouy Robbie, or Fake Christian / Nepotist -Manning , we know what would be de case for half our population. More importantly ,we know that your second Hindustani PM , in Auntie K , would not become PM, but perhaps would be just another illiterate ,Siparia female victim, sold to the highest rich bidder rom ElSecorro, or neighboring Los Bajos , with 30 kids , and 400 Grand children , by age 35 , to her name- since she would have started producing from age 9.
Listen to him:- “Without the work of Morton Indians would have remain a recalcitrant uneducated set of coolies.”
The gall of this disrespectful creature,to still throw pot shots at the Father of our Nation, for calling his tribe recalcitrant- as if de man was lying.
Tell us then Mamboo, who was against Independence from England.
Enlighten us , as to who still support the Privy Council , and hates the CCJ,because it was the brain child of Tobago, globally admired Statesman ,ANR Robinson?
Who exactly continued breaking our sex, and marriage laws , and is presently standing in the way of Uncle Rowley , and his government , who are attempting to show the world that T&T folks ,aren’t a bunch of child abusing savages, who still cannot keep their paws away from underage girls?
Ahhh , lo siento .
I take dis all back . Knowing how the minds of my fellow patriotic progressives work,this might simply be , just another of those playing dead to catch Cobeaux alive ploys .
Well done Yorouba Israelite!
Stay Vigilant people!
Actually, I must confess, no. I’m not much in the ploys department, and guile is not at all my strong suit. Brer Anansi would have to look at me and shake his head in pity.
But then again I don’t have to play dead to ketch cobo live. To use a different metaphor, I couldn’t rope a dope if I was the only one in the ring…
(Aside: may Muhammad Ali r.i.p, that greatest of all champions, a study in courage, conviction, and will. But he was the quintessential Israelite of the seed, unfortunately, serving other gods that our forefathers did not know, fulfilling Deuteronomy 28:64. Word to the wise.)
No. I take Mamoo at face value and I discount the possibility of sarcasm in this instance, when he says: “Sat is using those statements to keep Hindus in the foal (sic).” It is with that that I agree, and I read the rest in the same vein of a refreshing honesty for a change.
But I must at the same time admit not attempting to read between the lines for his more usual attempts at guile. In that you may be right, and your Anansi antenna may well be picking up something…
Be that as it may mi hermano, when one is a servant of God, one hardly has to calculate more than one move ahead; Isaiah 54:17 is very comforting.
Nevertheless, it is well to remember all of our recent political history that you are quite right to remind us of.
Shalom.
“No weapon that is formed against thee shall prosper; and every tongue that shall rise against thee in judgment thou shalt condemn. This is the heritage of the servants of Yahweh, and their righteousness is of me, saith Yahweh.” (Isaiah 54:17)
Ingratitude is a terrible sin, Morton’s name must not be sullied, he may have had his own motivations but his mark on educating Indians must not be devalued. Similarly Gandhi played a monumental role in bringing an end to British colonialism, liberating Africa from the whip of British tyranny. For that my African people must bear his name with respect. I bear Martin Luther King name with respect because he confronted the oppressors and paved a way for me to be welcome in the United States.
These men were by no means perfect, they had their faults but as I said ingratitude is a terrible sin.
Sat and his bunch are the ones who should got to hell. Young girls are told who their husbands would be at a very early age. This is absurd and ridiculous. Old men like Sat should retire and allow the state to do their do. This will end all the lust offloaded on the young women in today’s TT. I recall the man of Sat’s tribe who was found with the naked girls in his truck. We need to change this sickness in our country.
Mamoo speaketh thus:
Quite so. The same principle applies to Eric Williams and the PNM for their education policy. Let us see some gratitude extended in that direction also. Kamla as one example would likely not have got her C.M. schooling without Williams and the PNM.
Gratitude grows tiresome I know. But to replace it with continual slander is unacceptable.
The indo insurgency has gone so far as to slander “knee-gah” people as a whole, claiming racism against them. It is a flagrant falsehood.
One may be entitled to one’s racial animus, however misguided, foolish and ultimately a vanity to be condemned by the Most High. But baseless racial slander is taking it too far. It is especially reprehensible when it is gratitude instead that the facts and circumstances call for.
I continue to withhold my peace from Mamoo for the time being, but to others as usual I say
Shalom.