Sat, Panday under attack?

INDIAN High Commissioner Shri Virendra Gupta seemed yesterday to condemn the words of many prominent citizens of Trinidad and Tobago, such as Opposition Leader Basdeo Panday and Maha Sabha General Secretary Sat Maharaj, when he criticised Indo-Trinidadian leaders for continually portraying its members as victims of racial discrimination. Gupta’s criticisms came in the wake of Panday’s constant cries of rampant discrimination against East Indians in the country and Maharaj’s claims about discrimination being levelled against East Indians by the National Lotteries Control Board. Addressing the opening of a forum entitled “From Indentureship to Entrepeneurship” at UWI’s Learning Resource Centre in St Augustine, Commissioner Gupta said while East Indians in this country faced several challenges since the first indentured labourer arrived here 158 years ago, it was wrong for certain individuals to constantly stress upon the alleged negative aspects of the Indian Diaspora. He declared that Trinidad and Tobago and India are global examples of functioning multi-cultural societies.

Gupta said East Indian indenturers devoted themselves to the development of their new home and it was wrong for anyone to claim that East Indians were today denied equal opportunity in shaping Trinidad and Tobago’s future. Addressing last Friday’s Indian Arrival Day celebrations in Debe, Panday accused some East Indians of selling out to the ruling People’s National Movement (PNM). He named Lionel Seukeran (father of Junior Trade Minister Diane Seukeran) and Ashford Sinanan (uncle of House Speaker Barry Sinanan) as two such individuals. The UNC leader accused the PNM of practising racism and discrimination of State resources never before experienced by the East Indian community. “Don’t be surprised there were a few selling out for a little senatorship and ambassador position,” he said. Maharaj claimed the NLCB was discriminating against the East Indian community with respect to its corporate sponsorship of cultural groups in 2002 with only two Indian groups receiving meagre funding compared to other non-Indian groups. “It is a joy to see such a level of integration,” Gupta declared yesterday, however.

He admitted that while inequities and prejudices have not disappeared altogether, people should follow Prime Minister Patrick Manning’s advice about being “large enough to accept others” regardless of ethnic or other considerations. UWI Pro-Vice Chancellor Dr Bhoe Tewarie shared Gupta’s views and noted that several indenturers developed family businesses that made positive contributions to the nation’s socio-economic development. However he noted in an increasingly globalised environment, those businesses could no longer act as “one-man shows” and need to be reformed along guidelines in keeping with modern business practices. Tewarie stressed that East Indians were an integral part of the national community and they could not be “sidelined or pushed over”. Indian External Affairs Secretary Shri JC Sharma said it was a myth that East Indians were slow to assimilate into their adopted countries and he saw evidence to the contrary while at his previous diplomatic postings in North America and Israel. Sharma added that a strength of the East Indian was his ability to avoid confrontation and seek mutual accommodation with persons of different ethnicities.