‘Trinity Cross for Catholics only’
A SAN FERNANDO High Court judge was yesterday told that Roman Catholics have enjoyed prestige, with the blessings of Spain and England, over other settlers since Trinidad and Tobago was colonised by the Europeans. Trinidad has always been regarded as a Catholic country, according to Queen’s Counsel Dr Fenton Ramsahoye in the San Fernando High Court yesterday, but with the arrival of East Indians from India, the cross could no longer be applicable as a national symbol. The symbol is embodied in the award of the Trinity Cross, Ramsahoye told Justice Jamadar, but its use is no longer applicable in a society of Hindus and Muslims who now have constitutional rights. Ramsahoye yesterday began presenting the case in the constitutional motion filed by the Maha Sabha and the Islamic Relief Centre against use of the Trinity Cross as the nation’s highest award. He first outlined the legal history of Trinidad’s occupation by Spain and England for the judge. Ramsahoye said that in the years 1776 and 1787, the King of Spain and Queen Elizabeth of England established, on their own prerogative, an award of the Trinity Cross as a matter of grace and honour. "The Trinity Cross was therefore a Christian symbol because Trinidad was a Catholic country. Only Roman Catholic settlers were given land, and nobody else," Ramsahoye told the court. Ramsahoye told Jamadar that the Maha Sabha’s case rested on the changing of the landscape with the arrival of Hindus and Muslims to work as indentured labourers. There arose a need for constitutional changes, and in making this point, Ramsahoye said that citizens’ constitutional rights and freedoms were enshrined in a constitution. This was very evident when Trinidad and Tobago broke ties with England, when it gained Independence, he noted. He also submitted that the framers of the Constitution had the advancement of a multi-racial and multi-religious society in Trinidad and Tobago in mind. Ramsahoye told the judge that the country would achieve nothing of a 20-20 vision if the society continued to be perceived as a "Christian" society. Senior Counsel Russell Martineau is defending the motion with attorney Deborah Peake. Ramsahoye will continue his submissions when hearing resumes today.
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"‘Trinity Cross for Catholics only’"