Why we need new Parliament building

THE EDITOR: After we obtained our independence, the first political priority ought to have been the early establishment of a national identity for our new nation.

This was absolutely necessary to counteract convincingly, the consistent creeping undertones of racial divisiveness, for political expediency, on the part of certain citizens conspiring to satisfy personal political agendas, and completely ignoring the fact that we had attained the stage in which the cohesiveness of our national efforts had become an absolutely important necessity. The idea of a national identity was then put on the back burner of the national stove.

Later on, our political pundits chose to develop instead the idea of a Caribbean identity — The Federation of the West Indies. This idea soon fell flat with the William’s clich?: “one from ten leaves nought.” The racial ring-a-ring-a roses returned centre stage. At first it was Dr Williams vs Dr Rudranath Capildeo, with Uriah Butler in the background. Now it is Patrick Manning vs Basdeo Panday, with Selwyn Cudjoe on the sideline. Such a situation should never have arisen. We cannot fail to see that derogatory racial remarks should be treated in the same way that we treat obscene language, legally, through the courts, because racial remarks can be even more devastating than obscene word to our national image, and need to be stopped completely. But that is a matter to be considered by our legal people.

The heart of any democratic country is its Parliament. Thus the Red House which now accommodates our Parliament, but was originally constructed as a chamber to maintain complete domination over our hapless citizens, has to be a veritable eyesore to all realistic patriots of our independent nation. We should forever abhor the sight of any structure set up for the abject subjection of a population by conquering foreign lords, sitting composedly in their cushioned chairs, thousands of miles away from their conquered subjects. That is not by any means a situation that any self-respecting citizen with even a mediocre patriotic fervour could cherish, much less feel a dint of pride when he or she views such an edifice.

Immediately after gaining their independence, the Americans set about measures to achieve a national identity. They created a new state — the District of Columbia (DC); a new capital for the nation — Washington, DC; a new national building to accommodate their Parliament — both the Senate and the House of Representatives, in the Capitol. Above all, they built a massive abode for their national Executive, all far removed from the politically rancorous smell of their colonial past, the shackles of which they had definitely completely broken. The “Red House” was built for us by a colonising country. It is no icon of past glory for us, now an independent nation. The history of the Red House is submerged substantially in a veritable mire of horrifying human depravity. From its very inception, it was the chamber constructed for the deliberate domination of citizens. It was built for that particular purpose, and indeed, those members of the population who later on burnt it down to the ground, would describe it as the “House of Civilian Damnation,” from which the pinnacle of colonial power, our colonial masters, condemned the subdued citizens to a life that was in effect “neo-slavery.” The Red House ruled with the backing of military forces from overseas.

The onslaught characterised by degradation of human beings knew no civil barriers, and persisted. This period was, in effect, one of despiritualisation at the lowest level conceivable. It was directed to a section of hapless humanity who had no power to obtain reparation. There existed then no United Nations to rectify the situation. It was a hopeless mess. The Red House ruled — the locals humbly obeyed. On our part, we want to rectify the appalling situation by building ourselves a Parliament worthy of an independent nation; yet we hear the rancorous hullabaloo against the plan which may well be the most reliable recourse we may ever have for the cohesion of all nationally progressive efforts towards the much needed, long overdue, national identity. Trinidad (from the word Trinity) bears an intimate relationship with the Divinity of the Almighty. He loves our name as well as ourselves. Trinidad/Tobago is our beloved unified nation — unique and undivided. It will certainly prevail.

In conclusion, I am constrained to ask where in this whole wide world would we find any advocate of such actions as “civil disobedience” (as if the very act is not of criminal intent); “sleeping with the devil” (as if the devil said he would like that); “do them before they do you” (as if opposing factors would want to do anything at all); except from the core of mischief creators of this era? However, the Almighty never sleeps, and sees even more than we can with our naked eyes. He will surely give His assistance to rid us of the menace threatening our stability. Great is our budding nation Trinidad and Tobago and it will certainly conquer corruptive elements with the help of the Divine Trinity.

OTHELLO DEMOOR
Toco