Everything in TT is PM's business!

THE EDITOR: Government has a major role to anticipate and mobilise resources to deal with both internal and external threats to TT, and to be sensitive to the concerns and anxieties of citizens. The PM is also the Minister of National Security. He is the moral leader of the nation. Cro Cro is his business! Citizens of all backgrounds, especially those of Indian descent, are rightfully appalled at this incitement to crime so cynically dismissed by the PM as “art”. And this is a crime which has the Indo-Trinidad community (all citizens) shivering with fear. Refusal to denounce public incitements to crime and violence are, in effect, tacit approval of them.

“My job is the preservation of law and order,” Manning said. The job of the Minister of National Security also entails being prompt in dealing with illegal acts and public utterances that promote social disorder as well as removing the conditions that lead to them. Incitement of anyone to commit an offence is a common law offence in English law (its mens rea and actus reus will be in any criminal law textbook), and dealing with it would reassure the public that the PM takes his role seriously and understands the full dimension of it. In a simple society like the famous M’Nutis of the Ituri Forest, which lacked the formal institutions of law, ridicule and teasing were customary techniques to control the behaviour of others and ensure conformity. In today’s more complex societies, custom has been replaced by law to protect both the person and property of others. The contemporary blurring of boundaries between norms of decency, fairness and law in large complex societies is being reflected in calypso in the small nation of TT. This blurring of boundaries is a reflection of the absence of commonly agreed values. Its reinforcement will surely fracture further TT’s already wobbly social structure.

It is difficult to see what is “artistic” about Cro Cro’s calypso: it has neither moral nor intellectual content, nor are there any aesthetic or musical features of merit. A couple words strung together, a couple chords and voila! An example of our art form. Gimme a break! In any “democratic” society the rights of all citizens have to be in balance. Rights are not absolute, but exist only insofar as the rights of others are not infringed or the state is not threatened (Act 32 of the American Convention of Human Rights). Moreover, rights imply responsibility: you possess rights when you recognise your obligations to others. While freedom of speech is an important right, it is subject to constraints, like all other rights, the rights of others and the protection of the stare. Essentially, it is negatively defined: you can say what you like as long as it does not break, or lead to the breaking of the law; which exists to protect the rights of the person and property.

That is why the public ridicule of citizens by our “art form” should be an easy victory for the plaintiff in a lawsuit for defamation. I have always wondered why nobody has ever thought of suing the calypsonian, the calypso tent, the record producers, the record distributors and the radio stations that play defamatory calypsos. While the PM and the public might bask in their belief that the calypsonian has an unfettered right to express his views, how defamatory or criminal in content, I am sure the Privy Council would take a very different view. It is strange that a nation committed to law and order in principle should so often permit violation and indifference to customary practices (eg public peeing, threatening and abusive behaviour, speeding etc). In addition, there is seldom a squeak from government ministers reassuring the public of this or that or response to the poignant enquiries of old age pensioners and job applicants, who must publish letters in the press to bring public attention to their plight. Government, dear Ministers, is also about communication to the electorate, efficiency and transparency of government operations not merely sitting in offices with old fashioned colonial suits and ties. “He who rides on a tiger is afraid to dismount”— Confucius.

KENNETH AQUAN-ASSEE
Port-of-Spain