Failings of Indians in the media

As the 159th Anniversary of Indian Arrival to Trinidad and Tobago fast approaches, there were two events over this past weekend that serve to highlight the continued shortcomings of Indians in the media. These two events continue to support the hypothesis that Indians do not want to participate in institutions of civil society because they feel they do not fully belong to that society. Two recent examples highlight best the shortcomings of Indians in the media. Firstly on Friday April 16 2004 at the Learning Resource Centre, the Hindi Nidhi Foundation, the University of the West Indies and the High Commission of India formally inaugurated an International Hindi Language conference. This conference saw the arrival of international scholars of Hindi attending the weekend long event.

There are five Indian radio stations operating successful and economically viable Indian formatted stations yet not a single one saw it fit to cover this event. Ironically the medium of entertainment of all these Indian radio stations is Hindi. Last year the present dynamic Indian High Commission held a conference to celebrate Indian Arrival Day, this year the Indian High Commission has been conducting a series of public lectures on Indian culture and philosophy, while the Maha Sabha two years ago held a unique conference on Hinduism in Trinidad and the Caribbean. The common thread of these two examples is that the Indian media failure to cover these events with live or delayed broadcast of the events. Interestingly, these very Indian radio stations often carry religious functions such as Ramayana. This however, cannot be seen  solely as service to the Indian community.

These religious events are sources of revenue for the Indian radio station and those events, which are not paid for via sponsorship, are simply not carried. Currently some Indian radio stations are carrying live or delayed broadcasts of the Opposition in and outside Parliament. Again this is not being done for altruistic reasons as the Opposition is seen as the voice of the Indo-Trinidadian population, but merely as an attempt to secure audience share so that the radio station could improve its standing in the ranking of Indian radio stations and thereby improve its capacity to earn advertising revenue.

Secondly on Saturday April 17, 2004 the Media Association of Trinidad and Tobago held its Bi-Annual  General Meeting at the Crowne Plaza. At this meeting the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP), Geoffrey Henderson, called for a code of ethics for the media in this country. Yet the majority of Indians in the media will have failed to hear the call of the DPP as they refused to attend the MATT AGM. Of the approximate 40 media persons who attended this MATT’s AGM the only Indians who attended this meeting could be counted easily. Those who attended included the following Sasha Mohammed, Nirad Tiwari, Sadro Mohammed, Sandra Maraj, Shelly Dass, Ramjohn Ali, Krishna Maharaj, Siewdath Persad, Kevin Ramnararine, Aruna Mohammed, and Leah Mathura. The rest of Indians that work in the national media perhaps saw it fit to spend their Saturdays better, perhaps by washing their cars, or doing another business on the side.

For many years the masses of Indians have accused the media of being Port-of- Spain centric and as such not reflective of the Indian ethos and hubris in the nation. Yet Indians in the media from their actions have appeared to show that their employment in the media is merely that — employment — and nothing more. The failure of Indians to participate in MATT in a meaningful manner sadly is not unique to MATT alone. There are significant numbers of Indo-Trinidadians who are teachers, public servants, etc yet the representation of Indo-Trinidadians in the TTUTTA (the teachers union) and PSA (the public services association) does not reflect their membership. Over the years Indians have failed to be interested in running for office in these institutions that form an important part of our civil society. Yet it has been also observed that Indians expend considerable energy to fight over the management of a mandir or the leadership of an Indian organisation. There is an apparent failure by Indians to fully engage in civil society where Indians are forced to deal face to face with other ethnic groups.

The recently launched Gayelle the Channel by Christopher Laird and company have many in the Indo-Trinidadian community claiming that they have been ignored in this new media house. Why should Indians be expected to be represented in the programming of Gayelle? The motive of Gayelle appears to be designed to address a particular aspect of Trinidadian culture. Why is it that some Indians continue to beg for a small space in a medium created by others? If Indians are economically secure so as to encourage kidnappings, why have not any consortium of Indian business people joined to open a similar television station on cable television as Gayelle?

Lord Bhikhu Parekh’s What is Multiculturalism?  perhaps offers a possible answer for the non-participation in civil society when he observed, “Although equal citizenship is essential to fostering a common sense of belonging, it is not enough. Citizenship is about status and rights; belonging is about acceptance, feeling welcome, a sense of identification. The two do not necessarily coincide. One might enjoy all the rights of citizenship but feel that one does not quite belong to the community and is a relative outsider. This feeling of being fully a citizen and yet an outsider is difficult to analyse and explain, but it can be deep and real and seriously damage the quality of one’s citizenship as well as one’s sense of commitment to the political community.”