Don’t vote race

“You should be careful of who you chose as your leader. You cannot vote on the basis of race but instead look for that person who is worthy of being a leader. Do not vote for someone who is popular or rich. Instead, choose someone who has the qualities befitting of a leader.” These were the words of Prof Mahin Gosine, a New York-based Trinidadian who is a lecturer at City University in New York, as he spoke at the opening of the international conference, “Indian Diaspora in the Caribbean: The Global Interface” at the UWI yesterday morning. Giving the feature address at this function, Dr Gosine noted that when the integrity of those who hold leadership positions is questioned, then there is reason to be concerned. 

This year’s conference was organised by the Department of Liberal Arts, UWI, the Indian High Commission’s office and the National Council for Indian Culture (NCIC). Dr Gosine noted that many coming out of the Indian Diaspora have excelled in a number of different fields and in many parts of the world. He said that 13 percent of American scientists are Indians and Divali is now recognised by the White House. He also said that Asians are in the highest income bracket in the US. He attributed this success to the strength of Indian families. “The honour, the love, and the togetherness have helped us to build. The unwritten rule, ‘devote time to study’ has been the key factor in the success of the Indians throughout the world,” he said. His Excellency President George Maxwell Richards, was the guest of honour at the opening ceremony and took time out to launch the book, Indentureship to Entrepreneurship — People of the Indian Diaspora at the conference. The book is a collection of speeches by Dr Gosine at the 2003 conference which was held at the JFK Auditorium at the UWI.

Indian High Commissioner Varendra Gupta declared the conference open, saying that the presence of the President signified his support for the conference and will serve as great source of encouragement and inspiration to all in the deliberation at UWI. “This international conference is important both as an academic activity because of growing interest in Diaspora issues in the universities and institutions of higher learning the world over and also in terms of the topical relevance of the theme of the conference to the socio-economic development of the Indian Diaspora or the East Indians in the Caribbean,” he said. President of the NCIC, Deokinanan Sharma, gave the vote of thanks at the opening ceremony.

Among the professors and lecturers delivering papers at the two-day conference are former Ambassador to Caricom, Kamalludin Mohammed, principal of UWI, St Augustine, Dr Bhoe Tewarie, Kusha Haracksingh, Hendrickson Seunath, Sushila Gidwani-Buschi, Maurits Hassankhan, Frank Birbalsingh, Vihnudath Singh, Sonia Mahase-Persad, Lomarsh Roopnarine, Brinsley Samaroo, Ranjit Kumar, Ron Sookram, Radica Mahase, Satnarayan Balkaransingh, Nasser Mustapha, Fred Negrit, Alexandre Narku, Winston Dookeran, Harry Harnarine, Ira Mathur, Harold Ramkissoon, Ajay Khandelwal, and PC Bhardwaj.