Panday: Crime overshadows Divali

OPPOSITION LEADER Basdeo Panday declared that darkness has descended over Trinidad and Tobago in the form of crime and Divali 2003 will have “little significance” to the population unless they are prepared to stand up and fight the root causes of crime in TT. In his Divali message, Panday lamented that this year’s celebration is not “an occasion of joy” for the hundreds of thousands of Hindus who live in TT, but instead comes at a time when the country “and Indo-Trinidadians and Tobagonians in particular, are under siege.

“Our home is no longer our castle. Under this regime, our sons and daughters are victims of kidnapping, rape, robbery and murder. Crime seems to have taken racial dimensions in our beloved country, the country of our birth, our janma bhoomi. There is a perception that Indians are docile cowards who will not stand up and fight for their right to be treated as equal citizens of the country of their birth,” he declared. The former prime minister explained that Divali holds the answer “about how we should react in these circumstances.”  Panday said “Darkness will only be removed when someone, by his deliberate effort, has the courage to strike a match and light a candle, in this case, a deya.” The UNC leader called upon the population to be “ready to stand up and fight the blatant discrimination that has engulfed our country over the past two years.”