Victory for Devant Maharaj — shame on Mr Manning

THE EDITOR: While the victory for soon to be installed Deputy Director of the NLCB and executive member of the SDMS Devant Maharaj has to be the most stinging slap a Prime Minister could ever expect from the judiciary, Justice Mira Dean-Amorer’s comments will perhaps go down in the history books as the severest one can expect and is indicative of the wickedness that is perpetrated on Indians in the Public Service at all levels. “Flawed and Illegal” was how she described the Prime Minister’s “unsolicited opinion.” In other words, she was saying that in the first instance, the Prime Minister had no business in the matter, yet when consulted he took the bad situation to the level of egregious by obviously seizing the opportunity to visit his pettiness on the hapless and vulnerable Devant Maharaj.

Clearly Mr Manning saw a way to repay Mr Maharaj for the avalanche of criticisms of the PNM’s abuse of Indians, as well as their on going assault on Indian culture. Moreso, when one recalls how Mr Manning insulted GOPIO (Mr Maharaj is the head of the local chapter) at having staged its parallel Independence Awards, (a pappyshow were the PM’s words) it all becomes so clear. Only recently, the SDMS exposed the PNM tentacles in the NLCB when it questioned glaring imbalances in state funding in Indian culture. The nation must now judge the Prime Minister and by extension his party, since we now have a clear and detailed view of the true face of the PNM. One must remind this nation, that this is not the first time that Mr Manning has sought to strong arm otherwise independent people.

He tried it with Marlene Coudray, but didn’t learn anything from that and why should he as Larry Achong remains shamefully and shameless, dutiful, loyal and quiet. When Patrick Manning gushes on the platform that “Indians have nothing to fear” should they wish to join the PNM, we must remember Devant Maharaj as we ask the question, “what if they don’t want to join the PNM?” and immediately “crapaud smoke yuh pipe” will come to mind. When Mr Manning puts on his kurta suit for Divali and wears the same suit for Eid, those Indians so gullible (and hungry belly) must think of the oppression of their fellowmen. They must think that this is the same political leader of the party who has the children of Caparo up to their waist in water, who will give millions to St Vincent and the Grenadines for nonsense, but entangle the disbursement of the pittance to the Penal/Debe Regional Corporation in red tape until someone dies.

Indeed, we must praise the all pervading deities that it took the mighty Parasuram, a diminutive person by his physical appearance but a giant by any measure on integrity, grit and determination and so inspired by the actions of the righteous one Arjuna in the Bhagavad Gita, months to obliterate every scrap of credibility and decimate the personal decency in the highest of courts of a man who should not be allowed to hug our babies. When he (the Prime Minister) does so he is identifying them to kidnappers since he has no compassion and fairness in his heart. Mr Manning must now know the lesson: that if he thinks he can suppress and oppress Indians, if he thinks that he can strangle Indians and if he thinks that those few Indians who garland him and bow to him in Cabinet means that he is well liked in the nation, then he must have been born yesterday. My best wishes and congratulations on a well deserved victory for Devant Maharaj and I urge any Indian who feels discriminated to have faith and persevere.

LYSTRA MARAJH
Glencoe