Sat:

SECRETARY general of the Sanatan Dharma Maha Sabha Sat Maharaj is calling on Prime Minister Patrick Manning to launch an investigation into the Attorney General’s refusal to grant a radio broadcasting licence to the Hindu organisation, despite a court ruling that it had been discriminated against and should be granted one.

Speaking during a press conference at the organisation’s headquarters in St Augustine yesterday, Maharaj said the judgement delivered yesterday by the Privy Council ordering the Attorney General “to do all that is necessary to procure and ensure the issue forthwith” of an FM radio broadcasting licence was confirmation that the organisation’s claim of discrimination was not unfounded.

Maharaj said many had criticised the Maha Sabha’s “consistent complaints” of discrimination against it and the Hindu community in favour of Citadel director Louis Lee Sing, who had “quickly” been granted a broadcasting licence ahead of other applicants.

He said the matter had been filed since 1999 but the drama was now beginning to unfold with the judgment of the “judges in England,” who “do not lie.”

The State, he said, had not been honest with the courts because it had hidden facts and figures from the court during the local hearings, causing the courts to give judgments on false premises.

He called on Manning, whom he described as “an honourable man,” to appoint a commission of inquiry to investigate the matter.Attorney for the Maha Sabha Anand Ramlogan, who was also in attendance, said the case had less to do with the Maha Sabha and was more about a blatant form of discrimination.

The organisation is hoping the radio station and a cable television channel would be functional by October 1.

Maharaj joked that the cost and damages ordered to be paid by the State would more than cover the cost of running both entities.