Political saucers and bamboos

As the poet said, “Things are not always what they seem” - and I might add, “especially in politics.” Someone else observed, “In politics, never believe anything you hear or half of what you see.”

I seem to recall reading recently in a local newspaper that newspaper columnist Reginald Dumas - A Trinbagonian of African descent - said, at some seminar on “ethnicity” or some such, that, “he was not an African” and he either said or implied that there were, “no local Indians or local Africans in Trinidad and Tobago” and that he anticipated receiving some flak for saying this, especially as she made the statements at a conference sponsored by some local “Indian” organisation. It’s important to note that Reginald Dumas was brought up in “a local Indian environment.” was much travelled in both Africa and India and, I believe held diplomatic posts there. One can therefore assume that he knows whereof he speaks when he implies that our affinity to ancestral homes and cousins - understandable as it must be - does not even make us honourary “Africans” or honourary “Indians.”

I’ve only chosen some aspect of what Dumas is reported to have said and, I might add, at the very real risk of misrepresenting the drift of his total contribution to the debate. It’s however curious that Mr Dumas should dare to suggest that in a little country where there appears to be “more Africans per square foot than in Africa and more Indians per square foot than in India” you can’t find a single “homegrown African or Indian.” How perplexing! Given his background and the breadth of his exposure to the two ancestral continents, it’s not surprising that Mr Dumas has found that the artificially created imbroglio over the revisiting of the “Trinity Cross” to enable anyone in our much touted “inter-religious society” to accept  with equanimity and an easy conscience is just so much humbug. Common sense suggests that one’s highest honour in a secular state should be religiously and ethnically neutral and otherwise outside the realm of justifiable controversy. However, for reasons about which we can only speculate, Dr Eric Williams temporised on this issue. Under the Basdeo Panday administration, a committee was appointed to look into the matter and make recommendations. The committee reported and that report was studiously ignored.

Inevitably, the Trinity Cross issue arose again under Patrick Manning’s watch and, unbelievably, Manning averred that he “was taking his time to look at the problem until he finds out why Panday didn’t deal with it,” or some such nonsense. Yuh think it easy with “Bim and Bam” (those two comical characters towards the lower end of our folklore) I am now more confirmed in my assessment of the two political party operatives when I classify them, in my own mind, as “saucers and bamboos.” Why? “What a stupid question! Saucers are shallow and bamboos are hollow, of course. But having said that, if I might steal a calypso line afrom Chalkie, the “Ship of State” sometimes referred to as “the Ship of fools” appears to be overcrowded, “not so much with so much political quacks and invalids” but, if you take seriously the rantings and frothings of some Chief Crazy Horse or some consummate political ass, the ship is dangerously listing due to a multitude of “Afro-Trini-Germans” in hot pursuit of “Indo-Trini-Jews” to have them encamped in “Concentration camps” before being consigned to some “homegrown Hitler’s gas ovens.” Wanna bet that local and international swindlers are already licking their chops at the prospect of fast tracking those gas ovens?

When Buzz Butler was asked where was “home rule” and where was his manifesto, Butler replied that “home rule” was in his back pocket and his manifesto was six inches below his navel. When another politician was told about the necessity of having buoys placed in the harbour in the interest of navigational safety, he demurred on the ground that “men” should be placed there instead, as the sea in the harbour was too dangerous for “boys.” On another occasion, another politician failed to support a measure to have public urinals placed at strategic points in the capital city, because he did not know the meaning of the word “urinals.” However, he made an about turn when the word was explained to him. He not only supported the measure but declared himself in enthusiastic support of “arsenals” as well. If I’ve laboured the point a bit it is simply to show that our politicians have been in the habit of talking utter rubbish, but they did not always have a national and international audience, with radio, television internet and all that jazz. Compared to Manning and Panday (especially Panday) the politicians of the past are really “small potatoes.” Put another way, Manning has stolen the cake and Panday has gone away with the whole goddamned bakery. Basdeo Panday has now apparently set his sights on imposing his miserable political self on the “Pan-Indian movement.”

Well, God help the Indian Diaspora! One can only hope that a Manning Pan-African initiative is not in the offing. That might probably provide some respite for the lower courts and our Red House. Watch out, Nelson Mandela! You will need whatever little strength you have left. To be forewarned is to be forearmed, Sir. The late Dr Eric Williams - no mean fighter - lost his “Father of the nation” title without a fight. All hail, our would-be Mahatma Gandhis and Nelson Mandelas! You think it easy?