Category Archives: Violence

Crime in T&T, General T&T, Violence

Power in the barrel of a gun

Leave a comment

By Raffique Shah
September 19, 2023

Raffique ShahLike most people who live in this country, many of whom, like me, will never leave the twin-island republic to live any­where else in the world, I am not only concerned but I am disturbed by what seems to be a deteriorating crime situation, especially crime that involves violence. At a recent news conference, I heard Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley, not for the first time say, “We have become a very violent society.” Judging from the reports of criminal activities that we get in the media, that perception seems to be the truth.
Continue reading Power in the barrel of a gun →

Crime in T&T, General T&T, Violence

Three Patriotic Tinis

2 Comments

By Raffique Shah
April 16, 2023

Raffique ShahThe criminal underworld has expanded and intensified its war against mostly law-abiding citizens by mounting brazen attacks against selected targets in open thoroughfares, damn the innocent victims who are seen as collateral damage. They have expanded ‘home invasions’ to the extent they now dominate the news.
Continue reading Three Patriotic Tinis →

General T&T, Violence

Only two choices

2 Comments

By Raffique Shah
September 26, 2022

Raffique ShahOne of these not-so-good days, when the good citizens in this nation have had it up to their throats with the thugs who are turning this once-peaceful country into the killing fields of the Caribbean, if not the murder and mayhem capital of the world, they will rise up like the mythical crimson tide with a fury they didn’t think they possessed, to reclaim the slice of paradise they once owned and enjoyed from the mindless criminals who have made Trini­dad and Tobago a living hell, something the population will never accept as the norm.
Continue reading Only two choices →

Africa, Britain, England, General T&T, Violence

Deluded Children of Empire

7 Comments

By Dr Selwyn R. Cudjoe
September 19, 2022

Dr. Selwyn R. CudjoeOn a sunny day in February of 1952 I was an eight-year-old schoolboy made to attend a memorial service for King George VI, the father of the late Elizabeth II. On that day I remembered the “Taps” played by the Police Band or the Tacarigua Orphan Home Band, as the bugles rattled through the bamboos on the banks of the Tacarigua River that flowed on the western side of the church.
Continue reading Deluded Children of Empire →

Crime in T&T, General T&T, Violence

Power of the gun

By Raffique Shah
July 04, 2022

Raffique ShahWe are not the most crime-ridden country in the world, notwithstanding claims to that effect by organisations and individuals that manipulate raw data from dubious sources so that they can support whatever theory or argument their authors wish to pursue.

For example, there are academics and criminologists who rely on official police numbers that could be quite misleading. To support my argument, I ask: can the police or other government agency in many densely-populated, slum-infested countries and cities (think India, Nigeria, Brazil, Mexico, the Philippines…) accurately account for every living or dead soul in such human-jungles? Hell, in the comparatively minuscule Beetham Estate or Sea Lots in Trinidad and Tobago, people live and die and never appear on records, so wheel and come back if you expect me to buy “official” data as being accurate.
Continue reading Power of the gun →

General T&T, Politics, Schools, Violence

Prime Minister on school violence

2 Comments

We can’t beat our way out of it

By Jensen La Vende
April 21, 2022 – newsday.co.tt

PM Dr Keith RowleyCORPORAL PUNISHMENT will not be the solution for school violence the Prime Minister said on Thursday as he responded to number of videos of school children fighting.

Speaking with the media at the Piarco International Airport on Thursday, Dr Rowley said a better approach must be used.

“There is no intention to beat our way out of this,” Rowley said when asked if the re-introduction of corporal punishment would be used to curb school violence.
Continue reading Prime Minister on school violence →

Crime in T&T, Domestic Violence, General T&T, Violence

The Loss of Innocence

4 Comments

By Dr Selwyn R. Cudjoe
November 15, 2021

Dr. Selwyn R. CudjoeThe recent upsurge of religious voices calling upon God to intervene in the carnival of atrocities that our country is experiencing occurred when the corpse of 26-year-old Kezia Janeka Guerra was found in a shallow grave in Maracas, St. Joseph. Father Knolly Clarke intoned: “I am concerned about this violence against women. There is violence permeating society. I don’t know what’s wrong with the men. It’s a challenging time, especially during Covid-19 time. Then you have to deal with violence against people all the time. It’s a sad moment in our history. I think we need to run programmes that would help people to understand each other. Teach young men and women to respect each other.” (Express, November 6).
Continue reading The Loss of Innocence →

Crime in T&T, General T&T, International, Police, Protest, USA, Violence

Disliking African Materials

44 Comments

By Dr Selwyn R. Cudjoe
April 26, 2021

Dr. Selwyn R. CudjoeOn the same day Derek Chauvin, a white police officer in the US, was found guilty of murdering George Floyd, a black man, Gerald Ramdeen, attorney for suspended Inspector Mark Hernandez, head of the Special Operations Response Team (SORT), defended the innocence of Hernandez, who was charged with misbehaviour in public office.

Ramdeen remarked: “Mark represents a true patriot of Trinidad and Tobago and was responsible for weeding out heinous criminals and monsters who plague society off the streets. If there were more patriots like him Trinidad and Tobago would not be in the situation it is today.” (Express, April 20.)
Continue reading Disliking African Materials →