Tag Archives: 1990 Attempted Coup

Everybody Is Somebody

By Dr Selwyn R. Cudjoe
July 28, 2020

Dr. Selwyn R. CudjoeThirty years ago, the Jamaat-al-Muslinmeen, under the leadership of Imam Yaskim Abu Bakr, attempted to overthrow T&T’s elected government. They failed. Yesterday, President Paula-Mae Weeks called upon the group to make an “unequivocal apology” to the people of the country for its actions” (Express).

The President noted that “the assault shook the country to its core and robbed many people of their livelihoods, dignity and peace of mind….A commission of enquiry appointed in 2010 provided some chronology of the events but, without the testimony of the principal, did not offer the full understanding that the nation and, in particular, the victims rightly deserved.”
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Cops were alerted about ’90 uprising

1990 Attempted CoupCops were alerted about ’90 uprising
The police were alerted by Jamaat al Muslimeen insurgents that they were going to blow up Police Headquarters on the afternoon of July 27, 1990. This was disclosed by Jamaat member Jamaal Shabazz yesterday as he gave evidence before the commission of enquiry into the attempted coup d’etat at the Caribbean Court of Justice in Port-of-Spain, i “The police were alerted. There was ample time, if they followed instructions, to evacuate the building,” Shabazz told the commission. He said he found out after the coup the Jamaat had more car bombs which could have had a much more devastating effect but which they did not use. Shabazz told the commission Jamaat leader, Yasin Abu Bakr, was a former police officer and personally knew some senior police officers with whom he kept in contact.
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Comedy and shame at the commission

By Raffique Shah
February 05, 2011

Raffique ShahAS proceedings of the Commission of Enquiry into the 1990 attempted coup wax warmer from day to day, I cannot help but feel a sense of shame. I am shamed by the political manure that is unearthed, by the stench that emanates from the mouths of politicians past and present. Indeed, I sense the discomfort, the bemusement, of chairman Sir David Simmons and his commissioners, as they listen to tales of intrigue, allegations of betrayal and acts of cowardice during one of the biggest crises this country faced since independence.
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1990 20/20 Vision

By Suzanne Mills
February 06 2011 – newsday.co.tt

1990 Attempted CoupHindsight they say is 20/20 and so I wonder if the police who disobeyed the order of the TT government to attack the Muslimeen with full force later felt any regret.

They may not have been pained by guilt pangs over their cowardice and treachery, but with time, surely they had to see how incredibly, colossally stupid and shortsighted they had been. With the passage of years, revenge for a reduced salary must have tasted less sweet when they realised they’d forfeited the population’s respect that July. The army was seen as saving the day.
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1990 Enquiry

1990 Attempted CoupRobinson recalls his infamous order:
‘Attack with full force’

MORE than 20 years after he was held hostage in the Parliament Chamber at the Red House in Port-of-Spain, and his Government overthrown by 114 Muslim insurgents, former President Arthur NR Robinson yesterday testified before the Commission of Inquiry established to probe events surrounding July 27, 1990.
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1990 Enquiry: Exercise in Futility

Abu BakrI DO not know how Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar and her Cabinet arrived at a decision to appoint a Commission of Enquiry into the attempted coup of 1990. I suspect the hype that always surrounds the anniversary date of the Muslimeen assault on the National Alliance for Reconstruction (NAR) government may have prompted the PM and her colleagues to attempt to “put this matter to rest for once and for all”. It certainly was not part of the People’s Partnership manifesto or 120-day action plan.
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Probe into 1990 Attempted Coup

Abu BakrProbe into 1990 Coup
Twenty years later, there is going to be a Commission of Enquiry into the July 27, 1990 attempted coup which was led by Imam Yasin Abu Bakr and members of the Jamaat-al-Muslimeen. The announcement was made by Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar yesterday during at the post-Cabinet press briefing at the Office of the Prime Minister, St Clair.

PM: Why did it happen?
Cabinet has decided a Commission of Inquiry into the circumstances of the July 27, 1990 attempted coup will take place to find out “what went wrong” and to “bring closure” and relief to citizens traumatised by the event.
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That 1990 Attempted Coup

By George Alleyne
July 07, 2010 – newsday.co.tt

Abu BakrWith the 20th anniversary of the 1990 coup attempt virtually around the corner will the People’s Partnership Administration hold an Inquiry into the July 27, 1990 incident or will it follow in the footsteps of its predecessors, the National Alliance for Reconstruction, the People’s National Movement and the United National Congress and do nothing?
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