Mr. Panday and a contingent of Indians traveled to New Delhi to attend the second Indian Diaspora Day Conference from January 7-9, 2003 a gathering of the world Indian family." At the conference, Manohar Ramsaran, MP for Chaguanas, proclaimed ” We must be proud to be called Indians; proud to hold Indian names. Proud of our cultural, religious, and social customs and you must practice them without fear and intimidation."

Mr. Sharma, a member of Prime Minister's Round Table Discussions on Race Relations, said: "…...devote more time and focus discussion on the problems of people of Indian origins… ." I wonder if our affluent and not so affluent blacks can say they are Africans with the same degree of pride and confidence as their Indian colleagues?

At the conference, President Jagdeo of Guyana accepted an award from the Shri Atal Vajpayee, Prime Minister of India. No one has uttered derogatory remarks about his receipt of this award. Compare this reaction with the contempt that Indians and Africans showered upon President A. N. R. Robinson when he accepted chiefdom from an African state. Such is our self-contempt, we couldn't get enough kicks out of Chief Olukim and his staff.

I wonder how many members of Parliament can say, I am proud to be an African; I must respect African names; I must be proud of our cultural, religious and social customs. But then, Indians are Indians; Africans are Trinidadians and Tobagonians first.