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Presbyterian Bashing
Posted: Thursday, October 24, 2002
By tephen Kangal MOM
CARONI
The penchant for Presbyterian bashing seems to fester pathologically in the psyche of the Secretary-General (S/G) of the Mahasabha. This was reinforced in tandem by learned attorney Anand Ramlogan (please see Guardian Oct. 10, p.2: Guardian Oct. 12, p. 13 respectively).
Firstly, the Secretary General of the Mahasabha, Mr Sat Maharaj, who himself is a product of the Presbyterian system of education at Caroni, claimed ( Guardian Oct.10) that Hillview Science Scholarship winner, Miss Sandya Maharaj should have been in fact Lakshmi Girls' fourth National Scholarship. He alleges that Hillview is involved in poaching of bright O' Level students from other schools.
This position appears to be predicated on the following false and misleading assumptions in relation to the educational infrastructure found at these two denominational schools:
a.. The educational infrastructure and faculty members for the tutoring of the sciences at Hillview College are similar to that of Lakshmi Girls';
a.. the outstanding reputation, competitive ambience among the students etc which prevails at my alma mater Hillview College are of no consequence in determining scholarships material;
b.. Hillview does not enjoy a superior track-record in training and delivering winners of Science scholarships;
c.. That tuition provided at Lakshmi Girls' is similar or superior to that of Hillview College.
Did the parents of Miss Sandya Maharaj and the student herself not exercise their constitutional/human right to select Hillview College as their school of choice, as did so many others including National Scholar- supremo, Miss Reshma Maharaj and justify their choice in a most emphatic manner? Get real! Congrats to Lakshmi Girls for winning 3 scholarships and best wishes for winning even more in the future.
As for Mr. Anand Ramlogan, (Guardian Oct. 12) he continues to flaunt his fixation for bashing Presbyterians having aired his vendetta previously on FM 106's Talk Show, Panchayaat.
Mr. Ramlogan must answer the following questions in the interest of achieving clarity in his position as well as telling the electoral truth:
a.. Who, where and in what critical numbers are the urban as opposed to the rural Presbyterians who leagued with the Moslems to exercise the balance of power for 30 years favourable to the PNM?
b.. Did not an overwhelming number of Hindu candidates (non-African) represent the PNM as candidates in General Elections in Indo- dominated constituencies during the period 1956-2002 and was supported by their Hindu friends/accomplices from these constituencies?
c.. Shall I call the well-known names of these Hindu candidates/families who Mr.Ramlogan might call deserters, neemakharams or anti-Hindu?
d.. What did the UNC do during 1995-2001 period to correct Mr. Ramlogan's perceived imbalance among the 25 PS's, the Protective Services, The Foreign Service etc. as well as to correct historical injustices/ inequities?
They were in fact, too busy engaged in circumventing the laws designed to promote transparency, accountability and established tendering procedures and practices and filling the pockets of the financiers and those of the parasitic clique to think of the poor and rural Hindu dispossessed or to address and alter meaningfully any notions of historical inequity during their six years in governance.
Under the guise of positively charting The Way Forward, Mr.Ramlogan is being negatively constricted by the drag effects of deliberately looking historically backwards with blinkers and conveniently and falsely attributing the sterility/bankruptcy that characterizes conventional Indo-guru-chela politics to alleged Moslem-Presbyterian collusion. The political fault, Mr. Ramlogan lies among the divided mercantile/professional Hindus, not in the imaginary Presbyterian - Moslem political axis. Please do not further bifurcate the Indians.
My Moslem brothers/sisters who voted so overwhelmingly in the constituency of San Juan/ Barataria, Charlieville (Chaguanas) and the suburban East- West Corridor Presbyterians including my several friends who worship at Aramalaya, San Juan, Tacarigua etc must surely now feel vandalised by a known UNC loyalist in the person of Mr. Anand Ramlogan for casting their solid pro- UNC vote on October 7 last.
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