Category Archives: India

General T&T, ILP, India, Opposition Party, People's Partnership, PNM, Politics, THA, UNC

Jack’s shelf life

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By Raffique Shah
August 04, 2013

Raffique ShahThere is no tectonic shift in voting patterns coming out of the Chaguanas West by-election last Monday, as some politicians and political analysts posit.

What happened was simply this: the constituents, who are predominantly Indians and supporters of the UNC, used the ballot to tell the party’s leadership that it could not foist any “crapaud” on them. They wanted Jack Warner to represent them, and they were prepared to defy the party’s directives to make their point.
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General T&T, ILP, India, Media, Opposition Party, People's Partnership, PNM, Politics, Race and Identity, UNC

JACK WINS

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By Andre Bagoo
Tuesday, July 30 2013 – newsday.co.tt

GordonJACK WARNER, 70, has been re-elected as the Member of Parliament for Chaguanas West, after provisional results from the Elections and Boundaries Commission (EBC) last night projected him as the winner of the bye-election. It was a crushing victory.

Up until press time, Warner provisionally received 12,631 votes while the United National Congress’s (UNC) Khadijah Ameen, 32 – his nearest rival – received less than half that amount or 5,126 votes.
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General T&T, Guyana, India, People's Partnership, PNM, Politics, UNC

Buffoonery reigns

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By Raffique Shah
July 28, 2013

Raffique ShahThe tragedy of tomorrow’s by-election in Chaguanas West is that all of us—politicians, commentators, journalists, publicists and people—treated the exercise, more so the campaign, as a big joke, a comedy festival of sorts. In other words, we have all helped to perpetuate the unholy mess that passes for politics in a country where buffoonery triumphs over rationale, in a land where crapaud is king – or queen.
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Africa, Crime in T&T, General T&T, Hindu, India, PNM, Politics, Race and Identity, Racism Watch, Religion

Don’t Blame the Hindus or the Christians

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By Dr. Selwyn R. Cudjoe
July 04, 2013

Dr. Selwyn R. CudjoeTwo of my dear friends are reputed to have suggested that the Hindus and the Christians may be responsible for the plight of young Africans who find themselves in trouble with the law. They also seem to suggest that a Hindu-based government is to be blamed for out plight. I should hope that this is not what they intended to convey to the public. Such statements tend to inflame national feelings and deepen the national divide. I am a member of the PNM and count myself to be as conscious of my blackness as anyone else. However, I think we ought to be careful about what we say.
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General T&T, Hindu, India, Race and Identity

Happy Indian Arrival Ki Din

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By Stephen Kangal
May 29, 2013

Stephen KangalOn the occasion of the 168th anniversary of the commemoration of the arrival of the East Indian community to Trinidad may I focus on the post-arrival vindication and justification of the system of Indus Valley customs and values. This tried and tested system has underpinned, dominated and pervaded the modus operandi of the East Indians and has been responsible for the degree of fulfilling lives and good law-abiding citizenry that they have conducted in T&T in spite of the adversarial conditions and hostile and negative environmental and social conditions that they had to overcome to gain acceptance to their culturally persistent way of life.
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Africa, Caribbean, General T&T, Hindu, India, International, Politics, Race and Identity, Racism Watch

Indian Indentureship: Afri-centric Analysis

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By Dr. Kwame Nantambu
May 29, 2013

Dr. Kwame NantambuThe purpose of this article is to conduct an Afri-centric, linkage analysis of the Indian Indentureship system.

In his magnum opus titled Capitalism & Slavery (1944), Dr. Eric Williams postulates that: “The immediate successor of the Amerindians was not the African but ‘poor whites’. They were regarded as ‘indentured servants’ because before leaving England, they had to sign a contract binding them to service for a stipulated period for their passage. Others were criminals/convicts who were sent by the British government to serve for a specific time on plantations in the Caribbean.” (p.9).
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Food, General T&T, India, Labour, Media, Opposition Party, People's Partnership, PNM, Politics, UNC

The Closure of Caroni (1975) Limited

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Politics before food

Sugar and Energy Festival Street Parade: October 09, 2005
Sugar and Energy Festival Street Parade – October 09, 2005

By Andre Bagoo
May 18 2013 – newsday.co.tt

THE CLOSURE of Caroni (1975) Limited and consequent devastating impact on the agriculture sector and TT’s food security, may be directly linked to political considerations surrounding the then PNM government’s fear of a repeat of the 18-18 general election deadlock of 2001, Tourism Minister Stephen Cadiz said yesterday.
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Business, General T&T, India, Media, Race and Identity

Mishra pleads for Govt to stop Indian trade fairs

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By Camille Bethel
March 20, 2013
Originally printed at
www.trinidadexpress.com/news/Mishra_pleads_for_Govt_to_stop_Indian_trade_fairs-199283991.html

lettersIndian High Commissioner Malay Mishra is calling on the Government of Trinidad and Tobago to stop the Indian trade fairs that are operating in this country.

Speaking at yesterday’s business forum held by the High Commission of India, in collaboration with the Trinidad and Tobago Chamber of Industry and Commerce, at the chamber building in Westmoorings, Mishra said the Indian government distances itself from the activities of the “so-called” Indian trade fairs.
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General T&T, India, Jamaica, Media, People's Partnership, Politics, Racism Watch

Ethnic Stocking

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By Winford James
December 13, 2012 – trinidadexpress.com

ParliamentUntil I heard the term from a WinTV reporter, I had never heard “ethnic stocking” before. The reporter called to find out what I thought about the Jamaica Observer’s observation in its editorial of December 11, that ethnic stocking was a very serious issue in Trinidad and Tobago and that, worse, it was a “centripetal” force “tearing the increasingly fragile political coalition that constitutes the Government of Trinidad and Tobago” and “(o)ne of the egregious aspects of corruption”.
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General T&T, Hindu, India, Politics, Race and Identity, Racism Watch, Religion

Let Charity Guide Our Utterances

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By Dr. Selwyn R. Cudjoe
November 14, 2012

Dr. Selwyn R. CudjoeSometimes in our enthusiasm, we say extraordinarily silly things; such as the mutterings of Dr. Neil Parsan, our Ambassador in Washington, D.C. What is one to do with the following statement: “The Indian diaspora is a formidable force in Trinidad and Tobago, the largest numerical representation in the entire Caribbean; the most well-to-do and culturally strong and progressive ethnic group in the uniquely plural society of T&T.”
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