East Indians Are Still Not Trinis in 2021

During the period 1991 to 2002, under the fledgling leadership of Mr. Patrick Manning, the People's National Movement was able to grow their voter base consistently until they were able to fully regain command of the government. In fact, despite losing constituencies in both 1995 and 2000, costing them the general elections, the voter turnout for the PNM had been marginally increasing from poll to poll. Commencing with 233,150 votes that claimed Mr. Manning his inaugural victory in 1991, the votes for the PNM would increase to 256,159 in 1995 and again to 276,334 in 2000 despite the PNM being relegated to Opposition on both occasions. In fact, it was only the disenchantment with two successive defeats that caused the PNM to see a reduction in their voter turnout when only 260,075 persons casted their vote for the party in 2001, causing the 18-18 tie.

Now I remember attending UNC rallies religiously during that time, and while the venues and the speakers might have changed, there were a few constants that always stood out. While the music doled out by the DJ was predominantly Caribbean, with Brother Marvin's 'Jahaji Bhai' and Bob Marley's 'Don't Worry' becoming unofficial anthems of these events, there was always one exception to this rule. It had become customary, that despite whoever may have found themselves speaking at the time, the proceedings would always be brought to a halt at the sound of tassa drums heralding the Political Leader to the stage. Because while the UNC was meant to symbolize unity and collaboration among all races in T&T, Basdeo Panday would always represent the first East Indian and Hindu Prime Minister of this country. And while this might have been a source of pride for Mr. Panday and many of his supporters at the time, it was this image that allowed the PNM to steadily grow to the point of overthrowing what was arguably the greatest administration in our history.

In the immediate aftermath of Andrea Bharatt's murder, Professor Selwyn Cudjoe wrote a column in the Trinidad Express entitled "Who really are the monsters?" in which he attempted to argue in defense of some of those persons who were suspected of the heinous crime, including two persons who had met their demise during the course of the investigation. In April 2021, Professor Cudjoe followed up his discourse with a second column "Disliking African Materials" where he likened the investigation to that of lynchings that are part of American history, and compared Inspector Mark Hernandez to Derek Chauvin, the police officer that was found guilty of murder for the killing of George Floyd. Unlike the George Floyd case however, in which police officers were investigating the case of a single counterfeit $20 bill prior to Mr. Floyd's death, the murder of Andrea Bharatt was one of the more gruesome, horrendous and tragic crimes in recent history. Unfortunately, such a thing does not register in the minds of Prof. Cudjoe, Dr. Keith Rowley, or even those responsible for her murder because of one key component. That is the fact that Andrea Bharatt had the unfortunate disadvantage of being born into an East Indian home.

Like Basdeo Panday, or Kamla Persad Bissessar, Andrea Bharatt will always be recognized by her ethnicity first and foremost among many people in this country, and as such her murder has no more significance than that of Asami Nagakiya, a Japanese national who was murdered around the Queens Park Savannah during the Carnival celebrations in 2016. But for Keith Rowley, a man who has been slowly losing the support of his voter base since becoming Prime Minister in 2015, this creates an opportunity to not only regain votes lost from the PNM base, but also further destroy the reputation of the UNC in the process. This is how we arrive at a situation where the Prime Minister can stand in Parliament to spread fear among T&T citizens by merely pointing out that the East Indian party is protesting the killing of an East Indian girl, thereby placing the lives of Trinis at risk.

In his analysis of the 1995 and 1996 elections in T&T, which was published in the international Journal of Commonwealth and Comparative Politics, Dr. Bishnu Ragoonath pointed specifically to the difference in the way both the original Africans and East Indians were allowed to treat with their heritage as the cause for divergence in the future of this nation's development. Specifically, because the Africans slaves were stripped of their ancestral culture and forced into accepting Anglo-Saxon traditions and religion made them less likely to accept and engage with the East Indian indentured workers who were allowed to keep their customs and identity. This has only been exacerbated in later years by the PNM who have woven a narrative that Trini culture and identity can only be born out of the cauldron of slavery or the melding pot of douglarization, and as such, East Indians are still treated as foreigners to this nation they helped build and develop. As such, for as long as East Indian remains as a designation to discriminate against citizens of this country, there will continue to be these heinous attacks, and worse, is those who will rise up to defend them.

Best regards,

Ravi Balgobin Maharaj