Tuesday February 9th, 2010
- Last update:10 hours 56 min ago
NCIC questions Kamal’s ‘rejection’
Published: 31 Aug 2009
President of the National Council for Indian Culture (NCIC) Deokinanan Sharma is questioning the method of selection of recipients for national awards. This, as the NCIC’s nominees for awards—former government minister Kamaluddin Mohammed and Justice of the Peace Ackbar Khan—were rejected by the National Awards Committee. Mohammed was one of two nominees for this country’s highest national award—the Order of T&T. When contacted for comment yesterday, Sharma said he was “very disappointed that a man who has done so much for this country has been rejected.”
He said Mohammed served as a councillor, a minister in several PNM governments, “and was called as Mr Caricom for his tremendous work with the regional body.” He said Mohammed was also a president of the World Health Organisation (WHO) and served those country exceedingly well. Sharma said while no one explained the reasons for rejecting a nominee, “something is very wrong about the national awards.” He said the process did not appear to be transparent and questioned whether there was “racial discrimination in the selection of awardees.” He said he did not know what a citizen had to do in this country to be rewarded with its highest award.
In response to another question, Sharma said over the years he noted the racial imbalance in the list of awardees. Secretary general of the Sanatan Dharma Maha Sabha, Sat Maharaj said yesterday that the awards could no longer be considered to be national, but instead it was the Patrick Manning’s awards. He said the SDMS had decided last year against any further participation in the awards. Maharaj said Mohammed deserved the country’s highest award but should not feel too disappointed by the rejection of his nomination. Mohammed, when contacted, said he had no comment to make on the matter. But a source said family members were very upset over the rejection.
Some always seem to believe
Some always seem to believe they see the worst in others.
Order of T&T Nominees:- Mr.
Order of T&T Nominees:-
Mr. Mohammed has served this country as a true patriot for many long years. He was the individual who should have been appointed as P.M. with the exit of Dr. Williams, but he was sidelined for another. Many opportunities were there for him, but they too were denied by the gov't in power. When questions are raised by individuals in this country about bias, bigotry and intolerance, many scream that those questioning these practices are, putting it mildly, 'idiots' or 'pushing the race card'. But this selection smacks of 'unmentionables'. No disrespect to the individual who was given this Order, but when you look at this choice with an intelligent and open mind, especially at this time when we are celebrating our Independence, you will find that there are no comparisons to justify the decision made by The President. I do not have qualified information on Justice Akbar Khan to raise concerns on his behalf. We must not only be fair in our decisions, but we must also appear to be fair. Mr. Mohammed, you have the support and respect of many in this country, and waiting for this gov't to annoint you with an Order of T&T, may never happen in this lifetime. Chin Up and Stand Tall.
To be honest I was expecting
To be honest I was expecting to see sweet Heart receive the Order of T&T. But seriously, the likes of Kamal & Errol & those of their ilk would never receive any award because the New PNM (Patrick's National Movement as the late Muriel Donawa-MacDavidson used to call her Party) banished these OLD PNM who went on to languish in the political doldrums until they committed the cardinal sin of lending a helping hand to the UNC Government. Maybe they might yet get a little Bronze posthumously or post-Patrick.
Binda I went on a Sabbatical
Binda
I went on a Sabbatical and all hell broke loose, Ethnic Cleansing, disrespect of the Mayor, begging the FIFA man to leave Bas alone, de bajan guy should have no say in we business, but the Trindian brother up in Canada could write crap from time to time. Well the new one or repetition is that the National Awards are biased against us. So Kamal deserve a National Award, so what, he did not get one this time around. Must we develop affirmative action to give him an Award? Probably all our Trindian Organisations can get together and give out National Trinidian Awards on Arrival day. And, in an appearence of fairness we can give a few awards to a few non-Trindians. We control everything else, we do not need a few National Awards to be recognised. Next, we may hear that Bas should get a National Award for neglecting his people during his tenure as a Prime Minister.
Binda, it is Indian arrival
Binda, it is Indian arrival day, not apprival day according to you and Manning...disrespect is in the bones
No way Kamal should have
No way Kamal should have been PM, no way in hell!
You are so right Gershwin,
You are so right Gershwin, "no way in hell Kamal should have been PM", he was too intelligent and hard working not to forget Indian, T&T didn't deserve a PM like that, we got the one we deserved...the dumb and duncy Chambers...ent
You said no way in hell that
You said no way in hell that Kamal could have been PM. It appears that it is ok to be a PNM supporter or PNM minister, but not good enough to be a PM under the PNM party. Do you know that if the PNM party had put Kamal as PM, non of this racial talk would exist today. You just did not want Kamal to be PM because he is an Indian regardless who's party he represent. Tell me isn't this racist talk.
Binda No disrespect my
Binda
No disrespect my brother and please do not put me in the same boat as Manning. I know what I am saying. True national unity is about inclusiveness not exclusiveness. We as a people are leaders and somehow we are not getting it. We are to lead responsibly and not follow and whine at every opportunity that presents itself. To me, the term Arrival Day is more inclusive and term it what you may, we in the diaspora are enjoying the best of life in the Western Hemisphere. Happy Independence Bro. Ram. By the way do you have a problem with the term Tr indian? Deliberate space between the word.
...preference exists, even
...preference exists, even in equality....
Kamal back in the early 90's
Kamal back in the early 90's made public statements to the effect that he wanted a "Hindu Prime Minister" in his San Juan riding and that was the ONLY criteria in his mind to hold that office I don't recall ANY prominent afro Trinis walking around T&T demanding that ONLY "Afro Christian" should be PM!
President of the National Council for Indian Culture (NCIC) Deokinanan Sharma is questioning the method of selection of recipients for national awards. This, as the NCIC’s nominees for awards—former government minister Kamaluddin Mohammed and Justice of the Peace Ackbar Khan—were rejected by the National Awards Committee. Mohammed was one of two nominees for this country’s highest national award—the Order of T&T. When contacted for comment yesterday, Sharma said he was “very disappointed that a man who has done so much for this country has been rejected.”.......Quote.
Mohamed is in my book just another sourpuss Indian unset that the UNC is no longer in power, just like Sharma.
Mike to show how duncy you
Mike to show how duncy you are, a Mohammed name is a Muslim name not a Hindu, I doubt he would have said he wanted a Hindu PM. Who are you really, Mike?, are you Manning in disguise?, You must sit and think up all crap about Indians. Would you be happy if the IndoTrinis give out their own awards?
I see Kamal and Sharma and
I see Kamal and Sharma and Sat still silent on the rapes/sexual abuse of Guyanese hindu women at the hands of Trini hindus!
Even the Guardian of de am "you eh see" partee silent.
Claxtonbay Trini Please
Claxtonbay Trini
Please people..DO NOT RESPOND TO MIKE SAMUELS.....he is a jacka?? and a RACIST.....MAY NOT EVEN BE A TRINI BECAUSE HE SEEMS TO KNOW A LOT ABOUT THE OTHER RACES read the article and then comment on the article
Claxtonbay Trini Please
Claxtonbay Trini
Please people..DO NOT RESPOND TO MIKE SAMUELS.....he is a jacka?? and a RACIST.....MAY NOT EVEN BE A TRINI BECAUSE HE SEEMS TO KNOW A LOT ABOUT THE OTHER RACES read the article and then comment on the article
What a sick disgusting
What a sick disgusting lot...
From the Bahamas all the way down every single island to Grenada and stopping at Barbados... I've been to all, and all those islands HUMAN RESOURCE and PEOPLE progress FAR better than us. Only Trinidad and Guyana have to deal year after year with dotish issues of what race get sideline or what race getting "persecuted" or what race getting fired or what race getting raped by what race or what race getting excluded from jobs, or what race "under attack". And almost always is because some political or religious leader with a personal agenda whipping empty headed dotish sheep into a racial frenzy. Change the national instrument, change the Trinity Cross, change the name Trinidad (Spanish for "Trinity"), change the schools and plant flags all over the place... Only in damn Trinidad and Guyana. As a person of mixed origin I rejoice at having the blood of both major ethnic groups coursing through my veins. I thank God everyday that it did not work out any other way. What I see of people's attitude to their fellow man in my country is repulsive and vulgar, all because some "leader" tells you so. Every single one of those other islands are BETTER THAN US. We busy beating our chest but here, we have the biggest set of racist political and religious leaders all gathered in one place. And they thrive because of a horde of brainless idiotic sheep who surrendered their god-given right to think and reason for themselves. If and when we do crash and burn our OWN country, it will be because you donkeys responded to the call of racist bastard leaders to destroy... all so they could rule over what's left of the rubble, and toss scraps for you retards to feed the families you failed.
Happy goddamn Independence Day. You people sicken me.
You are not stupid but as
You are not stupid but as they say locally dotish.Islands like Grenada, bahamas etc. etc mostly have one kind of race or say over 95 percent of the population is black. Al shapton in the USA is always in trouble because of his mouth and also fighting for his people. Of course nothing wrong with that, but an island with equal amount of blacks and Indian is obvious both races will want equal representation in all gov't business's. We in Trinidad always as you know had and have a black PM, we can live with that but the unfairness is so blatant that even a blind man can see the racial imbalance.It is so easy for INDO-TRINI to accept an AFRO-TRINI as
a PM but the other way around is very difficult.
What arrogance! Words of
What arrogance!
Words of Fire and Brimstone on the heads of the citizens of T&T.
You attempted to inform me a short while ago that you were a 'superior' being with superior intelligence, and that I, and now I may add the rest of the citizens of T&T are 'inferior' to you. From your written words which are no more than verbal diarrhoea, you are an obnoxious individual lacking in empathy. You spew venom. You appear to be lacking in confidence, and must hate the person you are. Persons like you do not know how to work among society to be a part of the solution, so will continue to be part of the problems we have a duty as patriots to fight against. If T&T and its people are so disgusting and worthless to you, then why don't you take your exit, go live in one of your 'perfect' islands you made reference to, if you are not already there, and allow us to work on accomplishing our goal of having a country we can all be proud of. With your twisted mindset, I don't believe that persons in those countries would want you living among them. We all, minus you apparently, want a country where "every creed and race find an equal place" and we will work our fingers to the bone, speaking up and fighting, when necessary, for the rights of EVERY citizen in The Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, regardless of race, creed, religious or political affiliations, or sexuality. I am a human being and do not have to advertise whether I am a person of any single race or a mixture of many. I am an individual and I have confidence in the me that I am.
Today, we celebrate our Independence and this means a lot to us. As an independent nation, we have our precious democracy, freedom of speech and freedom of movement among other things. Do you understand the principles of a free society? One of the unwritten rules is that we should not be on-lookers but rather participants in our democracy. We are our brothers and sisters keepers, and will stand up and defend their rights along with ours every step of the way. May I take the liberty of quoting to you, your words from your piece: you have "SURRENDERED YOUR GOD-GIVEN RIGHT TO THINK AND REASON".
EQUALITY FOR ALL.
PS: Should you be tempted to respond to the above, please be advised that I AM CLOSING THIS COMMUNICATION, HERE AND NOW.
And remember "THE MEEK SHALL INHERIT THE EARTH". Go in peace.
NOTE to the Guardian:- Please do not remove either commentary, as I firmly believe that our readers should have the right to read both comments and made their own democratic decisions. Thanks.
The truth DOES offend. If
The truth DOES offend.
If you vex because of the picture I painted, tough... That is the landscape that is before all of us. As soon as you take your head out of the sand you will see it too. ADMITTING the problem is the first step to fixing it.
I remain unconcerned about you closing any communication. I've never paid much attention to anything you had to say, but I have noticed the reaction of many to your posts. From what I've observed, you are not someone worthy of intelligent dialog, so thanks for the favour, you saved me the cost of a bottle of Metamucil.
Ciao!
Marchalis , the problems
Marchalis , the problems which exist between the Indians and the Africans in T&T and Guyana were created by the british colonial "masters" , so why beat up on each other - make love ; not war .
In Barbados , we are faced with a socio-economic problems owing to a large number of guyanese immigrants , mainly indo-guyanese , fleeing their homeland . I would like to recommend that all Trinbagonians should read the "History of Trinidad & Tobago" by Eric E. Williams . I am at present ,reading "India in the Caribbean" : a Hansib/University of Warwick , Centre for Caribbean Studies Publication ; edited by Dr.David Dabydeen & Dr.Brinsley Samaroo .
The arrival of the Indians and the Africans in T&T and Guyana are not the same - the Africans arrived in chains as slaves ; while the Indians arrived as indentured servants and were free to return to India , eventhough , many have chosen to stay .
I would like to opine that more inter-racial unions/marriages should be encouraged by the political/religious leaders in T&T .
ATW - Barbados .
Got a question for you:
Got a question for you: Where are the colonial masters?
They've been gone 47 years, and STILL we have not learned a thing except how to continue what they started. Independence can be spelt as a 4-letter word: J-O-K-E. We tied to the Privy Council, and a political leader who once championed abandoning the PC now begging the people to retain the PC, for his known selfish agenda. Every time we have national awards you have the usual racists chanting their garbage, supported by other equally idiotic fools... some of which can be seen here on this forum. Scrapping the awards is a knee-jerk reaction and will solve nothing... but is ah good good start.
Please be very careful when you advocate that more inter-racial unions/marriages be encouraged. While it is something that I personally favour 1000 percent, there are religious and political leaders, and some high profile lawyers, that would lynch you, burn your body and throw the ashes into a lava pit. Don't doubt that for a moment. And for the benefit of the non-thinker, while I do not make it a point to "advertise" my ethnicity, I did it to put what I said into context. It is also something that I am very VERY proud of. So hear something, if hearing it from a mixed person does get you vex, TOO DAMN BAD!! I am of MIXED ORIGIN, the two main ethnicities plus some others, and DAMN glad for it. Were it such that I was "pure" one way or the other, I would have to be saddled personally with the same crap the nation grapples with regularly. And I for one am sick of it. Some fool says something and another equally intellectually challenged dunce replies. Our biggest problem is race talk, because it severely weakens the human resource. If the religious and political mis-leaders LEAVE PEOPLE ALONE, everyone will get along wonderfully. That premise is borne out by the fact that persons of mixed ethnicities are the fastest growing group in the country today, much to the disgust of the same religious and political leaders who pushing the panic button harder than ever because they seeing an erosion of their support base. So I suppose there is still hope for Trinidad.
That notwithstanding, I stand by every single word of my post.
Binda Hey Persaud you are
Binda
Hey Persaud you are missing the point. It is not that Trindians are easy to accept Afro- Trini PM, but the afros are able to get the other races including some of us Trindians to join their band wagon. We run a party of exclusiveness and we preach national unity but the rest of the population see through our masquerade.Probably we can develop a national agenda and stop the whinning and we may get into Government for a long period. And by the way Kamal was a neemakaram to his Party-PNM so why should they give him a National Award. If we were in power would you agree that we should give Ramesh Maharaj a national Award? Probably you would, and that may be based on his ethnicity. Is he not a neemakaram?