In her Di­vali mes­sage to the na­tion, Op­po­si­tion Leader Kam­la Per­sad-Bisses­sar has urged cit­i­zens to draw strength from the fes­ti­val’s teach­ings of light tri­umph­ing over dark­ness and good over­com­ing evil.

She ex­tend­ed her wish­es to the Hin­du com­mu­ni­ty yes­ter­day, ac­knowl­edg­ing their role in build­ing the na­tion, es­pe­cial­ly dur­ing what she de­scribed as a dark time for the coun­try.

Point­ing to the re­cent up­surge in crime, do­mes­tic vi­o­lence and bul­ly­ing, Per­sad-Bisses­sar point­ed to the sym­bol­ic sto­ry of Lord Ram in Hin­du scrip­ture, where uni­ty and courage over­came malev­o­lence.

This, she said, was a pow­er­ful re­minder that T&T’s strug­gles with crime could be met with re­silience and col­lec­tive ac­tion.

She al­so en­cour­aged cit­i­zens to unite to com­bat vi­o­lence and build a safer, more hope­ful fu­ture.