The Sat Maharaj Thread

[capodetutticapi]

f**k that....HINDU PEOPLE IS RACIST.

[weary1969]

DON'T BLOCK HER
Tim to Sat on Tunapuna Hindu School principal:
By Kimberly Castillo

Story Created: Nov 20, 2011 at 10:49 PM ECT

Story Updated: Nov 20, 2011 at 10:49 PM ECT

The row between Tunapuna Hindu Primary School principal Sita Gajadharsingh-Nanga and secretary-general of the Sanatan Dharma Maha Sabha Sat Maharaj entered another phase yesterday, with Education Minister Dr Tim Gopeesingh's announcement that the principal must be allowed to resume her duties today.

At a news conference yesterday at the Ministry's head office in St Clair, he said his Ministry fully supports the ruling by the Teaching Service Commission (TSC) that she must go back to her job.

"Given that this matter was initially referred to the Teaching Service Commission for investigation, and in light of the fact that the said Commission is an independent institution of the State, the Ministry of Education must act according to the rulings of the Teaching Service Commission until it completes its investigations into this matter and delivers its final judgment," Gopeesingh said.

"Therefore its ruling that the principal should be allowed to resume her duties until otherwise directed is binding and will be supported by the Ministry of Education," he added.

On Saturday, the TSC, in a paid advertisement in the newspapers, said it had instructed the Ministry to allow Gajadharsingh-Nanga to report for work today. The TSC stated clearly that while the investigation was ongoing, Gajadharsingh-Nanga should carry out her duties as principal at the school.

The threat of violence was raised on Friday by Maharaj, who said he feared the principal's presence at the school could evoke a violent reaction from parents who wanted her out of the school.

He said, therefore, the education board of the SDMS was prepared to continue to prevent her from entering the school compound.

However, Gopeesingh said any act of violence will not be tolerated and the law will deal with any volatile situation, should the need arise.

"Regarding media reports of the alleged threat of violence in the matter, I want to make it abundantly clear that this is untenable and unacceptable and has no place, especially in the nation's schools and the wider society. This will not be tolerated in our schools," Gopeesingh stated emphatically.

He called for good sense to prevail by all parties directly involved in this matter, and also urged the SDMS board, parents and principal of the Tunapuna Hindu Primary School to arrive at a peaceful compromise while a final decision is reached in this issue.

The Education Minister, Maha Sabha education board of management, Gajadharsingh-Nanga and the TSC will meet today at 11 a.m. at the Ministry of Education.

Prior to this, however, Gajadharsingh-Nanga is expected to take up her duties at the school from 8 a.m.

Gopeesingh also defended his handling of the situation, reiterating that from the very outset, the Education Ministry did not have a direct role in the matter.

The Maha Sabha board and the principal complained to the TSC—an independent institution of the State—and, as such, the TSC was mandated and legally empowered to conduct an investigation into the matter, he said.

"...I have a duty to ensure that no investigation into any matter in the education sector, including this one, is tainted by any comments from me or any other Ministry of Education official that would lend to the perception of bias in any form or fashion. I was executing my duties in a proper manner and for this I make no apologies," he said.

The controversial situation at the Tunapuna Hindu Primary School gained nationwide attention on November 9, when People's National Movement MP Patricia McIntosh read a letter in Parliament which was written by Gajadharsingh-Nanga to the TSC earlier this year.

In the letter, the principal claimed she was ordered by Maharaj to block the enrollment of children of African ethnicity into the school.

She also alleged that Maharaj instructed her to remove any African children from the school and to reject trainees of the On-the-Job training programme who were non-Indian and non-Hindu.

Maharaj had denied this, saying he was being vilified as a "black hater". He counter-accused Gajadharsingh-Nanga of not ensuring Hindu prayers were said at the school and not enforcing a proper dress-code for teachers in the school.

On October 24, two school supervisors accompanied Gajadharsingh-Nanga to the school, but they were all denied entry.

They summoned the police to instruct the security guard to allow them entry. They also had to summon fire officers to break the locks of two doors to gain entry to the principal's office.

The next day, they returned again and were prevented from entering the compound. Sat Maharaj, accompanied by Transport Minister Devant Maharaj, then went to the Tunapuna Police Station to press charges against the principal, the two school supervisors and the police and the fire officers who had accompanied them to the school the previous day.

Chronology of events in the matter involving Sita Gajadharsingh-Nanga, principal, Tunapuna Hindu Primary School, and the Sanatan Dharma Maha Sabha (SDMS) board: June 17—Sita Gajadharsingh-Nanga writes to the Teaching Service Commission (TSC), requesting a transfer to a Government primary school and making numerous allegations about the SDMS board. August 10—Secretary-general of the SDMS Sat Maharaj writes to the TSC, supporting Gajadharsingh-Nanga's request for a transfer and making allegations against her. August 22—Memorandum from the TSC to the Ministry of Education, seeking the Ministry's comments/recommendations with respect to: • Gajadharsingh-Nanga's request for a transfer; • the issue raised by both Gajadharsingh-Nanga and Maharaj; • a report submitted by the School Supervisor lll, St George East Regional Education District. August 30—Memorandum from the Ministry of Education to the TSC, stating comments on issues raised by the Commission. September 2—Memorandum from School Supervisor lll Mr Deoraj to the Permanent Secretary, advising that Gajadharsingh-Nanga reported for duty at the school. September 2—Letter from SDMS secretary-general to Gajadharsingh-Nanga, advising her to report for duty at the St George East Education District. September 26—Memorandum from Director of Personal Administration to the Ministry of Education, requesting that the Permanent Secretary take steps to ensure the principal be allowed to carry out her duties at the school. Further, if there are any allegations of misconduct against Gajadharsingh-Nanga, the Permanent Secretary is required to investigate these allegations and inform the Commission of the results immediately on conclusion of the investigation. October 14—Letter from the Ministry of Education to SDMS secretary-general, confirming that unless Gajadharsingh-Nanga is transferred or otherwise directed by the TSC, the Ministry and the SDMS have no authority to debar her from reporting for duty at the Tunapuna Hindu Primary School. October 20—Letter from the TSC, dated October 20, 2011 (received by Ministry of Education on October 24), to the Ministry to conduct investigations into the matter. • Two school supervisors appointed by the Ministry to investigate the matter; • Reports given to Ministry on Friday, November 11; • Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Education, wrote to the TSC, through the Director of Personnel Administration (DPA), providing the report of the investigating officers on November 15, 2011. October 24—Gajadharsingh-Nanga, accompanied by School Supervisors lll and ll attached to the St George East Education District Office, went to the school but was blocked by security.

[Brownsugar]

Listening to Tim and Kamla and all ah who pretending to be concerned and "will not tolerate racism" you would swear dem only know bout this yesterday eh.  This story bruk out since June/July.  And they (especially Tim as Edu Min.) did nothing about it.....steups!!  bunch ah firetrucking jokers....

[weary1969]

D 12 o'clock news say d parents keeping the children home. D PTA president say it is not about race but that d Principal cloe down d computer room etc.   

[mal jeux]

D 12 o'clock news say d parents keeping the children home. D PTA president say it is not about race but that d Principal cloe down d computer room etc.   

now that is BS. The chirren can't even watch manjula cook on youtube? Or 'like' Amita on fassbook?

[mal jeux]

f**k that....HINDU PEOPLE IS RACIST.

distance yuhself all you want, you can't hide from that piece ah Hindu you have in yuh blood stream.

[weary1969]

D 12 o'clock news say d parents keeping the children home. D PTA president say it is not about race but that d Principal cloe down d computer room etc.   

now that is BS. The chirren can't even watch manjula cook on youtube? Or 'like' Amita on fassbook?

 

[ProudTrinbagonian]

f**k that....HINDU PEOPLE IS RACIST.

distance yuhself all you want, you can't hide from that piece ah Hindu you have in yuh blood stream.

considering it's been around since 1700 BC, and the world's oldest living religion, I'm sure we all have a piece in our bloodstream...

allyuh need to get off the race thing...it's people religion you talking about.  If you mad at certain members of the Indian population say what yuh want; you have a free mind, but don't talk about religion.

D 12 o'clock news say d parents keeping the children home. D PTA president say it is not about race but that d Principal cloe down d computer room etc.   

now that is BS. The chirren can't even watch manjula cook on youtube? Or 'like' Amita on fassbook?

 

yeah, would be better off they watch sum passa passa?
how about listen to some violent music instead...

 

if there is some kind of discrimination in your belief, fighting back with more discrimination is not mature nor the way forward.

[lefty]

allyuh need to get off the race thing...

allyuh .........what about d agenda dat being pushed from d shadows steups

[mal jeux]

f**k that....HINDU PEOPLE IS RACIST.

distance yuhself all you want, you can't hide from that piece ah Hindu you have in yuh blood stream.

considering it's been around since 1700 BC, and the world's oldest living religion, I'm sure we all have a piece in our bloodstream...

allyuh need to get off the race thing...it's people religion you talking about.  If you mad at certain members of the Indian population say what yuh want; you have a free mind, but don't talk about religion.

D 12 o'clock news say d parents keeping the children home. D PTA president say it is not about race but that d Principal cloe down d computer room etc.   

now that is BS. The chirren can't even watch manjula cook on youtube? Or 'like' Amita on fassbook?

 

yeah, would be better off they watch sum passa passa?
how about listen to some violent music instead...

 

if there is some kind of discrimination in your belief, fighting back with more discrimination is not mature nor the way forward.

que? Patel doh get your dhoti in a knot young fella.

what is passa passa?

[ProudTrinbagonian]

allyuh need to get off the race thing...

allyuh .........what about d agenda dat being pushed from d shadows steups

not intended for everyone, just the ones I quoted....

que? Patel doh get your dhoti in a knot young fella.

what is passa passa?

passa passa is found along with manjula on youtube and amita on facebook
that's my point that you continue with your Patel comment...it shows ignorance...grow up

[Jah Gol]

Right thinking members of the faith and especially the parents of pupils at the school need to be more vocal here. Quite frankly Sat has thrown them under the bus with his remarks. Now I didn't hear the report but it seems that the PTA who has up to this point remained silent is not doing itself any favours either. Sat never raised that issue (computer room) at all and furthermore if the PTA did in fact support the blocking of the principal why didn't they support Sat. It stands to reason that Sat heard of the OJTs story rather than witnessed it first hand, I'm just saying.

There is a lot of room for speculation and name calling. What is clear however is that Sat has no respect for the legitimate state authorities responsible for the education sector and has persecuted an employee of the state. I'm not sure how this is not in infringement on the rights of a worker if not totally illegal and that is even if we accept Sat's account of the tale, he still wrong.

[Brownsugar]

Mouth open, story jumping out on I95.5 fm right now!!!  The contents of a letter from the Principal to the SDMS board earlier this year is being read out.   Is all kinda madness going on in this place yes!!!!...

[Bourbon]

Mouth open, story jumping out on I95.5 fm right now!!!  The contents of a letter from the Principal to the SDMS board earlier this year is being read out.   Is all kinda madness going on in this place yes!!!!...

Such as?

[mal jeux]

allyuh need to get off the race thing...

allyuh .........what about d agenda dat being pushed from d shadows steups

not intended for everyone, just the ones I quoted....

que? Patel doh get your dhoti in a knot young fella.

what is passa passa?

passa passa is found along with manjula on youtube and amita on facebook
that's my point that you continue with your Patel comment...it shows ignorance...grow up

your progressive leader Sat blocked us from youtube. Say we adopting non-hindu traits. thanks to the almighty I'm a muslim indian oui. does that make me a madinga?

btw your passa passa statement have racial undertones as you asserted mine had. but you're a grown fella without ignorance so thats ok.

[weary1969]

Mouth open, story jumping out on I95.5 fm right now!!!  The contents of a letter from the Principal to the SDMS board earlier this year is being read out.   Is all kinda madness going on in this place yes!!!!...

Such as?

CO-SIGNNNNNN doh leave we hanging

[Jah Gol]

Mouth open, story jumping out on I95.5 fm right now!!!  The contents of a letter from the Principal to the SDMS board earlier this year is being read out.   Is all kinda madness going on in this place yes!!!!...

Such as?

CO-SIGNNNNNN doh leave we hanging

From what I remember.

Well the same problem they had with the two non-indian OJTs

SDMS staff throw mud and manure on her car during Phagwa celebrations

Some other children decided to wash it off with hoses and  SDMS threatened to publish pictures claiming the principal was encouraging child labour

There is a teacher that often is missing from class while he at the radio station on the same compound .The principal was cursed out by the board and told that when the said teacher was at the radio station that she should consider him in class.

During her time as Pricipal SEA performance has improved and demand for new entrants has increased.

The school supervisor who of course is an employee of the MoE apparently has a very close relationship with the board.


 

[weary1969]

Mouth open, story jumping out on I95.5 fm right now!!!  The contents of a letter from the Principal to the SDMS board earlier this year is being read out.   Is all kinda madness going on in this place yes!!!!...

Such as?

CO-SIGNNNNNN doh leave we hanging

From what I remember.

Well the same problem they had with the two non-indian OJTs

SDMS staff throw mud and manure on her car during Phagwa celebrations

Some other children decided to wash it off with hoses and  SDMS threatened to publish pictures claiming the principal was encouraging child labour

There is a teacher that often is missing from class while he at the radio station on the same compound .The principal was cursed out by the board and told that when the said teacher was at the radio station that she should consider him in class.

During her time as Pricipal SEA performance has improved and demand for new entrants has increased.

The school supervisor who of course is an employee of the MoE apparently has a very close relationship with the board.


 

I heard d latest is that she can return pending d transfer. All these board people now want transfer 2 govt schools. Dat wrong because pentecostals for eg cyah get a wuk in dem school so dey ltd in their choices.

[weary1969]

Sat, principal in deal
Principal returns to work...while she seeks transfer
By Renuka Singh

The potentially volatile stand-off between the Education Board of the Sanatan Dharma Maha Sabha (SDMS) and the principal assigned to the Tunapuna Hindu School entered yet another phase yesterday, with both sides reaching an agreement.

Following two hours of conciliation talks mediated by Education Minister Dr Tim Gopeesingh between the SDMS Education Board and the Trinidad and Tobago Unified Teachers' Association (TTUTA), representing principal Sita Gajadharsingh-Nanga, a decision was reached to allow the principal to return to work today.

The SDMS Education Board, which was represented by secretary general of the SDMS Satnarayan Maharaj, has agreed to support the principal's return.

The principal will continue to preside at the SDMS school until her request to be transferred to a government primary school is approved by the Teaching Service Commission.

The principal had been in a standoff with Maharaj for over five months with allegations and counter-allegations being made by both parties.

The Commission last Friday directed the principal, who had been locked out of the school, to return today.

But protesting parents led by the school's PTA president Ishwar Mutoo erected banners and posters on the perimeter fence and main gate vowing to pull their children from the school if the principal returns.

At the school's compound white tarpaulin was stretched across the main gate calling Gajadharsingh-Nanga a "Traitor to Dharma", several posters listing her alleged misdeeds at the school were also stuck along the interior perimeter wall of the school compound, where curious pupils moved from sign to sign reading their parents' views on their principal's behaviour.

Gates to the classrooms remained locked and as many as 500 pupils were forced to return home shortly after 9 a.m. yesterday.

"We will prevent our children from coming to this school if she returns," Muttoo said. "We are prepared to shut down the school," he said.

Mutoo said he was calling on Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar to step in, because Gopeesingh was being "misguided" in this matter.

"If the school supervisors were doing their jobs in the two-and-half years, they would have known what was going on in the school. They would have known that the reading room was not functioning, that stationery was stocked up and not being used," he said.

Commenting on the outcome of the conciliation meeting, Gopeesingh said the agreement included the principal's request for transfer to a government school and Maharaj's promise to "do all within his power" to encourage parents to accept the agreement.

"The Ministry of Education has agreed to hold discussions with the Teaching Service Commission on this matter (the request for transfer)," Gopeesingh said.

"A School Supervisor III, to be determined by the ministry, will be directly responsible to ensure satisfactory return of the principal and the day-to-day management of the school in conjunction with the SDMS board," he said.

Gopeesingh said his ministry would hold discussions with the TSC on the matter of the transfer.

The signed agreement, which was written by Gopeesingh, effectively gagged all parties from speaking publicly on the matter.

The Express learned the transfer may be approved as early as next term, but with the level of discontent prevalent at the school, there is a concern that it might not be soon enough.

[weary1969]

Rowley: Govt allowed it to get out of hand
By Ria Taitt Political Editor

Opposition Leader Dr Keith Rowley yesterday slammed Government for allowing the situation at the Tunapuna Hindu Primary School to get to the stage it had, stating that Government felt "beholden to a vote-bank" allegedly controlled by Sanatan Dharma Maha Sabha secretary general Satnarayan Maharaj.

The Opposition Leader appealed to the entire Hindu community to urge Sat Maharaj and those who support him not to go down this road. Rowley called on the authorities to ensure that the school is opened today with principal Sita Gajadharsingh-Nanga there with her charges, allowing teaching to take place.

"There ought not to be a situation where Tunapuna Hindu School is closed. That means the children are not at school, the teachers are not at work, the principal remains away from her job. That means that original problem that caused this development is holding sway.

"That means that the ministry has been unable to do what the Teaching Service Commission says the ministry must do, which is to make sure that the circumstances are such that the teacher (principal) can walk in there this morning and continue her duty. And I find this very worrisome.

"There ought to be no situation today where the school is closed," he said at a news conference at his Charles St office.

Told that there was a sign on the school gate saying that the principal was a traitor to her dharma, Rowley said: "You'll understand what I am saying. This thing that started as behind-closed-doors difference of opinion or unfair action on the part of one individual to another, you see where it has reached.

"I hope when the broadcast appears on BBC news that in Trinidad and Tobago these kinds of developments (are taking place)—children can't go to school—and we are compared with what happened in Northern Ireland and Lebanon and where else in the world where people have come to grief, I hope the silent majority will realise that they have to raise their voices now against this outrage.

"This is an outrage which must not be tolerated by the decent people of Trinidad and Tobago. It should never have come to this. If the Government had acted definitely and expeditiously at the beginning. But the Government chose not to act because office-holders in this Government see themselves as beholden to the vote bank supposedly controlled by Sat Maharaj.

"And that is why the Minister of Education had not acted (sooner), why the Prime Minister did not intervene before and why the leader of the COP (Prakesh Ramadhar) made the stupid statement that he did about (political parties ie PNM) playing the race card, when in fact what we were dealing with was an administrative resistance to the laws of Trinidad and Tobago."

He added, however, that there was some light at the end of this tunnel. He cited the position taken by the Prime Minister that if charges of racial discrimination were true, then it was unacceptable and should not be tolerated.

He also welcomed statements by Minister of Education, Dr Tim Gopeesingh, condemning any threat of violence and also his support for the ruling of the Teaching Service Commission that the principal should not be blocked from resuming her duties at the school.

[weary1969]

Pundit: Parents were pushed

"I am not trying to interpret what the parents did, but if they did make a statement like 'Traitor to Dharma' it probably could mean that the principal denied certain privileges to the children."

This according to Pundit Lutchmidath Persad Maharaj, public relations officer of the Pandits Parishaad of the Sanatan Dharma Maha Sabha, when asked to interpret the banner yesterday.

"In Hinduism, one of the fundamental pillars is the education of our children. There is even a goddess assigned to inspire children with the acquisition of knowledge.

"What I believe, from my interaction in meetings, is that the principal had prevented the children from using the library facilities, she shut down the computer lab, she prevented the children from accessing books which the government provided for many years.

"The government had sent new furniture. The parents have been complaining about the dilapidated state of the furniture and she had the new furniture locked away in rooms. My humble interpretation, and I'm not saying that this is the interpretation of the Maha Sabha, would have been that the parents saw her as preventing the children from accessing educational opportunities which in itself is unrighteous," he said.

"With the preschool she did not implement the proper processes with the teaching of the prayer which is a very essential and fundamental part of the Maha Sabha school," he said.

[elan]

Anyone could tell me where in T&T the Catholic school is? The one that does only take Catholic and Catholic tecahers? By the way are Catholics Black, white, mulatto, etc?

Also the Baptist schools that only allow baptist students, I kinda like how they do things? Anybody?

[Bourbon]

This is curious.


On news last night....it mentioned SEVERAL parents brought their children to school yesterday...but found it closed.

In the words of the PTA president "Even if the school wasnt closed....there would be no school anyway."

And den in papers...you read this:

But protesting parents led by the school's PTA president Ishwar Mutoo erected banners and posters on the perimeter fence and main gate vowing to pull their children from the school if the principal returns.

At the school's compound white tarpaulin was stretched across the main gate calling Gajadharsingh-Nanga a "Traitor to Dharma", several posters listing her alleged misdeeds at the school were also stuck along the interior perimeter wall of the school compound, where curious pupils moved from sign to sign reading their parents' views on their principal's behaviour.

Gates to the classrooms remained locked and as many as 500 pupils were forced to return home shortly after 9 a.m. yesterday.

"We will prevent our children from coming to this school if she returns," Muttoo said. "We are prepared to shut down the school," he said.

Interesting. I doh know if it correct for me to infer that the PTA head leading the instigations and the perception that the parents against the teachers. To me the next question if that inference is correct would be.....why? Encouragment by Sat?

[elan]

The Black men with the LONG tail coming for them. Bahhahahhaaaaaaa

[Jah Gol]

This is curious.


On news last night....it mentioned SEVERAL parents brought their children to school yesterday...but found it closed.

In the words of the PTA president "Even if the school wasnt closed....there would be no school anyway."

And den in papers...you read this:

But protesting parents led by the school's PTA president Ishwar Mutoo erected banners and posters on the perimeter fence and main gate vowing to pull their children from the school if the principal returns.

At the school's compound white tarpaulin was stretched across the main gate calling Gajadharsingh-Nanga a "Traitor to Dharma", several posters listing her alleged misdeeds at the school were also stuck along the interior perimeter wall of the school compound, where curious pupils moved from sign to sign reading their parents' views on their principal's behaviour.

Gates to the classrooms remained locked and as many as 500 pupils were forced to return home shortly after 9 a.m. yesterday.

"We will prevent our children from coming to this school if she returns," Muttoo said. "We are prepared to shut down the school," he said.

Interesting. I doh know if it correct for me to infer that the PTA head leading the instigations and the perception that the parents against the teachers. To me the next question if that inference is correct would be.....why? Encouragment by Sat?

I will repeat my call for right thinking members of the faith to come out and condemn the actions of the sdms and now the PTA. This looking real bad .Capo made a statement that was an unfair generalization of the larger group of people but this is a clear indication of the policy of the leadership of the largest Hindu body in the country.

[congo]

We not on a State of Emergency. How those parents allowed to protests and gather??

[mukumsplau]

heard david muhammad read out ad verbatim some of the things that were uttered from sat's mouth...my word...digging into several black figures who he percieved to be anti-goverment...from morgan job (a lot a lot of derogatory stuff was said), jennfer baptiste (prime ASS), natalee legore (sees a marijuana plant when he sees her), etc etc there were some others...and this man has the backing of kamla and her cabal

[sammy]

wow, did Sat emerge last year?

[weary1969]

Sat: I love Black people
“My wish is that our people would live together”
Published: Sun, 2011-11-27 20:47

Q: Mr Maharaj, what do you have against Black people?
A: (A brief astonished expression then a burst of laughter at his Radio Jagriti office off the Churchill-Roosevelt Highway in Tunapuna on Wednesday morning) I love Black people, they are some of the most attractive of our citizens. What I detest is ignorance.

In what context?
Total political ignorance; ignorant about the facts, ignorant of things that they know nothing about, and those who are totally influenced by the negative aspects of the politics of the land.

So those who label you a racist are ignorant?
Not only are they ignorant, they themselves are the racists. They try to throw this on somebody else. Each one of us has natural affinities to our clan, to our communities, to our religion but we don’t use that as a measuring rod for our relationship with other people.

An accusation levelled against you Mr Maharaj, is that you have said if any of your children should marry a Black person you would disown them?
That, my friend, is a total and absolute fabrication.

You can swear to that on the Bhagavad Gita?
I swear by the (raised voice)... I, uh…why should I have to swear to anybody? Why do I have to swear to you or anybody else? I have never said that! What I said is if my daughter marries somebody who the family doesn’t approve of we reserve the right to accept or reject...and that still holds. And that is the case with many families in this country; not only Hindu families...the right to accept or reject.

What do you feel is the cause of this constant vilification of Sat Maharaj?
They need somebody...you see, for the PNM to survive it needs the Black/Indian divide to exist, for they cannot survive because they have no policy, no programmes that can attract people back to their party. What they should be doing is talking about their plans for the future.
 
What do you mean they have no policy or programme, what about the Vision 2020?
(Throwing his arms wide open) What vision? That was a backward vision which they picked up from the waste paper basket of other countries. Since Dr Eric Williams, nobody in that party has had any vision. None whosoever! Their only vision is to rape the treasury.

Mr Maharaj, weren’t you once a strong supporter of the PNM, actually speaking on their platform?
(He explains he parted with the PNM immediately after the 1981 general election campaign during which the PNM had mounted an “Ah Fraid Karl” strategy instilling imaginary fears in the electorate against Karl Hudson-Philips,QC, then political leader of the Organisation for National Reconstruction). That was sufficient because of the fear they aimed against Mr Hudson-Phillips; The same modus operandi the PNM is relying on today. Total fabrication! Fear, racial fear.

In this imbroglio at the Tunapuna Hindu School an agreement was reached that nobody should speak publicly about it?
(Interrupting)  No. No. The agreement is no party will attack the other party, right? Maybe I should give you a copy of the agreement. (He pulls out two copies of the accord which was hand written by Education Minister Dr Tim Gopeesingh who brokered the deal) This is the handwriting of the minister, which states in part:  “TTUTA has categorically denied making any charge of racism against the SDMS and the SDMS has also categorically denied any racism in any of their schools.” The principal was right there when the matter was being discussed.

Did she deny making that statement?
Well, she signed the document, too. She signed it.

Do you agree with the criticism levelled against Dr Gopeesingh that he failed to act in the dispute which allowed it to get out of hand?
Total falsehood. I mean, the same people are saying the Teaching Service Commission has the authority...not the Minister of Education. All the authority he has is what he did in bringing the parties together to effect conciliation. MP McIntosh raised this in the Parliament. Did she first bring it to your attention, particularly the charges levelled against you before taking it to the legislature? Mrs McIntosh told a lot of lies in the legislature in this matter, and I want to tell you that we have written the Speaker of the House this morning requesting that our side of the story be placed into the Hansard (The verbatim record of debates in the Parliament).

Clevon, what is absolutely stunning is that this honourable lady never bothered to take up the telephone and make some simple inquiries to ascertain if these allegations levelled against me by the principal were true. I just cannot believe that kind of conduct from someone aspiring to high political office. She never made any attempt to send anybody here to check the veracity of the claim that I do not want African children in our school. Deliberate lies! They are not mere fabrications.

Mr Maharaj, is it fair to accuse Mrs McIntosh?
(A sharp interjection, shaking a finger at Raphael’s face) Listen Clevon, stop there man! Let me finish! You don’t guide this discussion. If you go to the Enterprise Hindu School you will find 70 per cent of the pupils of African descent. Seventy-per cent! The dynamics have changed. Right in this school 55 Afro-Trinis are on the roll. Further, in September 1952, when the Tunapuna Hindu School—which was located in a temple next to the Royal Castle outlet—opened, the first pupil admitted was an Afro-Trini who went on to become the principal of the El Dorado Secondary School.

There are 300 children of African descent at the Sangre Grande Hindu School. She is trying to create a racial problem, not trying to find out if there is a racial problem. If she had gone to Arima Hindu School 60 per cent are Afro-Trinis.

These are hard, undisputable facts?
Clevon, I am not manufacturing that. Go and see for yourself and talk to the principal rather than talking to me.

If race is not the issue what exactly is the genesis of this problem, something personal between you and the principal?
We signed this agreement which says that none of us will pursue it further, but if you look at our complaints against the principal you will get an idea why we are so upset. However, there are two other primary schools in this area where the principals are laws unto themselves, the boards have no control over them and I think they have been trying to influence the negatives the principal here want to indulge in.

This current imbroglio has resurrected the debate on whether the Concordat with the Government and the denominational boards should be scrapped. Which side of the argument are you on?
Scrap it? The Concordat has worked well for Trinidad and Tobago but some people believe that it is just a sheet of paper that was signed many years ago. That is not the Concordat. It is also all the conventions in the education system that have been developed since then.

You are aware Mrs McIntosh is in favour of having another look at the Concordat?
Because she has nothing to lose. She has not built a school, she has not developed a community, and she is now trying to mislead a whole country.

So where do you go from here?
The agreement has been signed, and she is to be reassigned so that is now history. Look Clevon, you are now on the compound of the school. Do you hear a sound coming out of that school where there are more than 400 pupils? That is discipline…total discipline.

What sort of danger do you see if the accord should be done away with?
The country would suffer because you would lose a whole cadre of people with experience in running schools. Running a school is not just teaching and writing. Every morning we teach the children to pray, to respect authority. And when you come here at 8.30 in the morning you will hear the children praying together, singing the bhajans together. Part of the problem in the school system is the breakdown in discipline, students becoming pregnant…why didn’t she speak out against those ills?

Mr Maharaj, I wish you will not use this forum to attack the goodly lady in her absence, as it were? (An incredulous stare) She attacked me! She didn’t talk to the Maha Sabha! Nobody spoke to us and she attacked us behind our backs at 10 o’clock in the night in the Parliament. So what you are trying to tell me? Look Clevon, don’t let us fall out here today. (Laughs) Fair is fair. You don’t expect me to stay here and take verbal blows based on complete falsehood and do not respond.

Mr Maharaj, in spite of whatever your detractors might say you have indeed contributed to national development.  What is your greatest wish for the land of your birth at this time?
My wish is that our people would live together. We will share the good times together, we will share bad times together. When the floods come we all cry together, and when the oil starts flowing again we would all benefit together. I am a Trinidadian more than to the bone...a Trini to the marrow. The politician from time to time try to create problems and tensions. But go to the countryside and you will be amazed to see how we all live as one.
 
Mr Maharaj, all your life you have been a magnet for controversy—you have just turned 80—when would your controversial persona end?
(Face lit up and in a very animated state) It will come to an end when I am taken to the banks of the Caroni River for cremation. I built that specially for me (thumping his chest). You better believe that, others are using it right now (a large smile), but that was built for me. I told my wife (deceased), I told my friends I want to be cremated there. I grew up on the banks of that river and that cremation site is where I am going to end my days.­

[asylumseeker]

Govt must rethink the 1960 Concordat
Posted: Wednesday, March 12, 2003

by George Alleyne, Newsday/TT

Government must rethink the Concordat which the Roman Catholic Church, then headed by the powerful Archbishop Count Finbar Ryan, pressured it to agree to in 1960. Dr Eric Williams, then Premier of Trinidad and Tobago, smarting under the six-four defeat his Party, the People's National Movement, had received from the Democratic Labour Party in the March 25, 1958 Federal Elections, feared that opposition from the Church may have led to a further defeat in the 1961 General Election.

He had been witness to that opposition in the run-up to the General Election of September 24, 1956, when Roman Catholic priests had attacked the PNM from the pulpit up to the day before the election. Indeed, on Sunday, September 23, a newspaper featuring on its front page a statement by a priest, juxtaposed the photographs of Williams and the late Nazi dictator, Adolf Hitler. But the concerns of the Church (incidentally, the Catholics had been joined by other religious groups) were understandable. Finbar Ryan wanted to continue the old British and European custom of maintaining the Church's commanding position in education, even when that position was funded by taxpayers' money.

Williams had clearly preferred the approach of the United States, which in the late 19th century had banned the running and/or the subsidising of parochial schools with taxpayers' funds. The Irish-born Archbishop Ryan was British or European in his thinking with respect to primary and secondary education and Trinidad and Tobago was still a British colony. It was a thinking that ran contrary to that enunciated by Thomas Jefferson in 1779, who had urged "a crusade against ignorance" in his insistence on State-funded, State-run schools. Continued Jefferson: "The tax which will be paid for this purpose is not more than a thousandth part of what will be paid to kings, priests and nobles, who will rise up among us if we leave the people in ignorance." Williams would, however, yield for what to him were pragmatic reasons.

Although the Concordat would not be wholly a victory for the Church, the Church, indeed all religions and sects, which controlled secondary schools, would be allowed to select 20 per cent of the persons entering their schools annually 'based' on the then 11-plus examination. The first line of discrimination, which would emerge, would be based on religion, or was it a mixture of religion and privilege? It ran counter to the philosophy of United States President Lyndon B Johnson's Head Start programme, which he had created in 1965. Admittedly, Johnson's Head Start was for pre-schoolers and ran in the summer months, rather than year round. But it was essentially for children of lower income families, and aimed at giving them a needed opportunity of achieving success later in school, primary, and secondary.

Many children of lower income families were nudged aside in the application of the powers conferred by the State-Church arrangement, and those receiving the Head Start under the Concordat were instead sons and daughters of far better positioned middle and upper middle income families. It was clearly unjust and deprived many a bright schoolchild of a deserved chance at upward mobility. Government should and must move with despatch to deal with this cruel absurdity of privilege conferred. There must be a rethink of the Concordat, not to see in what way it can be improved, but rather how quickly it can be consigned to the dustbin of history.

Nothing which I have written should be construed to mean that I am anti any of the religions, which took part in the creation of the Concordat, and whose well positioned members' sons and daughters benefited, if not by any education opportunity gained, at least simply by being there. Or was their merely occupying seats at what so many love to call prestige schools a genuine benefit? What of the forced price paid by those who have been marginalised by the Concordat? Government should set a date for the end of this system. I will not suggest a date, though my preference is for this year's SEA examinations to be the last under which the system of privilege continues, admission wise.

Taxpayers' money should not be employed to fund and maintain privilege. Instead, there should be equality of opportunity for all. Schoolchildren should be able to gain access to the schools of their choice, not on the basis of who their fathers are, or what their religion is, but on marks gained in the SEA through "toiling upwards in the night". Was it not the economist W W Rostow, who would say in an article - The Take-off Into Self-Sustained Growth - published in the Economic Journal of March, 1956, two months after Dr Williams launched his People's National Movement: "Education, for some at least, broadens and changes to suit the needs of modern economic activity." For the past 42 years and more the "some" did not include the Concordat marginalised sons and daughters of lower income families, save perhaps for the odd case here and there. The Finbar Ryans of this world have had their say. It is time for the nation to 'cut its losses' and move on.

http://www.trinidadandtobagonews.com/selfnews/viewnews.cgi?newsid1047457908,74990,.shtml