Panday says discrimination and racism are real in T&T

United National Congress (UNC) leader Basdeo Panday launched a scathing attack on the Manning administration Monday as he defended his Caroni East MP Dr Tim Gopeesingh for exposing what Gopeesingh called "ethnic cleansing" at the Port of Spain General Hospital.

And he said had Gopeesingh not used such strong and emotive language the whole issue of discrimination would have been swept under the carpet "as they have always done in the past, but they cannot do that now."

Addressing supporters attending the UNC Monday Night Forum in the Pointe-a-Pierre constituency Panday said, "Let them use their own words to describe what is taking place... And having purified their vocabulary I invite them to join with us in removing this scourge that has plagued our society for so long."

The "them" included the government, the media and his political opponent, Congress of the People (COP) Leader, Winston Dookeran. He said he expected racism and discrimination from the People's National Movement (PNM) because the party "was built on racial division, starting with Eric Williams in 1956," adding, "I would expect that kind of reaction from all those who have benefited and continue to benefit corruptly from racism and racist practices."

But he said he did not expect it from the COP. He quoted from a media statement attributed to Dookeran on July 21, 2009, three days after Gopeesingh raised the issue.

“In my view Dr Gopeesingh’s use of the term ‘ethnic cleansing’ was intended to be inflammatory and is unfortunate. It was also irresponsible, since he has caused widespread public alarm over his seemingly extremist statement”.

Panday challenged Dookeran to explain what he meant by those words. "Winston Dookeran, and by extension the COP, seem to be concerned not with racism and racial discrimination but with how you describe it. He says that Gopeesingh’s statement was irresponsible because it has caused widespread public alarm," Panday said.

He had no apology for Gopeesingh raising it because that's how it should be. "Did not Nelson Mandela cause widespread public alarm among the white racists of South Africa when he launched a violent attack on apartheid. Did Martin Luther King Jr not spread public alarm when he called for a boycott and the great march from Selma to Montgomery?" he asked.

He wondered why anyone should be afraid to cause public alarm if that is what it takes to defend the victims of discrimination. He said Dookeran was offended by Gopeesingh's words but didn't understand what Gopeesingh was talking about: racial discrimination against Indians in Trinidad and Tobago.

An angry Panday asked: "Why are you afraid to say that? Isn’t that clear? Are you trying to hide from the issue? If so, why? Is it because you are ashamed to be associated with a struggle against racism and racial discrimination in this country? Is that the new politics? Or is it because you are afraid of Roy Augustus, Robert Mayers and Vernon DeLima?"

Panday said Gopeesingh was talking about the politico-racism that pervades the Public Service and he denounced government minister Colm Imbert who described Gopeesingh's charges as "disgusting" and Manning’s comment that the MP "should not speak about such things in Parliament even if they were true."

Panday gave examples, which he said, show that the PNM's racism has caused division and hatred in the society. "For them the practice of racism and racial discrimination is not wrong, it is talking about it and standing up for the victims of racism that is wrong."

He said, "The PNM could practice racism in the most obscene way but you must not talk about it. No matter how much pressure they inflict upon you, you must not scream... If there was ever an opportune moment to raise once more the struggle against racial discrimination it is now."

The former prime minister said racism is the most significant factor "debilitating our struggle for national unity and, consequently, the task of nation-building."

He explained that it takes many forms, from the failure to provide running water, to bad roads and inadequate facilities at the nation's hospitals. He called it politico-racism when "they do not appoint the best persons to the jobs, but rather their friends, cronies and Party hacks who do not know one damn thing about providing water, fixing roads, and running hospitals or running government."

In an obvious reference to past statements by some supporters and officials of the PNM, Panday said they "will deny that there is any racism at all even if you fling it their faces; they will tell you that what you see happening is not racism but the redressing of an historical imbalance".

He said the PNM practises discrimination in the distribution of government housing, in approving small business funds and in its treatment of individuals, pointing out the names of at least a dozen people who have brought discrimination suits against the government and won.

He spoke about what he said was "vicious PNM racism at Petrotrin" and the historical racism he said that existed in the Robinson. Robinson, he said, expelled him and some of his former ULF colleagues "for insisting on putting an end to the discrimination against the appointment of Indians on the State Boards".

The newspapers described that act, he said, in a headline that read: "ULF grab for power." That was never the issue, he said.

Panday described institutionalized racism as a national scourge. "I have always argued that this country cannot solve the people’s problems despite its enormous wealth because it has failed to mobilise its most valuable resource and that is its human resource.

"And it has failed to mobilise its human resource because of the politico-racism and discrimination of the PNM. That policy has divided the people," he said.