Panday, Moonilal speak out against police brutality

Basdeo Panday has sounded the alarm that the worse is yet to come as the People's National Movement (PNM) moves to silence opposing voices.

Panday was commenting on Friday's confrontation between police and demonstrators outside the Red House during which police arrested trade unionist David Abdullah.

Opposition members Tim Gopeesingh, Vasant Bharat, Roodal Moonilal, Hamza Rafeeq and Wade Mark condemned the police brutality and joined the protest outside the Parliament while the House of Representatives debated the controversial property tax legislation.

Read the story: Police arrest union boss David Abdullah during anti-tax protest

In an interview with the Trinidad Guardian the former Prime Minister said, "I have warned a hundred times that this government was aiming to suppress people’s voices and militarise the state, and it is coming to pass."

However Panday added that he is "very happy" to see that the people of Trinidad and Tobago "are finally waking up and are beginning to struggle for T&T’s interest and doing what is right.

He said, “People are now beginning to speak out and fight against the consequences. The country must unite in the struggle, because it is the mentality of the PNM government to crush any opponents.

“And the whole country saw that in action outside the Parliament last Friday, when people attempted to stage a passive protest.

“It is a sad, sad day for T&T and for the Parliament, outside which this incident occurred, since this is the highest seat of democracy in the land...People need to take heed and wake up for 2010. If not, all of their rights will be taken away by this administration."

Panday told the paper, “It’s a signal of the Government’s intention to quell any kind of protest over the next year, which is something we can’t be comfortable about....It’s consistent with what I’ve said all along, that repressive politics is something we have to guard against. I sense this is how the political system responds to legitimate threats."

Information Minister Neil Parsanlal claimed he didn't know what actually happened since he was in Parliament. But he told the Guardian while people have a democratic right to protest "I don’t know that any one of us could be blamed for what happened.”

But opposition politicians like Dr Roodal Moonilal don't share Parsanlal's view.

Moonilal was also in Parliament but made it his business to find out what was happening as police moved in on the protesters.

He and his colleagues left the House and joined the protest. According to Moonilal, police were brutal in their handling of the citizens who marched around the Red House.

He reported that police "manhandled" former Cabinet minister Lincoln Myers, who was in his wheel chair.

Speaking in the debate on the property tax bill that was the subject of the protest, Moonilal accused the PNM of turning its back on the principle of protesting "evils of the day" once supported by its founder, Dr Eric Williams.

"Dr Williams, Mr Speaker, supported the movement of the people in 1970 that rose up against colonialism and imperialism. Today, we have people marching around the Parliament, protesting the introduction of this tax, and the police brutalise them.

"When I went out, Mr Speaker, there were machine guns, tear gas; they were lined up in front. They did not allow the marchers to walk in front of the Parliament," Moonilal said.