JYOTI has not reached there but we are suspending our work on this blog until we are able to return to regular coverage of Trinidad and Tobago news. We regret this unavoidable decision and thank the more than one million visitors for your support over the years.
We hope we can be back soon; it has been a wonderful journey thus far.
Please browse our archives of more than 12,000 entries covering Trinidad and Tobago since 2007, with news and commentaries on topics of national interest.
Also, read my book - FAR FROM THE MOUNTAIN - political notes and commentaries - which covers T&T politics between 2007 and 2012. It's published by PARIA and available at bookstores locally and online at Amazon and Barnes and Noble.
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| Presenting a copy of FAR FROM THE MOUNTAIN to Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar |
Thanks again for your support. We'll be back!
Jai Parasram - 15 April 2014
Here are some notes about the book:
Appendix I
Preface:
Several years ago I started writing regular commentaries,
mainly about political developments in my native Trinidad & Tobago. They
formed an integral part of my personal blog (www.jyoticommunication.blogspot.com), which remains a permanent fixture on the Internet.
The intention was to stay in touch and offer my personal
views on how I saw my home country develop. The result is a collection that is
neither a history book nor an academic text. It is the work of a journalist who
tries to shed light on and seeks to explain some of the issues during a
critically important period in Trinidad & Tobago’s political development
between 2007 and 2012. It presents a view from afar, perhaps even a clearer
view, because from a distance it is always easier to get a proper view of the
mountain.
This series of news items, columns and commentaries
reflect my thoughts and views on how I saw my country struggle, stumble and
then make positive steps as it tried to move forward under a government that,
for the first time in the country’s history, represents people from every
stratum in the society, regardless of class, social standing, ethnicity or
religious belief.
The period covered in these pages saw the consolidation
of power by the People’s National Movement (PNM) under Patrick Manning
following his ascension to office by presidential decree in 2001, the
near-death experience of the United National Congress (UNC); the conflicts
within the party that once governed the country; the birth of the Congress of
the People (COP); the selfless struggle by a dedicated few to revive the UNC
and finally the rise of Kamla Persad-Bissessar to lead the party and the
country.
Within four months of becoming political leader of the
UNC Kamla and her political colleagues formed a national coalition of interests
that won a decisive political victory in a general election that was not due
until 2012. The powerful People’s Partnership toppled Patrick Manning and his
PNM administration and Kamla became the first woman to lead a government of
Trinidad & Tobago.
What you are holding in your hands is a collection of my
thoughts, a record of how I saw things.
It is by no means exhaustive and is really a snapshot of the period,
compressing time and space to build a political narrative.
My hope is that you will find material here to generate a
national conversation on where we are today and where are heading as we continue
our journey past the first 50 years since we pulled down the Union Jack and
hoisted our own national flag with a pledge to create a new state forged from
the “Love of Liberty” where each of us would “find an equal place.”
I thought of calling this “A political lime” because in a
sense that is what it is – and honest, from-the-heart conversation tinged with
my own bias as I responded to the daily events and the changing political
fortunes. I have to confess that it pained me to write some of what you find in
these pages but I felt a patriotic obligation to write down my thoughts for
posterity.
Jai Parasram | Toronto,
Ontario, CANADA
Appendix II
FOREWORD BY DR. HAMID GHANY
I have known Jai Parasram for the better part of two
decades. Our paths have crisscrossed over the years and we have maintained a
friendship that has been sustained through periods of intense connection and
discussion and periods of absence through physical distance.
Jai is a patriot who was one of the pillars at Trinidad and
Tobago Television (TTT) having joined the company on 16th February, 1972. He
has seen politics and society at close range from both sides of the camera and
he has a compelling story to tell.
For most of his career, he has reported and analysed the
news, but there is a side to his amazing life that has not recorded the extent
to which he has, in fact, helped to make the news.
Jai represents the quintessential Trinidadian who has
broken all of the stereotypes that would apply to him in the land of his birth
by virtue of the fact that his professional reputation as a renowned producer,
editor and broadcaster have earned him acclaim internationally.
As a highly respected journalist at the Canadian
Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) in Toronto, which he joined on 13th June, 1988,
Jai has earned the accolades befitting someone whose talent is rare. His voice
resonated over the black and white (and later colour) airwaves of TTT in his
native Trinidad and Tobago in the 1970s and 1980s and that grounding led him to
win journalism awards locally, regionally and in Canada for his work...
Jai was part of a team that launched the well-known CBC
cable news and current affairs television network “Newsworld” (now called
Canada News Network) on 31st July, 1989. It was only the second twenty-four hour
all-news channel to be established in North America after CNN had started
“Headline News” some time before.
He was a main driver of the growth of “Newsworld” in Canada as an editor,
writer and producer.
Often times, the passage of time and the forgetfulness of
post-colonial societies that do not bother to document their histories will
wipe away the richness of their own past glories. Jai, like so many others who
have hit more than the proverbial glass ceiling in West Indian societies, had
to be part of an inevitable diaspora that allowed very good homegrown talent to
blossom elsewhere because of the smallness and inequalities of these West
Indian societies that scream equality and whisper discrimination of all
types.
Jai has made a pause here to let us have an insight into
his own contribution to his passage across the digital divide with a collection
of hundreds of blogs that he has written over a five-year period that tells the
story of the fall of the Manning regime and the arrival of the first female
Prime Minister, Mrs. Kamla Persad-Bissessar, into office.
Much has been said and written about this period of the
political history of Trinidad and Tobago, but this story is told through the
eyes of a person whose journalistic and political instincts can intimately
describe the political rise of Kamla Persad-Bissessar. Academics, journalists
and activists of all political persuasions will find this book to be
meticulously compiled, yet easy to read as they can relate to its subjects and
objects.
In reading this book, it is important to do so far from
the mountain because that is how it was written. Jai has never lost sight of that mountain
that he has always been able to see from the plains of Caroni or through the
lenses of the cameras at the CBC.
Appendix III
Publisher’s Note
We met Jai Parasram in July this year when we were
introduced to this veteran journalist by Dr. Hamid Ghany, with whom we had
collaborated with in 2012 on the production of the official commemorative
magazine of the Government of Trinidad and Tobago to mark the 50th anniversary
of the Independence of our nation.
Dr. Ghany had a good hunch that Jai’s manuscript would be
a good fit with Paria Broadcasting’s overall work. The author’s concept for
this book, “Far from the Mountain”, immediately caught our interest. As a
publishing house specialised in the history of Trinidad and Tobago, we saw a
two-fold uniqueness in this book: on the one hand, it presented contemporary
history in a diary form, which allowed for a depth and spontaneity that
“hindsight research” wouldn’t, and on the other hand, its content had
previously been published as a blog, which gave it inter- medial linkages that
we always look for.
We of course, knew Jai as an early pioneer of television
journalism in Trinidad and Tobago. Jai rose through the ranks of Trini- dad’s
national television service, Trinidad and Tobago Television (ttt) as a
reporter, writer, producer, anchor and News Director, and we are happy that he
added his memories of TTT as an appendix to this book. Unfortunately, these
pages do not have any sound, because like ourselves, many Trinidadians and
Tobagonians of a “certain generation” would remember his voice very well from
TTT’s nightly news programme “Panorama”.
As a much-respected journalist Jai Parasram travelled the
Caribbean, always focused on “telling the story” — telling THE story, concisely
and with wit and the sort of sparse commentary that leave it open to the viewer
or reader to draw his or her own conclusions. This skill of the journalist of
four decades is also very evident in “Far from the Mountain”. Whether you
intend to read the short chapters consecutively, or browse and dip into the
pages wherever fancy takes you — Jai’s journalistic genius will always add
value to your reading experience.
What attracted us particularly to this manuscript was the
“witness to history” format. Jai’s epistles accompany an important period of
change in Trinidad and Tobago’s political history. On an almost month- by-month
basis, he summarises and annotates events surrounding the emergence of Kamla
Persad-Bissessar as prime minister of the country. Jai, ever the master
storyteller, weaves facts of the past that are easily forgotten in the urgency
of the present into an overall narrative that makes them memorable and logical.
And the savvy political strategist also shimmers through these pages. Jai takes
position and does not spare with ammunition, so reader, be prepared for
numerous volleys!
“Although I live in Canada, my feet remain grounded in
Trinidad and Tobago,” Jai told us. With “Far from the Mountain”, Jai Parasram
has left a legacy of great academic value and a virtual “how to” book for
budding journalists, all seasoned with a pinch of homesickness that gives this
book its patriotic flavour.
GERARD A. BESSON CASCADE, 22
AUGUST 201
Appendix IV
TABLE
OF CONTENTS
Dedication
Acknowledgements
Preface
Foreword
Introduction by Ajay Parasram
SECTION
I: THE FUTILE SEARCH FOR COMMON GROUND
A divided opposition; the struggle for survival
Common sense and the politics of opposition
The trouble with disunity
How to win an election or lose one
Let the people decide
Don’t celebrate COP victory yet
Political lessons from Canada
Super weekend for T&T politics
Politics by numbers; gambling with T&T’s
future
Panday is not dead yet; UNC support still
strong
Time to focus on T&T’s future; tomorrow is
too late
The trouble with polls
Basdeo Panday and the politics of opposition
Basdeo Panday: Look in the mirror
SECTION
II: THE AFTERMATH OF 2007
Democracy in portions
Griffith challenges COP
leader
COP bickering exposes
vulnerability of opposition politics
Dookeran says deal with the
UNC-A is an option
Panday expulsion is a
brilliant strategy of distraction
Leave the laptop; get on
with the people’s business
Speaker’s agenda lost in
propaganda over laptop affair
Don’t save face; save the
nation
Food prices and survival
back home in T&T
Minister calls for
supermarket boycott; blames grocers for high food prices
Looting, assault and robbery
a routine affair in T&T
Revenge of the stepchild
What agriculture incentives?
Has Rowley’s time come?
Now is the time to stand up
for T&T
Failed state or failing?
Manning announces enquiry
into construction sector and UDeCOTT
Why does T&T need a new
form of indentureship?
Is
Manning making Grenada a colony?
Why is the opposition giving the
government a free ride?
Free speech at risk
Improve media standards, but
don’t curtail freedom
One year after Manning’s
26-15 victory; Do we like it son?
SECTION
III: CHALLENGING THE STATUS QUO
Time to unite and save T&T: jack Warner
Jack ready to hit the road if UNC refuses to
change
Send me off in a blaze of glory
Can Couva North be Panday’s Waterloo
Panday, Dookeran want independent inquiry into
Bakr affidavit
Time to defend our freedom
Does Jeremi’e friend or foe exclude PM Manning?
Ramesh might challenge Panday for UNC
leadership
Who will lead the UNC?
Warner, Dookeran keep unity flame ablaze
Warner urges constituents to destroy Ravanas
Dookeran praises Warner, launches new search
for unity
It’s time to end the battles and unite to win
the war
PM Manning says Rowley not fired over UDeCOTT
Manning calls Rowley a ‘raging bull’
UNC delegate tells Panday step aside and let
Kamla lead
Dookeran slams government; talks of
Panday-Manning alliance
Opposition political games hurting T&T
SECTION
IV: A NEW DAWN FOR THE RISING SUN
Kamla to take on Bas, Ramesh for UNC leadership
Kamla’s gamble
Don’t celebrate Kamla’s victory yet
Challenging the UNC status quo
All not well in Panday camp
The will of the majority must prevail in UNC
election
Nomination Day marks start of home stretch in
epic UNC election battle
Warner fought for Mark to get Senate seat
Media, politics and the truth
Kamla praises Panday but says he’s too wounded
to lead
You are a loser, Kamla tells Panday
Is there life after the election?
What is the UNC protecting?
Has the UNC lost its way?
Kamla beats Bas; says it’s a people’s victory
Kamla takes charge of UNC; praises media
Panday’s control of UNC is betrayal of the
people
Kamla unseats Panday
Don’t let Panday stand in the way of progress
SECTION
V: KAMLA RISES
Kamla files no confidence motion in government
Who shot Calder Hart?
Opposition unity is good news but at what
price?
COP/UNC agree on 2-way contest in next election
Manning tells PNM get ready for election
Manning makes a gamble but is the opposition
ready?
Manning’s options: prorogue or dissolve
Kamla wants Manning to fire housing minister,
UDeCOTT board
Kamla wants Manning’s resignation
Parliament dissolved
Manning’s gamble; don’t celebrate yet
Manning was facing palace coup: Kamla
The Rowley factor is the PNM’s albatross
Kamla declares victory at hand; leaders sign
unity accord
THE FYZABAD DECLARATION
Manning’s dirty politics won’t hurt Kamla
Opposition team can easily win majority
Political games in the PNM
It’s worth it to dream of a united T&T
Jack exposes PNM conspiracy to smear him
Standing up for T&T
One million to choose the way forward for
T&T
Graphics – The leaders/PNM pledges/PP
pledges/PP seven pillars
Graphics: Newspaper front pages: Express,
Guardian, Newsday
Kamla’s victory speech
Manning graceful in defeat
Yes we can; T&T takes a quantum leap
forward
The test begins for Kamla’s experiment in
participatory democracy
Manning’s resignation from PNM
Kamla appoints first cabinet
Jack the giant killer
No room for complacency
Does PNM deserve forgiveness?
PP wins LGE; No one will divide us again: Kamla
PNM must confess its sins in order to move on
Opposition infighting is bad news for T&T
and PNM
SECTION
VI: NEW ISSUES, MAJOR CHALLENGES
Kamla’s yellow dress was always green (with
photo)
Police must not be allowed to hold a nation to
ransom
Can Rolwey justify his mutiny
Is the PSA uprising really about money?
Are we there yet?
Is Rowley a drowning man clutching at straws
Manning should be censured for making mischief
What is Manning contemplating?
It’s time for Rowley to stop the pappyshow
PNM kills hanging bill
Let’s grow food and build houses
Kamla fires Mary King
Did Rowley really visit NY mission on Nov. 05?
Workers must start asking their unions some questions
Don’t be fooled by Rowley’s crocodile tears
Rowley should learn to lead or just get out of
the way
Afro-Trinis commit majority of crime in
T&T: Sandy
Don’t give a moose a muffin
PM says PNM didn’t deal with crime
If you think Manning is quitting politics,
watch for Santa Claus
The SOE worked. Now let’s keep criminals on the
run
Don’t put on your campaign jerseys yet
What’s panday trying to prove?
SECTION
VII: TESTING TIME FOR PP AS T&T TURNS 50
Rowley should not be
offended by Kamla’s act of humility
We need more humility –
guest column by IRA MATHUR
McLeod’s departure from MSJ
won’t damage coalition
Rowley must start leading
instead of just being a rabble rouser
Kamla’s vision
So what’s wrong with a
welfare state?
Doctors must honour their
oats and put patients first
Kamla still strong but
protests will continue
Battle for San Fernando East
Choose a side Abdulah, you
can’t have it both ways
Roget’s war more important
than settlement at Petrotrin
Rowley’s gamble could
inflict political injury on PNM
Now is the time for PNM to
get rid of its albatross
Lee Sing is new Rowley
target
Leave Kamla alone
It’s time for COP to get
over its political tabanca
COP’s gamble can be costly
and lead to its own demise
Partnership will stand with
or without COP
Trust Kamla to keep
partnership together
Labour’s best deal is to
remain part of the People’s Partnership
Labour united in 1976 but
failed to win power
Lee Sing getting ready to
lead PNM?
COP must be careful it
doesn’t shoot itself in the foot
All’s well that ends well
but stormy seas lie ahead
Time for Abdulah to make up
his mind about PP
PP remains strong because it
welcomes dissent
Labour advancing agenda at
the expense of workers
Abdulah must show leadership
and resign as government Senator
Music that celebrates
humanity cannot be imprisoned within the narrow walls of racism
Time for Abdulah to remove
the mask
Labour still has best
representation in PP government
Progress means some
inconvenience
The facts show that Jack did
nothing wrong
Why does Rowley want to
waste Parliament’s time again?
A thought for emancipation
day – Are we free yet?
PM Kamla: National day of
Prayer
EPILOGUE
We still have a long way to
go
And now … it’s time to close
the book.
