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'Rowley Wrong'
Analysts 'buff' Opposition Leader on slow reaction to 'Calcutta' statements
By Ria Taitt Political Editor
Story Created: Jan 8, 2013 at 10:03 PM ECT
Story Updated: Jan 8, 2013 at 10:04 PM ECT
Former head of the Public Service Reginald Dumas and political analyst Derek Ramsarooj yesterday chastised Opposition Leader Dr Keith Rowley for failing to immediately refute the statements, perceived to be racist, which were made by PNM candidate Roxboxough/Delaford, Hilton Sandy.
Dumas said Rowley and Chief Secretary Orville London, who were present at the public meeting when Sandy made the offensive remark, should have immediately distanced themselves and the PNM from Sandy's statement, right there and then.
"Whoever had spoken after Sandy (on the platform) should have said 'we don't accept that kind of language'. But it wasn't said and it was only after the other side reacted ... after the ferocious statements from the UNC blogs and the Tobago Organisation of the People issued a statement, that Rowley said something ... and London has not said anything. And that's not good enough," Dumas stated.
Ramsamooj said both Rowley and London should have "publicly chastised" Sandy right away. "One would have expected that Dr Rowley, who is aspiring to be the prime minister of the country, would have been much more proactive and intervened immediately," he said.
Political analyst Winford James said Rowley should have pulled Sandy aside and have a conversation with him which should have led to any immediate withdrawal and apology for the remark. "It would have given the man (Sandy) a chance to redeem himself right there on the platform," he said.
James lamented that there was no "resistance" to Sandy's remark on the very platform and that the intervention (from the leadership) only came after the TOP raised the issue.
Sandy, addressing a public meeting, had stated that if his constituents did not vote for the PNM that "a ship from Calcutta" was waiting to sail to Tobago.
The matter was taken up by the TOP and the UNC bloggers and Sandy apologised, saying he was "overwhelmed by the exuberant atmosphere and erred by referencing what was perceived as as racist statement".
Despite their criticisms of Sandy's statements, however, both Dumas and James said they did not believe it had done Sandy or the PNM irreparable damage in the THA campaign.
"I would not say it has done him irreparable damage in Tobago because a lot of Tobagonians feel the same way ... and agree with Sandy. He ought not to have speak it on a platform in public. But the truth is that a lot of Tobagonians have the same attitude—that if you vote for the TOP, 'all them Indians from Trinidad would come and take over,'."
He said: "That has been going on, on the ground, for months", adding that it predated the campaign. "Sandy just forgot where he was and said it publicly," Dumas stated.
He said platform speakers in the campaign have spoken about "pagans coming in". "What do you mean by pagans? All these coded words that everyone knows what they mean," Dumas said, adding there were even racist jokes in the schools.
Dumas, nevertheless, said Sandy's remarks would do some damage because there were also a lot of people in Tobago who reject that kind of language. He said at the end of the day, however, it would do the PNM more damage nationally than in Tobago. "And that is why Dr Rowley ran quickly to say he had spoken to Sandy and he must apologise," he said.
Noting that politicians do tend to become "overexuberant" in front of a crowd, Dumas said if people continued to talk in those terms and the PNM wins," is it not the same people (in the Central Government) "from Calcutta, quote, unquote, that we (in Tobago) would have to deal with?"
James said because of Tobago's demography (the vast majority of the electorate is African) and history shows the statement would not hurt the candidate or the party's chances. "In Trinidad, you are likely to pay more than in Tobago, (for such a remark)," he said.
He said while he accepted that Sandy could have been overwhelmed by exuberance, his apology should have come sooner, "as soon as he recognised her error".
"It would have been far better if once he had come to his senses, he apologised and not have to be motivated by the TOP. "Though, one should add that politicians always tend to wait (rather than immediately withdraw an injudicious comment), hoping that nobody would pick up on it," James said.
Ramsarooj said Sandy was one of the most senior active politicians in Tobago and his unfortunate and irresponsible comments were detrimental to his political well being. Ramsarooj said Sandy should know that there would be a political price for such politically incorrect statements. An apology would not rectify the damage done to his reputation, he said.
He said Sandy had compromised the political appeal of the PNM, especially among the undecided and swing voters. Ramsarooj said Sandy's statement would hurt the PNM's chances not just in the THA election, but there might leave a negative connotation in the pending local government elections, especially where swing voters play a crucial.
"There must be no place on the political landscape for direct or subtle talk of racism, he said. He added that within the framework of good governance and political ethics, politicians in other countries do the honourable thing and resign. "If the PNM has to talk about ethics and acceptable behaviour then they must lead by example," he said.
Ramsarooj said it appeared that subtle racism was seeping into the public domain at the national level. He said while there is an element in the population which may be motivated to vote along ethnic lines, there was a much stronger element of the electorate which rejects any subtle or direct voting intention based on ethnicity. See Pages 4 and 7
http://www.trinidadexpress.com/news/_Ro ... 05101.html
He said while he accepted that Sandy could have been overwhelmed by exuberance, his apology should have come sooner, "as soon as he recognised her error".
kaylex wrote:Once again .. you may be very very wrong... Winfred James ent no PNM...... I interacted with dude before....
Perhaps you could watch Hamid Ghany's manual and you'll understand... who on what side....
hustla_ambition101 wrote:rspann wrote:What u sayin then,is ok to leave a racist to sit in a major position?wouldn't he be prejudiced in his dealings with citizens?
Ent dev m. Is a minister
rfari wrote:Rooki3 wrote:seeing some things i nvr see happen in the tha election campaigns before, its gonna be big, TOP def have more financial support & followers, wont be shocked if PNM loses
I heard rumours of trinidadians that moved over to tobago last year in order to 'become' tobagoians and to register to vote. Any signs of that?
Habit7 wrote:"Calcutta ship" - unfortunate statement apologised for by Sandy and as an elected official he will face the polls for his constituents to judge.
Habit7 wrote:Fact Check!
"Recalcitrant Minority" - A term Dr. Eric Williams parroted from Jawaharlal Nehru (India's 1st PM) describing against an opposition group in India who were against Independence.
"secret black scholarships" - investigated by the Equal Opportunities Commission and found to have no ethnic bias viewtopic.php?f=4&t=282503&p=5909712&hilit=+scholarship#p5909712
"Calcutta ship" - unfortunate statement apologised for by Sandy and as an elected official he will face the polls for his constituents to judge.
@ tntmirror 
UML wrote:kaylex wrote:Once again .. you may be very very wrong... Winfred James ent no PNM...... I interacted with dude before....
Perhaps you could watch Hamid Ghany's manual and you'll understand... who on what side....
Yuh interact with the man and eh even know he blasted name ROFL
YUH SURE IS THE SAME MAN?? Stay quiet and let ppl feel yuh chupid....dan KNOW yuh chupid nah!!! Using big words incorrectly and now interacting (me eh know how ur rendezvous end up in here) with some man name Winfred!!
HAHAHAHAHSHAHAHDHA
know it hard but stop making a fool of yuhself PLEASE!!!
toyota2nr wrote:Habit7 wrote:"Calcutta ship" - unfortunate statement apologised for by Sandy and as an elected official he will face the polls for his constituents to judge.
So I guess you have believed and accepted his 'apology' ?
Even though his statement said he made a statement that was 'perceived' to be racist? So in other words he doesn't believe it to be so and sees nothing wrong with it.
I really wanted the TOP to lose this election to send a message to the government but after that statement I really hope they WIN outright!!!
What's the point of that apology?
Story Created: Jan 8, 2013 at 10:03 PM ECT
Story Updated: Jan 9, 2013 at 6:48 AM ECT
The statements made by the PNM's Hilton Sandy don't surprise me. From the get-go the PNM has proven to be a party that was biased. To understand this, the history of the country must be reviewed. The Afros have one attitude as they were here "first" and the Indos have their attitude as they were "not slaves".
A certain polarisation of the races took place after Independence. This obviously indicated that we were not ready for Independence, as our government did not know how to treat the country as a whole.
For decades not just Indians were ignored and in some cases victimised—evidence of which lay in the policies of Dr Eric Williams and his overall attitude towards what he described as the "recalcitrant minority". The Manning regime was yet another terror era for non-black, non-Christian people.
Now we have celebrated 50 years of Independence and an era of prosperity as tertiary education is free, yet not withstanding this progress, Hilton Sandy makes such a statement. His pathetic excuse for an apology is something else again as he makes it seem as though nothing wrong was done in the first place. If so Mr Sandy, why apologise? Anyways, this is just another matter that makes the PNM what it is and there is no need for apologising; this is what you are.
Norbert Lee Chong
Bon Accord
Tobago
http://www.trinidadexpress.com/letters/ ... 04731.html
The problem with Mr Sandy's ship slip
Story Created: Jan 8, 2013 at 10:03 PM ECT
Story Updated: Jan 9, 2013 at 6:46 AM ECT
Almost from the moment the Tobago House of Assembly election date was announced last November, rumours started that the PNM in the island was using race as a political scare tactic. Last Sunday, Deputy Chief Secretary Hilton Sandy, in a careless remark, added credence to such a perception. Speaking on the platform at a public political meeting, Mr Sandy said, "There is a ship at Calcutta waiting to sail to Tobago. That ship is waiting to sail to Tobago; they are waiting to get the results of this election, if you bring the wrong results, Calcutta ship is coming down for you!"
Mr Sandy has since apologised, saying his statement was "just some political picong, but it was no racist talk. It was not meant to offend anybody." But, first of all, Mr Sandy needs to look up the meaning of "picong", since his remark entirely lacked the wit or wordplay which defines the term. Secondly, the fact that, even in the heat of rhetoric, the Deputy Chief Secretary would consider such a claim apposite or inoffensive reveals an unbecoming mindset. Indeed, by including in his apology the clichéd claim of "I have a lot of Indian friends", he has only reinforced the inference. People who have lots of friends from outside their ethnic group do not usually need to trumpet the fact.
It is more likely that, because the Indo-Trinidadian vote is irrelevant in the THA election, Mr Sandy thought he could couch his "picong'' in racial terms, creating without backlash a spectre of Indians waiting to overrun and take over Tobago. In Trinidad, where both parties need crossover votes for electoral victory, politicians' public statements are correspondingly more circumspect.
Even so, when it became the turn of PNM Leader Keith Rowley to distance himself and his party from Mr Sandy's statement, "unfortunate" and "unnecessary" were Dr Rowley's strongest adjectives for his Tobago PNM colleague's "misstep or misgivings". He then added that Mr Sandy's message "forms no part of PNM policy or PNM campaign.'' Knowledgeable observers would have reached for their pinches of salt at this claim, recalling evidence of the race card long being played by the Tobago PNM, albeit at a safe distance from media cameras. Indeed, Mr Sandy's error fits the definition given by one wag—a gaffe in politics is when someone accidentally tells the truth. Mr Sandy's "picong'' accordingly represented a whispering campaign having become a roar, with no immediate condemnation coming from Dr Rowley or Chief Secretary Orville London.
Would this lose them votes in Tobago? Probably not. But, unless the party's leadership does some more effective damage control, the incident will return to haunt the PNM in the next Trinidad election.
http://www.trinidadexpress.com/commenta ... 05141.html
Habit7 wrote:Dr Williams was referring to those who opposed his drive for independence, much like those in India who were doing same earlier.
Whether or not you trust the Mirror, the fact is that the Equal Opportunity Commission found no ethnic bias.
And if I dont accept Hilton Sandy's apology, should I accept Senator Jamal Mohammed's?
Did Dr. Eric Williams brand all Indians “a hostile and recalcitrant minority”? And, why did he make such a statement?
***
Excerpt from Dr. Winston Mahabir
“When the PNM lost the Federal Election in 1958, Eric Williams looked no futher than the Indians for a scapegoat. In a most unfortunate speech he branded them as ‘a hostile and recalcitrant minority.’
“My wife and I arrived late at Woodford Square on the evening of that speech, while he was in the middle of his diatribe. I got an unusually subdued round of applause as I reached the platform to hear Eric Williams reveal something to the effect that he was not speaking about Indians like myself.
“It emerged that there were good Indians like myself and bad Indians like those who voted against the PNM. The speech and the experience were traumatic events in my life. I made my reactions abundantly clear to him that very evening. From that night onwards I never realy felt comfortable with Eric Williams. I felt USED, COMPROMISED, DECIEVED.” (Winston Mahabir, speech at University of California October 16, 1965).
http://www.drmorganjob.com/article_text ... cle_key=66
http://www.trinidadandtobagonews.com/blog/?p=5729
UML wrote:kaylex wrote:Once again .. you may be very very wrong... Winfred James ent no PNM...... I interacted with dude before....
Perhaps you could watch Hamid Ghany's manual and you'll understand... who on what side....
Habit7 wrote:I dont know who were the all the opposers, but I dont think they could have been distinguished by race.
Your ignorance of a fact doesnt make your view true
If you do not know what Jamal said then it seems that not only dont you read the Mirror, you dont read the Express either, save for the editorials you posted above as if they are articles.
kaylex wrote:UML wrote:kaylex wrote:Once again .. you may be very very wrong... Winfred James ent no PNM...... I interacted with dude before....
Perhaps you could watch Hamid Ghany's manual and you'll understand... who on what side....
Yuh interact with the man and eh even know he blasted name ROFL
YUH SURE IS THE SAME MAN?? Stay quiet and let ppl feel yuh chupid....dan KNOW yuh chupid nah!!! Using big words incorrectly and now interacting (me eh know how ur rendezvous end up in here) with some man name Winfred!!
HAHAHAHAHSHAHAHDHA
Ok.. So i didnt spell the man name correctly..fellas singing for supper.. most of todays academics doing same..
You could say all you want fella in relation to name calling etc..... I know you just another guy behind the keyboard ranting and attempting to disrespect etc.. Ill pay you no mind..
Ill say nothing more.. I realise whats ure scene..
Take win ohh smart one.. UML.. I am a fool .. poor fella
yuh winning..
Habit7 wrote:Leave UML nah
he rejecting Mirror but posting blogs and editorials like if they objective.
toyota2nr wrote:^^ But you still haven't explained why should we accept Sandy's apology.
If Jamal Mohammed said anything similar ( I haven't heard it) I would be the first to say don't accept his apology either. We should be condemning racial statements outright.
@kaylex I can safely say that I do not and will not sing for my or any supper but I don't understand the rush I am seeing here to defend the PNM even when they are wrong.
hustla_ambition101 wrote:toyota2nr wrote:^^ But you still haven't explained why should we accept Sandy's apology.
If Jamal Mohammed said anything similar ( I haven't heard it) I would be the first to say don't accept his apology either. We should be condemning racial statements outright.
@kaylex I can safely say that I do not and will not sing for my or any supper but I don't understand the rush I am seeing here to defend the PNM even when they are wrong.
http://www.trinidadexpress.com/news/Jam ... 15831.html
eliteauto wrote:
The Email:Mr Kalipersad,
I write these few lines as a citizen of T&T and as a silent observer of all things in the media.
These words are not official Government positions, but just vibes of an ‘Insignificant Muslim Cooli-e’ from San Juan.
I respect your role in the media and the years of effort and sacrifice you have carved in the media fraternity in our country. I may not always agree with your point of views and feelings expressed but you have the freedom to express yourself . I know the importance of the free press and have seen for myself what happens when the media is used and abused.
Something seems to be going on at Tv6 and the Express and its not too nice. A blind man can see that there is total bias at both Tv6 and Express.
On the one hand, items and reports are being presented in the name of investigative journalism and the only rationale for these reports are to embarrass certain individuals. Perceptions are being encouraged, and these perceptions are based on lies and half truths.
It is clear to me that there is a specific agenda to discredit the Prime Minister and members of her Government. Since may 2010 I have seen for myself the deliberate and targeted barrage of accusations and misrepresentations about the People’s Partnership, as if there is an ultimate objective to make the Government fall.
Not withstanding the fact that the Partnership received an overwhelming mandate from the people, Tv6 and the Express have embarked on a journey to discredit and destroy.
To make matters worst, a deliberate programme has appeared on Tv6 and the Express, where the PNM is being re-branded, refreshed and realigned so that it will become a new PNM rhythm for governance in the fall of the People’s Partnership. I have learnt that without exception, there is a perceived problem concerning the People’s Partnership Government , there is always a PNM official ready, willing and able to make a comment. This is most unfortunate.
May I remind you Mr Kalipersad, that I respect the views of Tv6 and Express. If it is the wish of the editorial board to see the removal of the People’s Partnership I have no problem with that. That is their right and privilege to do, as a private company, you have every right to go in any direction. All I wish is that you be fair. Stop the mudslinging and speculation against members of the Government and be willing to let people defend decisions that have been made.
Within the PNM there is a view that no one else has the right to govern this land, and up to today, you often hear that this is a PNM country. There are many other citizens, not of the PNM who are quite capable of offering leadership in this country. We should be willing to change and encourage change. For too long, we have been caught in the backward and dangerous mode of maintaining stupid ways of dealing with others.
Whether we like you or not, the People’s Partnership has given its mandate to change the way we do business in this country. Those who fight to maintain the ‘status quo’ must now give way to meaningful change. Let it not be what we traffic for the PNM or an orgy of embarrassment for the partnership.
The theory of the free press is not that the truth will be presented completely or perfectly in any one instance, but the truth will emerge from free discussion.
Breathe easy brother! There is room for all of us… Jamal
kaylex wrote:UML.. yeh man google searches real accurate... YOU RIGHT MAN...
Yeh an TNT Mirror is proven inaccurate ent?? the most inaccurate newspapers in trinidad....there you are right again... EXPRESS AND GUARDIAN rated A1 most reliable..
In terms of the racist statements by Sandy.. I not encouraging or endorsing it at all.. the fact remains.. that he should be removed from the political race.. imo...
Yuh see... Tobago whether we want to accept it or not.. Is largely a homogenous population.. observed lesser development whether ideological, political since independence .. so it doesn't shock me that the comment was made to be honest... Just as similarly in Trinidad where some persons living in some rural areas.. are racist and remain politically aligned despite what occurs...
Country_Bookie wrote:Break-Inn News: Ministry of Transport has renamed the T&T Spirit to a name more in keeping with the sentiment of how Tobagonians view the Trinis who arrive on the vessel::
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