Commentary
Ramesh Deosaran
Multiethnic societies produce enduring challenges for equality, justice and political management. Today’s electronically driven democracy helps to keep alive the divisions and “cultural accidents” that are already evident in our “every creed and race” society.
During the last two weeks, the country witnessed loud political clashes between the government and the opposition on the constitution, tassa and steel, crime, health, etc., and the strategies used towards the upcoming elections. The ethnic divide was very visible.
After last Sunday’s PNM convention, last Tuesday at the La Horquetta/Talparo electorate meeting, PNM political leader Dr Keith Rowley came out as an angry “political coward”, lashing out at the leader of the UNC opposition, Ms. Kamla Persad-Bissessar for ‘race conduct’. change of coat of arms.
She responded just as harshly as he did. In all this, both Dr. Rowley and Mrs. Persad-Bissessar must take care of their roles in this multi-ethnic society.
Dr Rowley hit out at some UWI lecturers for “misleading the public”, saying they should be “fired for not doing the research”. He criticized other commentators who felt he should not have tabled the PNM’s own proposals for constitutional reform while proposals from the Barry Sinanan Cabinet-appointed Advisory Committee on Constitutional Reform were still up in the air. He attacked Kamla’s 2010-15 PP government for the fact that CoP Stephen Williams had only been “acting” for several years. He now plans to reform the appointment process.
He then gave lecturer Dr Jerome Teelucksingh a lesson on the difference between tassa and çelikpan. Dr Teelucksingh suggested calling a referendum on changing the coat of arms and added: “Yes, we use the steel pan, but couldn’t we have used the tassa?”
Rowley replied instructively: “Now the steel is the only instrument that is indigenous to us.”
Constitutional Advisory Committee member Dr Terrence Farrell explained that the committee “did not specifically recommend any changes to the coat of arms”.
And so speculation grew as to why exactly Rowley proposed this change?
Then, heating up the cultural controversy, the Tassa Association of TT gave us this cultural tip: “No part of the steel drum is from TT as it is a fully imported metal vessel, while the tassa is made completely without imported materials.”
What! The association added: “The leather is from our native goat, sheep or deer, the sticks are made from wild TT sugarcane, the bowl is made from TT clay,” making the tassa “more indigenous” than the steel pan. Culture Minister Randall Mitchell and Pan Trinbago president Beverley Ramsey-Moore disagreed. Is it the artistry or the materials that matter?
So, once again, this country of “every creed and race” seems to sit uneasily on a cultural candy bar. Now it seems that the country needs a three-day convention on multiculturalism and nationality. We must move from mere tolerance and sympathy to a fuller understanding of each culture and empathy for each grievance.
The PNM Constitutional Commission rejected a fixed election date, proportional representation and a two-term prime minister. Rowley chided the opposition for “not engaging in consultation” (loud applause). This was Rowley at his best platform – using offense for defence. It was the buffet all around.
The first burst of Kamla’s “fireworks” was to describe the government’s Constitutional Advisory Committee as a “PNM political scam”, a “distraction” from the very serious issues facing the country in which her UNC party “does not will participate”. We will stick to the issues, she thundered. “If not handled properly,” she warned, changing the historically embedded coat of arms “could inflame racial tensions” in the country. She did not present any proposals to reform the constitution, but emphasized her two main policies – no property tax and stay afloat.
Kamla accused Rowley of “following the playbook of ex-politicians to use the threat of ‘White White’ and ‘Colonialism’ to get rid of the internal affairs of this constituency”. Responding to Rowley, she added: “These sensitive emotional issues should not be misused as political propaganda for any electoral success.” These issues remain “sensitive” because they are related to buried grievances.
Throwing more jabs at Rowley last Wednesday at her “last pre-budget consultation” in Siparia, she declared: “Rowley and the PNM want to keep you talking about steel, Columbus, Tassa” and “no for the five-year-old Guerra who was killed together with her father last night, murders, home invasions, corruption in the HDC. She did not spare the “commentators sitting on the fence”. such as “Kamla, save this nation”, “Captain, the ship is sinking”, “Deyalsingh, the biggest joker”.
The ethnic driven electoral background is that in 2015, Dr Rowley reduced her PP from 29 seats to 18 with PNM 23, then in 2020 UNC won 19 to 22 PNM seats. Now she sits hoping to recover. Can she?
Look, these troubling ethnic issues that we face now existed in different ways a long, long time ago. Even the efforts of Butler, Cipriani, Dr Williams and some “jahaji bhai” calypsoes brought half-way remedies, without the required emancipation.
First of all, as long as our political and parliamentary systems remain as they are, so long will mutual suspicion and mistrust flourish and be exploited by elected shadow boxers, fighting for things that will never come to pass. .
The protracted controversy over the change of coat of arms is only a symptom of neglected causes. The cultural diversity of the country, as beautiful as it is in some aspects, will experience political exploitation mainly because the political system thrives on it.
