Friday November 20, 2015
Kaieteur News
Page 05
Letters... Where your views make the news Letters... Where your views make the news
Admired Indian religious An-Afro-Guyanese male leaders in New York pass on puts a question to Hindus DEAR EDITOR, Ashok Singhal, an iconic Hindu Leader, who has deep admiration for IndoGuyanese and other IndoCaribbean people has passed on. Singhal-ji, held in great esteem by Hindus worldwide, was felicitated at the Guyanese Surya Narayan Mandir in Jamaica, New York, mid September. He was also honored by Guaynese at other temples in recent years. He died Tuesday at a hospital in Gurgaon, India. Singhal, 89, served for 20 years as the International President of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad that was founded by a Trinidadian Member of Parliament during the 1960s when he visited and lived in India. The VHP has branches in several countries including Trinidad and the US where many Guyanese are members and followers. Singhal, who partook in India’s freedom struggle as a youth, often visited Guyanese and Trinidadian Temples during his visits in the greater New York area. He also visited the Caribbean several times. In his various appearances at Indo-Caribbean gatherings in America, he showered glowing tributes on IndoCaribbean people for holding on to their (Indian) culture some 175 years after leaving India. He spoke at the Surya Narayan Mandir just before returning to New Delhi where he makes his home. He visited Guyana several years ago. Tributes poured in from around the globe including from Guyanese pandits in
New York. Ashok Singhal was called a ‘Raj Purush’ (statesman) by Guyanese Hindu community leaders. Prime Minister Narendra Modi described his death as “a deep personal loss”. Modi said Singhal was an institution centered on serving the nation and the Indian diaspora although he was not a politician. Singhal lived the life of a bachelor committed to seva (serving others). Another Indian national, Narain Kataria, who showered accolades on Indo-Caribbean for holding on to their culture also passed away recently. Kataria-ji was 85. He was an institution in the Asian Indian community. He attended several events organized by Guyanese. He was among a small working group of Indian nationals who collaborated closely on various projects with IndoGuyanese in Queens where he made his home. He would lead a large team of participants at the annual
Phagwah celebrations held in Richmond Hill and at other events organized by Indo-Caribbeans. Like Singhal, Kataria was effusive in his praises to Guyanese for Indian cultural retention. Kataria was founder of the Indian American Intellectuals Forum. He was also a relentless organizer on India related activities and a regular participant at the annual Diwali celebrations at South Street Seaport and the India Day parade. He was the guiding hand behind several organizations and events, including the International annual Hindu Unity Day held in Queens over the last 20 years at which Guyanese were active participants. Many Guyanese and other Indo-Caribbean people attended his funeral service on Long Island last week. Both Indian leaders will be sorely missed in the Guyanese community in New York Vishnu Bisram
DEAR EDITOR, The dust have seemingly settled on the Diwali controvery with the Minister of Public Security, Hon. Khemraj Ramjattan, a Hindu, having the Constitutional and Ministerial power to declare and pronounce on the relevant dates for all national and public holidays. As an Afro Guyanese, male in my 50s’ the unfolding of the dates, subsequently enlightened me of two separate celebrations/ observances, in North and South India. In voicing my concern of the saga, I would like to quote the Hon. Khemraj Ramjattan, way back in 2011 at an AFC political rally, at the John Ford Car park, Church and East Street; “Brothers and sisters, I am a proud Hindu, proud of my culuture. In addition, I never heard before of a Diwali whine until President Jagdeo called a female singer on stage to sing and perform a Diwali whine. Jadgeo, upon
resorting to having a backball, subsequently called presidential candidate Donald Ramotar on the stage to have a backball. But Donald missed the intended target and took a backball from Jagdeo!” Apart from being humorous, the following eventually dawned upon me: 1) Are Messrs: Jagdeo and Ramotar, Hindus, devout Hindus or atheists? 2) Wasn’t a political stage and rally being used to desecrate Hinduism, arguably the world’s oldest religion? 3) Wasn’t it hypocritical that the collective voices of the pandits, swamis, knowledgeable Members of Parliaments and prominent members of civil society that are Hindus, attempted to besmirch the integrity of the Hon. Minister, but were regrettably absent in the desecration done Jadgeo? 4) Diwali celebrations with is spiritual, including fasting can be equated with the Lenten Season and the
Observance of Ramadhan, whose authoritative voices, would have been extremely vocal in their respective condemnation, had a politician referred to an Easter and Ramadhan whine. Is it because the Hon. Minister is from the coalition Government that he is being harshly dealt with? F i n a l l y, w o u l d t h e scholars of Hinduism publicly outline if it is true that, ganja smoking, in the Chillum by Holy Men, in India, is a ritual that has been observed for centuries, ahead of the annual pilgrimage/ ritual to the River Ganges, for bathing/cleansing? With this being an established fact, would a clarion call be made to repeal the draconian laws, existing in Guyana, relating to the three years imprisonment for a mere joint? Alternatively, would hypocrisy continue to rule, since the majority of those convicted are not Hindus and are of another ethnicity? David Elias
Clinton Williams enumerates his CEO’s achievements
DEAR EDITOR, On November 16, 2015, writing under the name of Donald Alexander, someone apparently in pursuit of a personal agenda, wrote a letter titled: “Many things are not right at the Board of Industrial Training”. It is patently obvious from the content and tone of the letter that the writer’s intention was to malign the current CEO/Secretary and certainly not to identify or objectively suggest improvements in
areas of operation of the Board of Industrial Training (BIT) Normally, such mischief may be ignored; however, if they are left unchallenged they may attract credence rather than condemnation from those who actually know better. I therefore feel obliged to set the record straight by underscoring the fact that neither the CEO nor any other staff member of the BIT acts independent of t h e B o a r d ’s p o l i c i e s ,
procedures and directives nor is he/she beyond the supervisory oversight of the Chairman and Directors of the Board. (It is interesting to note how quickly the mischievous letter-writer moved from the misleading title of his missive when s/he wrote: “for the past three years the malfunctioning had begun when the previous administration favoured a young woman to head the department as the CEO/Secretary”; this was
quickly followed by a ‘sexist’ or ‘anachronistic’ attack when s/he wrote: “ I don’t feel that she can differentiate between one type of machine from another” and that she was “employed through connections and not
qualifications”. It is sufficient to note that the current CEO/Secretary is eminently qualified as per the job specifications and the selection process which involved a selection panel comprising of the Vice (Continued on page 31)