debut: 2/16/17
39,349 runs
In reply to granite
Notice the above excuse...all BS with his head so far up PNM's rass. Now I will be called UNC?
One cannot recant such words...!!!! Then what happened to Kamal? Another historical context?
Williams's use of the terms "recalcitrant and hostile minority" when referring to the Indo-Trinidadian population was not merely inflammatory; it was a pronouncement that alienated a significant segment of the population. For a leader aspiring to unify a young, post-colonial nation, such remarks carried a devastating weight. The language, as described by Winston Mahabir—a fellow member of the People's National Movement (PNM) and an Indo-Trinidadian—was laced with scorn and derision, targeting a community that already felt marginalized within the broader national narrative.
Mahabir’s recounting in In and Out of Politics underscores how this speech fractured more than political alliances; it deepened cultural and social divides. He vividly recalls Williams making fun of the Indian electorate, referring to the "lame and the halt, the blind and the deaf." This portrays Williams as a leader whose words verged on being [b]exclusive, even discriminatory. [/b]The laughter elicited by such remarks, as Mahabir observed, only served to underscore the pain and alienation felt by the Indo-Trinidadian community. The Indo-Trinidadians, many of whom were descendants of indentured labourers brought to the Caribbean from India, were often viewed through a lens of cultural and political otherness. Their distinct traditions, languages, and religious practices set them apart from the Afro-Trinidadian majority, who had their own struggles rooted in the legacies of slavery and colonialism. Williams's rhetoric, rather than bridging this divide, seemed to reinforce it, casting Indo-Trinidadians as adversaries to the PNM's vision of a united West Indian federation.
What makes this moment particularly poignant is the disillusionment of individuals like Mahabir. As an Indo-Trinidadian aligned with the PNM, Mahabir represented the possibility of cross-cultural collaboration and unity. Yet, even he could not ignore the bitterness and divisiveness in Williams's words. His candid reflections highlight the internal conflict faced by those who believed in the ideals of the PNM but found themselves alienated by its leader's rhetoric.The aftermath of this speech lingered far beyond 1958. It set a precedent for how race and ethnicity would be wielded in the political landscape of Trinidad and Tobago. The scars of that era remain visible in the country's politics, where questions of identity, loyalty, and representation continue to shape the discourse, even today."The Calcutta ship"