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Despite the public castigation she received from Sanatan Dharma Maha Sabha (SDMS) secretary general Sat Maharaj ahead of yesterday’s Indian Arrival Day celebrations, Opposition Leader Kamla Persad-Bissessar says she will attend any SDMS function she is invited to in the future.
In an interview yesterday at the Cedros Indian Cultural Committee’s Indian Arrival Day celebrations at Manmohansingh Park in Bonasse Village, Persad-Bissessar said despite Maharaj’s comments against her, she still respects him and holds no malice towards him.
Once a strong supporter of Persad-Bissessar and her United National Congress party, Maharaj, during a TV programme, last week revoked the SDMS’s invitation to Persad-Bissessar to deliver the feature address at its Indian Arrival Day function in Debe yesterday.
Maharaj’s anger towards Persad-Bissessar was in response to her condemnation of the Maha Sabha school board’s refusal to allow on-the-job-trainee Nafisah Nakhid the opportunity to train at the Lakshmi Girls’ Hindu College because she wore a hijab.
Persad-Bissessar had urged the school’s board to reconsider its decision and called on Education Minister Anthony Garcia and Attorney General Faris Al-Rawi to move swiftly to resolve the matter.
She said the matter was not a political but of natural justice, equality and fairness.
Yesterday, however, Persad-Bissessar seemed unphased by the attack against her by Maharaj.
“I respect Mr Maharaj for the great work he has done for Trinidad and Tobago through the schools, education, through the Maha Sabha.
“I think he has done a lot of work for all of us in Trinidad and Tobago and I do respect him for that,” Persad-Bissessar told reporters during the Indian Arrival Day event.
“As I said earlier, I have no intention for tit for tat with Mr Maharaj because I do respect him. I respect what he has done and I continue to encourage him to do the work that he must do.”
During the TV programme last Friday, Maharaj also warned that Persad-Bissessar would pay a political price in time to come and called on Hindus to free up their vote in upcoming elections.
“Vote for whichever party has the best programmes, vote for whichever candidate is the best candidate, not because they are Indian and Hindu or woman. The Hindu vote is going to be freed up.
“No more voting because you belong to the same race or the same class. Kamla you are going to pay a hell of a price, Maharaj said. In response to this, Persad-Bissessar yesterday said every citizen has a right to vote for whomever he or she chooses in a democratic society like T&T.
Saying that voting has nothing to do with race, religion or gender, she said she agreed citizens should vote for who they believe can best represent them and who can do their best for themselves and their children.
However, she said the issue was larger than her fallout with Maharaj and was about what should and should not be permitted in schools.
She said there is a need for clarification and interpretation of the Concordat of 1960, which governs the relationship between the State and denominational schools.
She also wished Nakhid good luck after she was transferred to the Ministry of Rural Development and Local Government.
It was the first time Persad-Bissessar had attended the celebrations in Cedros, where she witnessed a re-enactment of the East Indians’ arrival to the shores of T&T.
She also took part in a street procession in which they were escorted from the old Cedros jetty to Manmohansingh Park on a boat that was being towed by a tractor.
Delivering the feature address, she said there was no more Mother India, Mother Africa, Mother Asia or Mother Europe, only Mother Trinbago.
She said despite things people may say, through diversity, citizens live in harmony.