Magistrate’s decision is a clear warning against the spread of inter religious disharmony

Dear Editor

Magistrate’s decision is a clear warning against the spread of inter religious disharmony

I refer to a Facebook post by   Hon. Priya Manickchand who is our current Minister of Education in which she ostensibly played down the gravity of the composition sung by Daniel Wharton. Ms. Manickchand referred to his offensive and misguided composition as some “mumbling or trying to sing something offensive against a female goddess which was terrible and should never be encouraged or listened to and which I personally condemned.” Ms. Manickchand should note that there was a protest by Hindus representing various temples from the West Coast.

However, from my stand point as a Hindu, this was no “mumbling” but instead a deliberate attempt to denigrate and demean Lakshmi Mata the Divine Mother who is widely regarded by Hindus as the divine mother of the Universe and is revered as the consort of Bhagwan Vishnu and who represents beauty, harmony and balance and who is worshipped as the Goddess of wealth and prosperity.

I do wonder if someone denigrated the Holy Mother Mary in similar fashion if she would be so flippant in her comments which at a minimum reflect a total lack of respect for the sensibilities of Hindus.

Editor, the other point of my letter is the attempt by Ms. Manickchand to denigrate the court’s decision by criticizing the acting Chief Magistrate’s decision to remand Daniel Wharton for his blasphemous composition. She went on in her post to talk about the lack of consistency in the court’s action in dealing with other grave matters such as domestic abuse.  I wish to ask Ms. Manickchand who is an Attorney and her colleagues, Sase Gunraj, Todd and Daniels who joined in the condemnation of the Acting Chief Magistrate Judy Latchman’s decision why do they not lobby through the Bar Association and through Parliament or wherever else is appropriate for the Judiciary to issue guidance and bring some equanimity and balance to the realm of bail and sentencing. This would be a better way to address their concerns as opposed to openly disparaging another member of the legal fraternity trying her best to dispense Justice.

Madam Latchman, as a citizen I support your decision wholeheartedly which also should serve as a clear warning to all in our society who would wish to cause inter religious or racial disharmony. I close by asking the Inter Religious Organization and the Ethnic Relation Commission to investigate this matter further to ascertain whether “Baby Skello” acted alone or was supported by others.

Yours sincerely

Chris Persaud