After all the turmoil about the recent sad Sat Maharaj issue of racism and Hinduism, I wish to clarify, not only for myself, but for many Hindus who feel deeply hurt at being categorised in the same vessel. Race has nothing to do with Hinduism as Hindus are the most approving yet berated nationals of the diasporas.
The following will clarify:
• Sat does not represent most of the Hindus in Trinidad and Tobago and, as such, we do not subscribe to many of his vitriol.
• Most Hindus accept all religions and their icons; we adore icons such as Jesus Christ, Allah, Jah and Buddha; we see the person first, that is why we bow to people as all are made equal in the sight of God.
• We do not respect or promote the caste system as it contradicts the teachings of Hinduism; unlike Sat (who is Brah- min?), we classify persons by their deeds, not birthright.
• We Hindus deeply support Carnival, calypso tents (although Aloes, Panther and Cro Cro insult us paying patrons), pan, clubs, Christmas, parang, Eid, fetes, chutney, Easter, Lotto, fast food, Play Whe, river lime, beach lime, Emancipation, Double Ten, Chinese food, Divali (of course), Corpus Christi, and the list goes on. Do these describe us, as we are often unfairly branded, as biased and racist? Absolutely not! Those who do should check themselves.
• If Hindus, for one year, limit their support for the traditional festivals, past-times and splurges, the service economy will crash. This is how much we are patriotic and nationalistic. Can any other religion boast the same?