MEDIA RELEASE
To: All Editors
Date: 25th October 2023
From: The Office of the Leader of the Opposition
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๐ข๐ฝ๐ฝ๐ผ๐๐ถ๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป ๐น๐ฒ๐ฎ๐ฑ๐ฒ๐ฟ: ๐ข๐๐ฟ๐ ๐ถ๐ ๐ฎ ๐ฐ๐ผ๐๐ป๐๐ฟ๐ ๐๐ต๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ฒ ๐๐ฒ๐บ๐ฝ๐น๐ฒ๐, ๐บ๐ผ๐๐พ๐๐ฒ๐ ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ ๐ฐ๐ต๐๐ฟ๐ฐ๐ต๐ฒ๐ ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ฒ ๐ฝ๐ฒ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ฒ๐ณ๐๐น๐น๐ ๐๐ถ๐๐๐ฎ๐๐ฒ๐ฑ ๐ป๐ฒ๐
๐ ๐๐ผ ๐ฒ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ต ๐ผ๐๐ต๐ฒ๐ฟ, ๐๐ต๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ฝ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ธ๐, ๐๐ฒ๐ฟ๐๐ถ๐ฐ๐ฒ ๐ณ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ถ๐น๐ถ๐๐ถ๐ฒ๐ ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ฐ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ฎ๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป๐ฎ๐น ๐๐ฝ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ฒ๐. ๐ช๐ฒ ๐ฎ๐น๐น ๐ฐ๐ฒ๐น๐ฒ๐ฏ๐ฟ๐ฎ๐๐ฒ ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ ๐ฝ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐๐ฎ๐ธ๐ฒ ๐ถ๐ป ๐ฒ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ต ๐ผ๐๐ต๐ฒ๐ฟโ๐ ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐น๐ถ๐ด๐ถ๐ผ๐๐ ๐ณ๐ฒ๐๐๐ถ๐๐ฎ๐น๐ ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ ๐ฐ๐ฒ๐น๐ฒ๐ฏ๐ฟ๐ฎ๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป๐ ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ฟ๐ผ๐๐ ๐ฎ๐ป๐ ๐ฝ๐ผ๐น๐ถ๐๐ถ๐ฐ๐ฎ๐น, ๐ฒ๐๐ต๐ป๐ถ๐ฐ, ๐ฟ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ฒ ๐ผ๐ฟ ๐๐ผ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ฎ๐น ๐ฐ๐น๐ฎ๐๐ ๐น๐ถ๐ป๐ฒ๐. ๐ง๐ต๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ณ๐ผ๐ฟ๐ฒ, ๐ถ๐ ๐ถ๐ ๐ฑ๐ฎ๐ป๐ด๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ผ๐๐ ๐๐ผ ๐ผ๐๐ฟ ๐๐ผ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ฒ๐๐’๐ ๐ฝ๐ฒ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ฒ ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ ๐ฐ๐ถ๐๐ถ๐น ๐๐๐ฎ๐ฏ๐ถ๐น๐ถ๐๐ ๐๐ต๐ฒ๐ป ๐ถ๐ป๐๐ฒ๐น๐น๐ฒ๐ฐ๐๐๐ฎ๐น๐น๐ ๐น๐ฎ๐๐ ๐ฎ๐น๐น๐ฒ๐ด๐ฎ๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป๐ ๐ผ๐ณ ๐ต๐ฎ๐๐ฒ ๐ฐ๐ฟ๐ถ๐บ๐ฒ๐ ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐น๐ถ๐ด๐ถ๐ผ๐๐ ๐ถ๐ป๐๐ผ๐น๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฐ๐ฒ ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ฒ ๐๐ต๐ฟ๐ผ๐๐ป ๐ผ๐๐, ๐๐ถ๐๐ต๐ผ๐๐ ๐ฎ๐ป ๐ถ๐ผ๐๐ฎ ๐ผ๐ณ ๐๐๐ฝ๐ฝ๐ผ๐ฟ๐๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐ฒ๐๐ถ๐ฑ๐ฒ๐ป๐ฐ๐ฒ. ๐ช๐ต๐ถ๐น๐ฒ ๐๐ต๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ฒ ๐ถ๐ ๐ฎ ๐๐ถ๐ผ๐น๐ฒ๐ป๐ ๐ฐ๐ฟ๐ถ๐บ๐ฒ ๐ฐ๐ฟ๐ถ๐๐ถ๐ ๐ผ๐ป๐ด๐ผ๐ถ๐ป๐ด, ๐บ๐ผ๐ฑ๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ป ๐ง๐ฟ๐ถ๐ป๐ถ๐ฑ๐ฎ๐ฑ ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ ๐ง๐ผ๐ฏ๐ฎ๐ด๐ผ ๐ถ๐ ๐ก๐ข๐ง ๐ฎ ๐๐ผ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ฒ๐๐ ๐ผ๐ณ ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐น๐ถ๐ด๐ถ๐ผ๐๐ ๐ถ๐ป๐๐ผ๐น๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฐ๐ฒ ๐ผ๐ฟ ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐น๐ถ๐ด๐ถ๐ผ๐๐ ๐ต๐ฎ๐๐ฒ, ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ ๐ ๐ฐ๐ฎ๐น๐น ๐ผ๐ป ๐ฐ๐ถ๐๐ถ๐๐ฒ๐ป๐ ๐๐ผ ๐ฐ๐ฎ๐๐ฒ๐ด๐ผ๐ฟ๐ถ๐ฐ๐ฎ๐น๐น๐ ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ท๐ฒ๐ฐ๐ ๐๐ต๐ผ๐๐ฒ ๐๐ถ๐ฐ๐ธ๐ฒ๐ฑ ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ ๐ฝ๐ฟ๐ผ๐๐ผ๐ฐ๐ฎ๐๐ถ๐๐ฒ ๐๐๐ด๐ด๐ฒ๐๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป๐.
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Modern Trinidad and Tobago has a crime problem, we do not have a problem of religious intolerance or religious hate. Our society is one of the most tolerant in the world regarding the acceptance of religious and cultural diversity.
Recently, there have been crimes at some Hindu temples, but these must not be viewed in isolation as an attack on the Hindu community. In July this year, the Church of the Assumption parish office at Maraval was broken into, and previously, there were robberies or vandalism at the Mt St Benedict monastery, San Rafael RC church, St Francis of Assisi RC church and the Claxton Bay SDA church, among others. We have had robberies or vandalism at mosques in
Sangre Grande, Carapo, and Tableland to list a few.
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The fact is that none of these robberies or acts of vandalism have been proven to be committed due to religious intolerance or hate. Some of these were crimes committed by drug addicts, mentally disturbed persons, mischief makers, or petty thieves.
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Some acts of vandalism have turned out to be fuelled by disputes within the congregation or community, land disputes, noise complaints, bad parking issues, and even petty family quarrels. Places of worship are often soft targets due to the lack of physical security and the belief by opportunistic criminals that there may be valuable alms and offerings on the premises.
Ours is a country where temples, mosques and churches are situated next to each other, sharing carparks, service facilities and recreational spaces. We all celebrate and partake in each otherโs religious festivals and celebrations across any political, ethnic, race or social class lines.
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Therefore, it is dangerous to our society’s peace and civil stability when intellectually lazy allegations of hate crimes and religious intolerance are thrown out, without an iota of supporting evidence.
While there is a violent crime crisis ongoing, modern Trinidad and Tobago is NOT a society of religious intolerance or religious hate, and I call on citizens to categorically reject those wicked and provocative suggestions.
Citizens must immediately move to stop this unwarranted and divisive theme from gaining any traction by cooperating with the TTPS to bring these petty thieves and vandals to justice.
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END
Kamla Persad-Bissessar, SC, MP
Leader of the Opposition
25th October 2023