Devant Maharaj

Last updated
Devant Maharaj DevantMaharaj.png
Devant Maharaj

Devant Maharaj is a Trinidad and Tobago politician, and social activist. [1] He is a leading member of the United National Congress. On 27 June 2011, he became a member of the Senate of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago and Minister of Transport following his appointment as Chairman of the Public Services Transport Corporation of Trinidad and Tobago.

Contents

Maharaj was a member of the People's Partnership Government led by Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar.[ citation needed ] On 22 June 2013, Maharaj was reassigned to the portfolio of Minister of Agriculture. Maharaj remained a member of the Opposition Party of Trinidad and Tobago after the Peoples Partnership (UNC-Led Alliance) lost the 2015 general election.

Background

Maharaj background includes Indo-Trinidadian writer, cultural, social and political activist whose ancestors came from Uttar Pradesh, India in the 1870s to work on the sugar plantations of Trinidad and Tobago as indentured servants. Devant Maharaj was an executive member of the Sanatan Dharma Maha Sabha (SDMS) - the largest Hindu body in Trinidad and Tobago and as such has been primarily associated with Indian and Hindu activity associated with the SDMS. He was the youngest member of the SDMS when he was appointed in 1996.

In 1996, Devant, along with the Trinidad Express Columnist Kamal Persad, began the first Indian oriented radio talk show in Trinidad called "The Hindu View Point" which ran for 2 years on 91.1 FM. This was the forerunner to many Indian talk shows that later evolved on the island nation.

Maharaj was subsequently a weekly columnist with the Trinidad Newsday from 1997-2005 but he has also been published in the Trinidad Guardian. A prolific writer on Indo-Caribbean issues Maharaj has also been published in several regional and international newspapers including The Jamaica Gleaner, The Barbados Nation, The St. Lucia Star, India Post, Asian Age, BJP Today, Hinduism Today, Indian Express, India Abroad, to name a few.

In 2002, Maharaj was appointed the SDMS Delegate to the Inter-Religious Organization (IRO) of Trinidad & Tobago and was again the youngest member of the IRO. The Inter Religious Organization formed in the 1970s brings all major religious groupings on the island for regular discussions so to build greater religious understanding. Maharaj held this position in the IRO until 2006. In 2005, Maharaj was appointed by the SDMS as Chairman of the Indian Caribbean Museum. Located in Waterloo, Carapichaima, this body was established to collect artifacts on the Indian presence in the Caribbean. The Museum has since grown attracting visitors locally and internationally.

In August 2006, he left the public service to assume the position of Chief Executive Officer of SDMS’s Radio Jaagriti 102.7 FM. Maharaj has presented many papers at a variety of forums on Indian and Hindu issues within Trinidad and Tobago. Maharaj is also the co-editor of the book "Hostile & Recalcitrant" and has also self-published booklets titled "The Persistence of the Indian Identity" and "Clash of Cultures: Indian African Clash".

In November 2007, Devant Maharaj unsuccessfully contested the Couva South constituency for the newly formed Congress of the People led by Winston Dookeran in the General Elections.

Global Organization for People of Indian Origin

In 2002, Maharaj was appointed President of Global Organization for People of Indian Origin (GOPIO) Chapter by the International parent body. Since that time GOPIO Trinidad has become a virtual household name as the organization challenged issues of discrimination. With GOPIO Maharaj launched a National Awards in 2004 to protest the State’s National Awards, in particular, the Trinity Cross which awarded annually and was seen as biased against Indians and non-Christians. The GOPIO National Awards placed additional pressure on the Government to eventually declare that it would fundamentally change the State awards.

In 2005, GOPIO was successful in court when it took the Telecommunications Authority of Trinidad & Tobago for failing to investigate claims that certain radio stations were making anti-Indian and anti-Hindu statements. The TATT was forced to investigate GOPIO allegations. In 2004, the International Organization of Caribbean People Inc., (IOCP Inc.) the U.S. based non-profit human rights organization headed by Trinidad born, Maria "Francisca" Seebaran-Dayman, in collaboration with the Center for International Human Rights Advocacy, University of Denver formulated a blueprint petition regarding the crime of kidnapping that was prevalent in Trinidad & Tobago. This proposed petition to the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights provided for the first time, empirical evidence that Indo-Trinidadians were the primary targets of kidnappers. The study forced the Minister of National Security to take immediate action.

When Maharaj decided to enter into politics GOPIO International publicly requested his resignation as President of GOPIO Trinidad. Maharaj cited other active politicians such as Ramesh Maharaj, who held office with GOPIO and refused to acquiesce with the international body’s request. Maharaj and the entire Trinidad Chapter Executive threatened to resign if Maharaj was made to resign. The International body backed down from this demand; however, in early 2008 the international body launched another chapter in Trinidad. Maharaj eventually in 2008 formed the Indo-Trinbago Equality Council [ITEC] abandoning GOPIO.

In government

As Transport Minister, Devant Maharaj announced, in keeping with the government's promise, to upgrade the Camden Airstrip in Couva, central Trinidad into a domestic airport, despite it being a mere 26 miles (42 kilometers) from the islands's existing airport, also in central Trinidad in Piarco. Maharaj stated that the airport would initially handle domestic flights but this project was later shelved. As Minister of Food Production food inflation reduced to single-digit figures, the food import bill dropped and a number of new food initiatives were launched.

Devant Maharaj was the Marketing & Public Relations Officer of the National Lotteries Control Board of Trinidad & Tobago from 1993 to 2004, and Deputy Director, and NLCB since 2004.

Due to Maharaj's Indian activism, he has faced numerous challenges from the State and has had to go to court on numerous occasions as a result. In 2002 the Prime Minister of Trinidad and Tobago, Patrick Manning, vetoed his promotion. Maharaj was the most senior officer for the position of Deputy Director, he topped the appointment interview, and was recommended for the position by the independent Statutory Authorities Service Commission [SASC]. The Commission, however, sought the concurrence of the Prime Minister – a 35-year-old practice. Maharaj, as a result, took the government to court and as a result, the 35-year practice of Prime Ministerial veto was deemed illegal and brought to an immediate end.

Following this victory, the challenges at the NLCB intensified for Maharaj and he had to seek refuge in the courts again, each time contesting issues that impacted upon all public officers of Trinidad & Tobago.

In 2005, Maharaj sought information from the SASC using the Freedom of Information Act about promotions at the NLCB. The SASC responded to Maharaj but via his employers, the NLCB. Maharaj challenged this shunting of responses via a third party that he suspected was working against his professional career. The courts again ruled that Maharaj right to the information requested by public officers should not go through a third party and also that he was unfairly treated by the State in the manner and way in which it made promotions. The judgment was critical of political appointee’s interference of public officers in promotions and their career development.

In 1999, Trinidad and Tobago introduced the Freedom of Information Act to open the records of Government to the citizens. Maharaj was a “citizen trailblazer” in pioneering the use of the Freedom of Information Act in requesting information from the State. In several instances, State agencies and Government Ministries refused to provide Maharaj the information requested citing various reasons. Maharaj, as a result, sought Judicial Review on the state’s decision not to provide the information. In all instances Maharaj’s legal challenge was successful. The successful use of the Freedom of Information Act by Maharaj has resulted in several forms of administrative reactions by the State including making the Central Bank of Trinidad and Tobago exempt from the Freedom of Information Act with retroactive legislation. Maharaj’s attorney in all of his legal challenges was Constitutional Rights attorney at law Anand Ramlogan. In several cases Ramlogan was led by former Attorney General of Guyana Sir Fenton Ramsahoye.

Following the change of Government in 2015, Maharaj and Ramlogan continued their challenges in the Courts including a challenge to the Property Tax of Trinidad and Tobago as well as the appointments to the Judicial and Legal Services Commission.

Social media

Maharaj advocated the Opposition position since demitting office on several social media platforms. This has resulted in the Government accusing Maharaj of being unpatriotic, seditious and treasonous. The release by Maharaj of the mobile numbers of the Prime Minister and other Ministers evoked the ire of the Government further. [2] Maharaj's home was raided by the police following a social media post that prompted the Media Association to defend his right to protect his source. [3]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">United National Congress</span> Political party in Trinidad and Tobago

The United National Congress is one of two major political parties in Trinidad and Tobago and the current parliamentary opposition. The UNC is a centre-left party. It was founded in 1989 by Basdeo Panday, a Trinidadian lawyer, economist, trade unionist, and actor after a split in the ruling National Alliance for Reconstruction (NAR). After spending six years in opposition, the UNC won control of the government in 1995, initially in coalition with the NAR and later on its own. In the 2000 general election, the UNC won an absolute majority in the Parliament. In 2001, a split in the party caused the UNC to lose its parliamentary majority and control of the government. From 2001 to 2010, the UNC was once again Parliamentary Opposition party. In May 2010, the UNC returned to government as the majority party in the People's Partnership. The UNC's Political Leader, Kamla Persad-Bissessar, was sworn in as the first female Prime Minister of Trinidad and Tobago. Kamla Persad-Bissessar was Prime Minister from 2010 until 2015.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Indian Arrival Day</span> Holiday

Indian Arrival Day is a holiday celebrated on various days in the nations of the Caribbean, Fiji, South Africa and Mauritius, commemorating the arrival of people from the Indian subcontinent to their respective nations as indentured labours brought by European colonial authorities and their agents. In Guyana, Mauritius, Fiji and Trinidad and Tobago, where it started, it is an official public holiday.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Indo-Trinidadian and Tobagonian</span> Ethnic group

Indo-Trinidadians and Tobagonians or Indian-Trinidadians and Tobagonians are people of Indian origin who are nationals of Trinidad and Tobago, whose ancestors came from India and the wider subcontinent beginning in 1845 during the period of colonization.

Ramesh Lawrence Maharaj SC is a Trinidadian and Tobagonian politician.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bhadase Sagan Maraj</span> Trinidadian and Tobagonian Hindu leader and politician

Bhadase Sagan Maraj was a Trinidadian and Tobagonian politician, Hindu leader, civil rights activist, trade unionist, landowner, businessman, philanthropist, wrestler, and writer. He founded the Sanatan Dharma Maha Sabha in 1952, which grew to be the largest and most influential Hindu organization in Trinidad and Tobago and the wider Caribbean. He also founded the Caroni East Indian Association, the People's Democratic Party, the Democratic Labour Party, the Democratic Liberation Party, the Federation of Unions of Sugar Workers and Cane Farmers, and The Bomb newspaper.

The Sanatan Dharma Maha Sabha (SDMS), pronounced[sənɑːt̪ənəd̪ʰərməməɦɑːsəbʰɑː], colloquially known as the Maha Sabha, is the largest and most influential Hindu organization in Trinidad and Tobago. It operates 150 mandirs, over 50 schools, and has its own radio station, Radio Jaagriti 102.7 FM, and TV channel, TV Jaagriti. They also operate the Indian Caribbean Museum of Trinidad and Tobago. It was formed in 1952 when Bhadase Sagan Maraj engineered the merger of the Sanatan Dharma Association and the Sanatan Dharma Board of Control. An affiliated group, the Pundits' Parishad, has 200 affiliated pundits. The organisation's headquarters are located in St. Augustine.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Satnarayan Maharaj</span> Trinidad and Tobago politician

Satnarayan Maharaj, also known as Sat Maharaj, was a Trinidadian and Tobagonian Hindu religious leader, educationalist, and civil rights activist in Trinidad and Tobago. He was the Secretary-General of the Sanatan Dharma Maha Sabha, a major Hindu organisation in Trinidad and Tobago and the wider Caribbean.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Trinity Cross</span> Award

The Trinity Cross was the highest of the National Awards of Trinidad and Tobago, between the years 1969 and 2008. It was awarded for: "distinguished and outstanding service to Trinidad and Tobago. It was awarded for gallantry in the face of the enemy, or for gallant conduct." Either nationals or non-nationals were awarded the honour, but no more than five may have been awarded in any year. The President was awarded the Trinity Cross in an ex officio capacity. The award was first presented in 1969, last conferred in 2005, and was subsequently replaced by The Order of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago in the year 2008.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hinduism in Trinidad and Tobago</span>

Hinduism in Trinidad and Tobago is the second largest religion. Hindu culture arrived to Trinidad and Tobago in 1845, with the arrival of the first Indian indentured laborers, whom an overwhelming majority of were Hindu. According to the 2011 census there were 240,100 declared Hindus in Trinidad and Tobago.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Simbhoonath Capildeo</span>

Simbhoonath Capildeo was a prominent lawyer and politician in Trinidad and Tobago. He was the elder brother of Rudranath Capildeo and uncle of Nobel laureate Sir Vidia "V. S." Naipaul and Shiva Naipaul. He was father to two sons, Surendranath and Devendranath Capildeo and a daughter, Sita Capildeo. Capildeo was one of the founding members of the Democratic Labour Party and a member of parliament from 1956 to 1966, becoming known as "the Lion of the Legislative Council". He served as the acting Leader of the Opposition for Bhadase Sagan Maraj and Rudranath Capildeo. Capildeo was also an important leader of the Hindu community in Trinidad and played in role in the foundation of the Sanatan Dharma Maha Sabha. In 1989 he was awarded the Chaconia Gold Medal by the Trinidad and Tobago government, honoring his service to the country.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Basdeo Panday</span> Trinidadian politician (1933–2024)

Basdeo Panday was a Trinidadian and Tobagonian statesman, lawyer, politician, trade unionist, economist, and actor who served as the fifth Prime Minister of Trinidad and Tobago from 1995 to 2001. He was the first person of Indian descent along with being the first Hindu to hold the office of Prime Minister of Trinidad and Tobago. He was first elected to Parliament in 1976 as the Member for Couva North, Panday served as Leader of the Opposition four times between 1976 and 2010 and was a founding member of the United Labour Front (ULF), the National Alliance for Reconstruction (NAR), and the United National Congress (UNC). He served as leader of the ULF and UNC, and was President General of the All Trinidad Sugar and General Workers' Trade Union from 1973 to 1995.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Trinidad and Tobago</span> Country in the Caribbean

Trinidad and Tobago, officially the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, is the southernmost island country in the Caribbean. Consisting of the main islands Trinidad and Tobago and numerous much smaller islands, it is situated 11 kilometres off the coast of northeastern Venezuela and 130 kilometres south of Grenada. It shares maritime boundaries with Barbados to the east, Grenada to the northwest and Venezuela to the south and west. Trinidad and Tobago is generally considered to be part of the West Indies. The island country's capital is Port of Spain, while its largest and most populous municipality is Chaguanas.

Television in Trinidad and Tobago was introduced in 1962 beginning with Trinidad & Tobago Television. TTT was the sole television station for 29 years being operated by the state until the first independently operated television station, the Caribbean Communications Network, CCN TV6 was launched in 1991 breaking the television monopoly market. In 1992, a second independently operated station, AVM Television was launched. The first independently operated cable station, The Trinity Network (TTN) now Trinity TV began operations in 1993 broadcasting on weekends only.

Maraj, Maharaj, Maharajh, Maragh, or Maharagh is a Hindu Indian surname derived from the Sanskrit word Maharaja meaning "great leader", "great ruler", or "great king". Originally used as an honorific suffix to a Hindu priest's name, it became the surname of many Hindu priests who immigrated to different European colonies during the Indian indenture system and their descendants because when stating their names to the respective local colonial authorities they would state their whole name and many would include the honorific suffix of Maharaj, which the authorities erroneously documented as their surname. Notable individuals bearing the surname include:

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Arya Samaj in Trinidad and Tobago</span>

The earliest efforts to establish the Arya Samaj in Trinidad and Tobago were made by visiting missionaries in the beginning of the 20th century. In the 1930s their activities led to the establishment of a new organisation, which first was called the Arya Samaj Association, but later was renamed Arya Pratinidhi Sabha of Trinidad. The main activity of the sabha was giving support to the construction of Aryan temples and schools. Unfortunately the organisation was frequently plagued by split-offs, which caused a decrease of its membership.

Anand Ramlogan is a member of the Bar of Trinidad and Tobago, England & Wales and the British Virgin Islands. He is the founder and head of Freedom Law Chambers which is based in the city of San Fernando, Trinidad. He served as junior counsel to the late Sir Fenton Ramsahoye QC in whose footsteps he followed to become the Attorney General of Trinidad and Tobago during the period 28 May 2010 – 2 February 2015. As Attorney General, he was also the titular head of the bar.

Persaud is a Hindu surname primarily found in the Caribbean, especially Guyana and Trinidad & Tobago. It is derived from the Hindi surname प्रसाद which is predominantly transliterated as Prasad in India. Other variant forms include Persad, Persard, Pershad, Prasada, Prashad, Presad, and Presaud.

TV Jaagriti is a Trinidadian and Tobagonian Hindu religious television channel, that is operated by the Central Broadcasting Services Limited, which is owned by the Sanatan Dharma Maha Sabha, a major Hindu organization in Trinidad and Tobago. It airs programming related to the Indian Hindus in Trinidad and Tobago such as religious, cultural, news, lifestyle, health, youth and political programs.

Samdeo "Sam" Boodram was a Trinidadian Chutney, Bhajan, Indian classical and folk singer, Kabir Panthi mahant, and cocoa farmer. He recorded over 6,000 songs over the span of his career.

References

  1. ↑ "Browne calls on ministers to apologise for traffic jam". guardian.co.tt. 2011-07-04. Retrieved 7 July 2011.
  2. ↑ "Devant releases UNC numbers now". Newsday. 2018-12-19.
  3. ↑ "Top Cop Slams MATT Executive Over Intervention for Devant Maharaj". Archived from the original on 2020-11-27. Retrieved 2020-03-14.

Further reading


This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.