The annex of sweet T&T by Anand Ramlogan I am faced with a rather delicate problem: How can I say that mostly Indo-Trinidadians are being kidnapped without running the risk of being labeled racist? The official statistics reveal that there have been 165 kidnappings to date. There is no breakdown of the racial profile of the victims but its hardly contestable that over 85% of the victims have been of East Indian descent. The kidnap of young Shamshoon Mohammed from Caroni Village is historic because she is the first Muslim kidnap victim. Prior to this, kidnappers appeared to have targeted mostly Hindus and during the holy month of Ramadan kidnappings had ceased. (Apart from this, the only other time crime decreased was for carnival, when the police actually worked!). This will no doubt see Indo-Trinidadians of every faith joining hands over what is clearly a frontal assault by criminal elements against their community. Apart from Shamshoon, the Khans who owned the popular \"King's Jewelers\" in Grand Bazaar have packed up shop and left T&T because they were almost kidnapped this week. Shakti Pooran is free but Ryan Singh is yet to be released. I must express the seething rage and sense of betrayal and abandonment that the Indo-Trinidadian community feels. In hushed tones, they whisper among themselves \"If was ah white man or ah Syrian from Goodwood Park or Westmoorings that get kidnap, yuh woulda see how the media, government and police woulda react.\" If Gregory Aboud's family were kidnapped then perhaps he would have been co-operating with the Indian business community in mobilising the business sector to shut down the country on budget day to protest the government's failure to deal with the crime situation. The T&T Chamber of Industry and Commerce speaks charitably, with an aloof sense of detachment about protest plans by Indian businessmen or says nothing at all. It can afford to do this because it is comfortably ensconced in the knowledge that kidnappers have not really interfered with them. The police try to cover-up their incompetence by using their friends in the media to plant stories that seek to create the impression that kidnappings are somehow drug-related. This of course did not arise when Sabga's grandson was kidnapped. Or when our Chinese brothers and sisters were under attack and being kidnapped. Manning cleverly tries to reinforce this impression by describing Indian kidnappings as \"unusual\" or \"suspicious\". He dares not say this when the victim is Saga or Ayoung-Chee! What is \"unusual\" and \"suspicious\" is that fact that the police cannot crack this pernicious kidnapping cartel in a nation with just fewer than 3/4 million adults! If money, and not race is the motivation for kidnapping then why have kidnappings been concentrated on the Indo-Trinidadian community? None of these victims own houses down the islands, yachts or million dollar homes in posh North Trinidad. And its not as if we don't have wealthy Afro-Trinidadians--just check the senior management of our most lucrative State enterprises. So, the big question then is why the disproportionate emphasis on the Indo-Trinidadian section of our society? Do kidnappers not know that this is a country \"where every creed and race must find an equal place\"? Is there no 'rainbow' in kidnapping? Is it because they are out of political power and therefore vulnerable? Is it because the PNM wont protect them because Vision 2020 really means \"Not an Indian in T&T by 2020\"? Can you imagine how parents feel to see PM Manning speaking about how he needs a new office because White Hall leaking when their daughter is exposed to the elements in some forest? The community is helpless and unable to defend itself. The big businessmen leave them alone because they are relatively unaffected by kidnappings. They want to focus the nation's attention on real issues, such as traffic management for downtown PoS so that they can finance their luxurious lifestyles. I have come to the sad and unfortunate conclusion that nothing serious will be done about kidnapping until someone living in Goodwood park or Westmoorings is kidnapped. Do you honestly think that the presence of debris on the runway of the Piarco airport will even be on the front page if this were to happen? (This was, after all the lead headline that displaced Shamshoon's kidnapping in a tiny nation of 1.5 million!) What, pray tell makes the life of such a person more valuable than Kissoondan Singh or Tricia Suryadevera? This is how this country works. Central and South and those who live there are treated as if they are annexed to the real T&T. Many of you might be wondering what prompted this angry column. The mother of a kidnap victim visited me. Her story is typical. Her pain and suffering will never end. The family had to pay out its entire life savings in ransom money. The medical problems of both parents have been aggravated by the kidnapping ordeal but precedence is given to financing the much-needed therapy for the recovering child. During negotiations with the kidnappers they were told not to inform the police about what was taking place or else the ransom will go up because ' then dey goh have to get their cut\". Traumatized and bewildered, not knowing who to trust, this family, like so many others handed over their entire life's savings and were rewarded with the gift of their child's life. The official media and police reports state that 'the child was freed and released unharmed and no ransom money was paid\". All's well that ends well, I guess.
well many of us can stay...but say something like that when you get kidnapped...you would sing a very different tune then for sure It's just disturbing the trend of how kidnappings are occuring, but still, we gotta live life still...
