Trinidad and Tobago Info Featured on Front Page of Wikipedia, and Simbhoonath Capildeo

In an interesting twist, with Trinidad and Tobago in the news so much this week, the Democratic Labour Party (Trinidad and Tobago) is featured on the front page of the Wikipedia! And - I had nothing to do with the article!

From the front page:

The Democratic Labour Party was the main opposition party in Trinidad and Tobago between 1957 and 1971. The party was formed as a multi-racial alternative to the Afro-Trinidadian-dominated People's National Movement led by Eric Williams. Over the course of the next ten years the party developed into an Indo-Trinidadian-dominated party. After several splits brought about by leadership struggles, the party lost its hold on the Indo-Trinidadian community in the 1976 General Elections and was displaced by the United Labour Front under the leadership of Basdeo Panday.

It's really good to see something from Trinidad and Tobago on the front page of the Wikipedia. Guettarda deserves a lot of credit - he's the most prolific Trinbagonian Wikipedian I know of, and while my mention in the media was accidental, he deserves it more than I. Hats off, Guettarda - and every other Trinbagonian who has participated, no matter how small, in the Wikipedia entries related to Trinidad and Tobago.

Family History

Now - for some of my family history. Rudranath Capildeo and Simbhoonath Capildeo were my Great Uncles. V. S. Naipaul is my Uncle. I don't know too much about that branch of the family aside from the limited lore of the family, and it's all injected with a point of view that I'm not certain that I would subscribe to if I knew the whole truth. And while this might sound really important to people outside - in Trinidad and Tobago, almost everyone is related to everyone. We call such relationships pumpkin-vine relatives. But things come down the pipes.

The family that has spoken of Rudranath Capildeo has been either very diplomatic or very annoyed. In essence, he's not someone that is spoken of much, if at all. On the flip side, Simbhoonath Capildeo was a bit of a hellion and was noted for calling for Civil Disobedience in the 1960s.

Simbhoonath Capildeo

Daurius Figueira wrote a book about him which I do intend to find and read, because it seemed that he may have been quite an interesting character, and would also make for some additions to the Wikipedia, since I lack a Neutral Point of View on it(that's how the Wikipedia works, folks!).

Simbhoonath Capildeo:Lion of the Legislative Council Father of Hindu Nationalism in Trinidad and Tobago

According to this reference to the book, Simbhoonath Capildeo was the one who called for the destruction of voting machines during the 1961 General Elections, and he stood separate from the DLP when he did felt that they had become servile. Having read that much, it seems appropriate that I would find such a person interesting enough to read about... people who know me probably have seen that anarchistic streak I have. From the same page: ...[Simbhoonath] Capildeo stood alone as the leadership of the DLP openly and brazenly capitulated and sold out the persons who had elected them to the Legislative Council and the House of Representatives. The servile gunga dins of the DLP were duped, intimidated or simply sold out to the colonial overlords and their PNM lap dogs. Stephen Carpoondeo Maharaj was simple defeated at the level of the idea as a member of the boundaries commission appointed by the colonial overlord. Sinanan and Seukeran would sell out for favours granted by the colonial overlord and Williams. Simbhoonath Capildeo stood alone in his refusal to be a servile gunga din and for that he paid the price within the DLP and in the wider society. But the deepest cut would be placed by his brother Dr. Rudranath Capildeo...

Yeah. That sounds like my family alright. Brother against brother. I suppose they came by it honestly.

History of Politics in Trinidad and Tobago

This would be an interesting book for another reason though. Politics in Trinidad and Tobago is very segregated, to this day. Descendants of indentured servants and slaves were 'given' freedom, and with this freedom they adopted the same system that the English had left, with little if any adaptation. I wonder at times - openly - if this did not simply create local 'English'; the systems in place were the same that over centuries had been adapted to give power to England. That's what colonies were for - they were never seen as areas where there were African or Indian subjects; at least not under the surface. ¹

I'm not saying it was wrong or right, though I have feelings about it. It is what it is, it was what it was - but the point I'm making is that it is what it was. Race is still a major factor in politics, unfortunately, and it's become a part of the culture. Some are trying to break the culture, and make it less divisive - but the majority of the politicians are of the era starting around 1971. My father and Uncles went to school with Patrick Manning, and they don't hold him in too high of opinion (and to be fair, they also know - as do I - Basdeo Panday, and they don't hold him in high opinion either). When it comes down to election days, it's the same faces seen in either party since at least the 1980s. When faced with these choices, what are people to do? They pick the side that they think will benefit them the most - and whichever group they identify with the most.

When the African slaves were freed, indentured servants from India were brought in. Why? Because it was difficult to make people who were freed work, so instead the English took people from a colony in India, promised land or transport back to India upon the end of a few decades of indentureship... and since they weren't slaves, they didn't have to feed or clothe them. So what happened was - competition. Competition between two races and cultures. And it persists to this day.

It is what it was, but maybe less so. It's hard to gauge. Maybe reading about Simbhoonath Capildeo will help me gauge the differences. Maybe not.

From the The introduction:

...Simbhoonath was born in 1914. His father left for India in 1926 after building what is the authentic statement of the Indian indentured immigrant in Trinidad, the Lion House on the Main Road, Chaguanas.

At age 12 Simbhoonath became the patriach of the Capildeo clan. The scion of the Lion House. Although guided by his mother Soogee, Simbhoonath was essentially self taught. Fluent in Hindi and Sanskrit. Encyclopaedic in the knowledge of Hinduism and its rituals, Simbhoonath was also conversant with the great philosophers of western civilization.

His greed for books has been immortalised in V.S..Naipaul