NCIC defends Nagar site use for Independence prayer event

Surujdeo Mangaroo -

NATIONAL Council of Indian Culture (NCIC) president Surujdeo Mangaroo says negative comments about the use of the Divali Nagar site for a national day of prayer are dividing the nation. The NCIC is responsible for managing the site.

Mangaroo spoke at the launch of this years Divali Nagar at the site in Chaguanas on August 27. The Nagar will run for nine nights from October 11 to 19.

He was responding to strong objections raised to the site, identified as a predominantly Hindu cultural centre, being used by the Inter-Religious Organisation (IRO) to host a day of prayer on Independence Day.

Mangaroo advised members of the public to put aside their reservations and join the IRO in praying for security and peace for the nation, now in the midst of a state of emergency (SoE). He explained that over the past four decades, the site had embraced people of all nationalities, races and religions.

Mangaroo said over 200,000 people are attracted to the site over the nine days of festivities leading up to the celebration of Divali each year.

In the last few days, disapproval of the Nagar's use for the prayer event have dominated social media posts and call-in talk shows on the electronic media. Some politicians have suggested a 'more neutral' venue like a church or the Queens Park Savannah be used.

Commentators have been linking the choice of venue to a potential politicising of the event, as they claim the present political administration which called off the parade and replaced it with a prayer day, consists of a large number of Hindus.

Government, however, says the parade, normally held at the Queen's Park Savannah in Port of Spain, had to be cancelled for security reasons.

On August 27, referring to the disapproval voiced by some members of the public, Mangaroo said that kind of negativity was setting races and religions apart in TT.

He made an impassioned plea for unity.

He also said the Divali Nagar was open for business as the revenue generated assisted with maintenance of the property which costs over $250,000 annually.

“We had a written request for use of the venue by the IRO to host the event and we gave them permission.".

Mangaroo said it was not an unusual request as many other organisations requested use of the facility, and once requirements were met, they were granted permission.

Since 1986, he said, “That's what we have been doing. If we focus on the negativity of life, Divali Nagar would have been dead 25-30 years ago.”

Mangaroo, however, said that even the negative feedback was welcome because it was, to him, inspirational.

“It gives us inspiration to do positive things. We tend to focus too much on the negative side of things. Our focus should be on the positive.”

He acknowledged, however, “Whatever we do here, we cannot satisfy everybody. Not everything we do would be pleasing to all, but to have 200,000 people traversing this venue, it says we are doing something good here.”