Nizam’s proposal needs to be revisited

I am sure we all remember the dismissal of former chairman and member of the Police Service Commission, Nizam Mohammed, by President Richards due to his “unfortunate” statements.

At that time I was absolutely outraged and totally rejected the dismissal of Mohammed. His statements had nothing but truth in them and for him to be called out on them was absolutely ridiculous. 

At no time did Mohammed state anything against any other ethnic group. What he did in fact, was raise a serious and legitimate issue concerning the ethnic imbalance present in the police service. 

This is nothing new though. Since 1981, Patrick Manning had commissioned a survey of the public and private sectors via the Center for Ethnic Studies at UWI. 

The report was offered by Professor Selwyn Ryan and Professor John La Guerre. One of the main recommendations in this report regarding the police service was the need for racial diversity in the promotion interview panel.

That recommendation was made in 1981. Over three decades later (31 years), the police service is still unable to find a single Indo Trinidadian who can serve on the promotion interview panel. This is an indictment on the hierarchy of the service.

About a month ago, a list was published with the names of those who were promoted to inspectors. Most notably was the fact that out of 50 sergeants only nine were of East Indian descent, less than 20 per cent. 

Having said all that, instead of doing proper research from the past and of the present to verify Mohammed’s statement, he was open to gross condemnation. 

It is a sad day when we claim we are a country where there are equal opportunities for all but we are still subjected to mindless, subtle prejudice. 

I would like to see an apology be made to Mohammed. Another great suggestion would be to revisit Mohammed’s proposal.

Jenna Thomas, 
Maracas,
​St Joseph