Chief Secretary Farley Augustine says religious liberty is this country’s greatest natural asset. “Perhaps greater than the rocks we mined and perhaps greater than all other natural assets.” he said.
Augustine was speaking at Eid celebrations at the Masjid al Tawbah at Lowlands Tobago. He said there are often negative stereotypes about Muslims around the world but Muslims in Trinidad and Tobago prove those negative stereotypes to be wrong.
” I wish to also urge the Muslim community to shake off some of the stereotypes and the stigmas attached to your faith,” he said. “Globally, we know that you are blamed for quite a lot, and globally I understand how unfair treatment can be against you once you declare yourself as being Muslim.”
He said while that is unfair, he encouraged Muslims to keep worshiping and to keep being worthy citizens of Trinidad Tobago.
“Because through his country, you can demonstrate to the rest of the world that what they believe about Muslims may not be true at all. And we thank you for being so disciplined. We thank you for being so enterprising. We thank you for also living harmoniously with the rest of us,” the Chief Secretary said.
He said Trinidad and Tobago remains one of the few places in the world where Muslims, Christians and Hindus can all sit at the same table despite differences in beliefs. He said people have many names for God, but most importantly, it represents peace.
“Peace is one of the names you have for God as well, and peace is something we can do with in Trinidad and Tobago,” Augustine said. “At this time. We are all talking about the levels of criminality, we are all concerned about the levels of criminality. But somehow, we have not all taken responsibility for the levels of criminality. And it’s time that we all take responsibility, and all do our part to engender peace throughout our community.”
