Akash Sama­roo

Lead Ed­i­tor-Pol­i­tics

akash.sama­roo@cnc3.co.tt

A year be­fore the con­tro­ver­sy over fund­ing and spon­sor­ship for Di­vali Na­gar 2026, Pub­lic Util­i­ties Min­is­ter Bar­ry Padarath had al­leged that the Na­tion­al Coun­cil for In­di­an Cul­ture’s premis­es had been used as a base to un­der­mine Prime Min­is­ter Kam­la Per­sad-Bisses­sar.

Speak­ing at Di­vali Na­gar on Oc­to­ber 14, 2025, al­most six months af­ter the Unit­ed Na­tion­al Con­gress (UNC) re­turned to Gov­ern­ment, Padarath al­so chal­lenged the or­gan­i­sa­tion over how the par­ty had been treat­ed at the Na­gar while in Op­po­si­tion.

His re­marks have tak­en on re­newed sig­nif­i­cance amid the con­tro­ver­sy sur­round­ing State fund­ing and Blue Wa­ters’ spon­sor­ship of Di­vali Na­gar 2026.

NCIC pres­i­dent Su­ru­jdeo Man­ga­roo has main­tained that the or­gan­i­sa­tion is apo­lit­i­cal.

Ad­dress­ing the Na­gar au­di­ence in 2025, Padarath sug­gest­ed that the NCIC’s premis­es had been used by those seek­ing to un­der­mine Per­sad-Bisses­sar fol­low­ing her elec­tion vic­to­ry.

“For far too long we have al­lowed in­sti­tu­tions like the Na­tion­al Coun­cil for In­di­an Cul­ture and oth­er rep­re­sen­ta­tive um­brel­la bod­ies to be­come po­lit­i­cal,” he said.

“Just a few months ago, it was from with­in the halls of this in­sti­tu­tion that sought to un­der­mine the Prime Min­is­ter that was birthed on April 28, 2025.”

Lat­er in the speech, Padarath re­called at­tend­ing Di­vali Na­gar while the UNC was in op­po­si­tion and sug­gest­ed that he and Per­sad-Bisses­sar had not re­ceived the same wel­come af­ford­ed to Gov­ern­ment of­fi­cials.

“There was a time we would come to Di­vali Na­gar right here, and we would be wel­comed with no tas­sa, no fan­fare. We would be seat­ed to the sides,” he said.

“Maybe that is the pro­to­col of the State when you’re in op­po­si­tion.”

He then called on the NCIC to change its ap­proach to lead­er­ship.

“But I in­tend on be­ing no hyp­ocrite here this evening, and I’m call­ing on the or­gan­i­sa­tion to evolve from the way in which we think, from the way in which we see lead­er­ship,” Padarath said.

He told the au­di­ence that the NCIC’s new man­age­ment and ex­ec­u­tive pro­vid­ed an op­por­tu­ni­ty to de­vel­op a new gen­er­a­tion of lead­ers.

At the time, Su­ru­jdeo Man­ga­roo had tak­en over con­trol of the NCIC fol­low­ing the pass­ing of for­mer pres­i­dent and In­de­pen­dent Sen­a­tor De­oroop Teemal in Au­gust.

Those lead­ers, he said, “must nev­er be ashamed to be as­so­ci­at­ed with those who have giv­en them the op­por­tu­ni­ty to have their in­sti­tu­tion grow and grow and grow”.

Padarath al­so crit­i­cised cul­tur­al and re­li­gious or­gan­i­sa­tions for what he sug­gest­ed was a fail­ure to sup­port calls for a na­tion­al award for the late singer Anil Bheem.

He re­called that he and Per­sad-Bisses­sar, then op­po­si­tion leader, had called for Anil Bheem to re­ceive an award at his fu­ner­al, which was held at the Di­vali Na­gar site.

“We can­not call our­selves na­tion­al cul­tur­al in­sti­tu­tions when we refuse to lend a voice to things that are dharmic in na­ture,” Padarath said.

He con­grat­u­lat­ed the Gov­ern­ment and Per­sad-Bisses­sar for the posthu­mous award to Bheem, recog­nis­ing his con­tri­bu­tion to East In­di­an cul­ture in Trinidad and To­ba­go.

Padarath said that when he and Per­sad-Bisses­sar made the call while in op­po­si­tion, they had ex­pect­ed cul­tur­al and re­li­gious groups to sup­port them be­cause of Bheem’s con­tri­bu­tion to the com­mu­ni­ty.

He con­tin­ued, “While the NCIC con­tin­ues to do very good work, it is time where we come to­geth­er as a com­mu­ni­ty and not on­ly cel­e­brate the virtues of Di­vali dur­ing ten days of Di­vali Na­gar.

“I ask you to be­come em­bold­ened. I ask you to lend your voice to crit­i­cal na­tion­al is­sues.”