By Newsday
Copyright newsday
THE EDITOR: While Ms Mickela Panday’s sentiments on civility and respectful discourse may sound noble, let us not fool ourselves into thinking polite calls for “dialogue over demagoguery” will save TT from the abyss it is staring into.
The real poison in our politics is not mauvais langue. It is the crippling complacency of leaders who prefer moral lectures over decisive action in the face of an existential crisis. Our nation is under siege, not from harsh words online, but from the scourge of crime, violence, corruption and institutional decay.
We live in fear, businesses shutter behind burglar bars and the young are lured into gangs because they see no alternative future. To say the greatest threat is heated political rhetoric is to ignore blood on the streets and trauma in our homes.
Let’s be clear, freedom of speech is sacred, but it is not absolute!
It is not toxic to acknowledge reality, it is responsible leadership. When criminals have declared war on society and cartels and gangs wield more firepower than police, the State must wield a firm hand.
What Ms Panday paints as dangerous rhetoric, I call necessary urgency. Our people are not crying out for softer words between politicians, they are crying out for safety, stability and restoration of law and order.
When your house on fire, you do not ask the fireman to lower his tone, you beg him to act decisively and without hesitation.
The American tragedy she references is unfortunate, but importing that narrative wholesale into TT is misleading. We are not on the brink of civil war, we are on the brink of being consumed by criminal enterprise. What we need is not hand-wringing but bold reform, tough legislation and enforcement that sends a clear message – crime will not be tolerated, and the days of impunity are over.
Politeness will not save our republic. Firmness, discipline and a willingness to act with speed and resolve will. Leaders should not waste time scolding the public, they should focus on delivering results that will reduce the need for such anger in the first place.
So yes, let us choose unity, but unity in purpose not in empty rhetoric. Let us demand courage not just civility. Let us face reality – the poison in our politics is not vitriol, it is weakness. Until we replace it with strength, our future remains in jeopardy.
Let it be known, with unwavering certainty, our prime minister is already charting this very course. With the resolute grip of true authority, she embodies the steel of leadership our times demand. Her hand does not tremble, her voice does not falter and her vision does not waver.
In her, the people find not just a leader, but a commander of fate, unyielding, unstoppable, and unafraid to do what must be done to preserve this nation.
SIDDHARTA RAMISCHAND
