Dear Editor,

On behalf of my family and myself I extend sincere condolences to the family of the late Hans Hanoomansingh who passed away at the age of 84.

In the public space, he is being hailed as a media icon and a cultural ambassador, no doubt the latter as a result of his pioneering vision and leadership in making a reality what is popularly known today as Diwali Nagar.

Supported by the hard-working National Council for Indian Culture (NCIC), Diwali Nagar which started at the car park of Mid Center Mall has blossomed into perhaps the most attended cultural event annually outside of Carnival.

More than this, as a nine-day festival, it is the biggest cultural event in the country, appreciated by the national community and which has spawned several Diwali Nagars internationally.

My best recollection suggests that Diwali Nagar was the vision of Hans Hanoomansingh. This is not to take away from the work of all others who ensured that it became the tremendous national event that it has become. So significant is the event that it is a must for prime ministers, leaders of the opposition and presidents of the country to make the Nagar part of the itinerary of the elite for Diwali.

The NCIC was having difficulty getting the land for Divali Nagar. With the change of government in 1986, Hans approached me to assist. I arranged a meeting between himself, Gerald Hadeed and then Head of the Public Service  Reginald Dumas. On that same day, we met with then prime minister ANR Robinson who instructed Mr Dumas to attend to the details. Mr Robinson asked me to script a draft speech for him to deliver at the handover ceremony. I make this point to demonstrate the persistence and diplomacy of Hans to ensure that the legal aspects were completed.

At a time in the mid-eighties when Indian culture was but an appendage to the ”national cultural” events and given token representation at state functions, the birth and growth of the Diwali Nagar was an important statement of the East Indian presence and more particularly the Hindu presence.

Because of his vision, Hindus in particular achieved a new sense of pride and self-respect. The introvertedness of the Hindu community began dissipate as the Nagar became the big stage where cultural pride was exhibited with confidence. Local artistes were allowed to perform side by side and on the same stage with artistes from India.

In fact, some of the world-renowned artistes from India graced the stage of Diwali Nagar. The President of India was also a guest, as was Ramanand Sagar, the producer of the most successful and most viewed internationally TV series, the Ramayana.

It was Hans Hanoomansingh who pioneered the annual Ramayana series at the Nagar for which the seven nights of discourses were delivered by eminent world-recognised Professor of Religion Ananatanand Rambachan for the first ten years. Hans had recognised the need to present the Ramayan not just as a scriptural text but as a way of life, which he felt that Anant was eminently qualified to do. The first Yagna saw the famous Bhajan singer Hari Om Sharan singing to accompany the lectures of Professor Rambachan. Harry Mahabir and his orchestra played music.

But while Diwali Nagar may be his most significant project, one must pause to consider the role he played in ensuring that Indian culture got space on radio.

Apart from Radio Trinidad, where there was a Sunday morning Indian programme, it was Hans Hanoomansingh’s Jai Bharati at 5.45 am that inspired thousands of Hindus daily with bhajans and readings from sacred scriptures. It was a mere 15-minute programme with another half hour on evenings and “From the Silver Screen” on Sunday afternoons that in my view kept alive East Indian culture .

I am by no means undervaluing the efforts of the pundits, imams and other cultural personages, but it was a difficult task to get the radio stations to provide time for Indian culture. He along with Kamaluddin Mohammed and their family, as well as Pat Mathura and others struggled against the odds.

Today’s proliferation of Indian radio stations and TV stations is a testimony of that struggle. How many will remember my struggle against TTT when they attempted to remove the one three-hour segment they had for an East Indian movie on Sundays, a struggle which incited people both within the Indian community and outside as well to brand me a racist.

One senior member of the ULF now deceased (not Mr Panday) in a newspaper report said that the ULF would be better off without people like Rambachan. It was more important for him and the ULF to get political mileage than stand up for what was an atrocity. I was then the Deputy Leader of the Organization for National Reconstruction, of which former attorney general Karl Hudson Phillips was the leader. A meeting was called at Astor Cinema in Port of Spain to vote on a motion to remove me as deputy leader. It failed.

It will be interesting for the Hindu community to know that the first Ramayan Yagna to be broadcast on Radio was on Radio 610 where 15 minutes was allocated from within Hans Hanoomansingh evening programme for a broadcast from Freeport where against an elaborately constructed stage by RaviJi, myself and the Saraswati Kirtan Mandali were conducting a seven-night Ramayan Yagna. After 15 minutes, Hans Hanoomansingh was told by the station Manager Hamilton Clement that he could go on for another thirty minutes because the manager was listening and found it most interesting. This was history but I can assure you that it took a lot of negotiation by Hans to get the company to agree. It was new ground for them.

Hans also introduced a Xmas Nagar, which for some reason was not sustained. Hans was a Presbyterian but his heart was inclusive with a deep love for his Hindu brothers and sisters and profound respect for Hinduism. He proved it by elevating Hindus and Hinduism to the nation’s attention.

Dr Surujrattan Rambachan

Chaguanas