TT: Even in grief, jihad

Placards with the ominous message about the start of jihad (holy war) lined the streets of Barrackpore yesterday, even as mourners at Ashmead Baksh's funeral set up barricades to protest rising crime.

Last evening, two jeeploads of policemen descended on Lalbeharry Junction, Monkey Town, in a desperate attempt to clear the road of debris.

Mourners remained stranded for close to an hour as they tried to leave Barrackpore through Papourie Road.

Hundreds, including Government Ministers, attended the funeral, but Prime Minister Patrick Manning was absent.

Trade and Industry Minister Ken Valley said Manning was attending an energy conference and was unaware that the funeral was yesterday.

Public relations officer of Barrackpore Taxi Drivers' Association Chandradath Rampersad said they decided to stick up the placards along all the roads leading to Barrackpore Islamic Centre, where Ashmead's funeral service took place.

Some of the placards read: "Mr National Security Minister — Beware of Jihad. We are a hair's breath away from it," "Manning can't stop crime" and "Muslimeen have the police hands tied — Kidnappers had Ashmead's hand tied."

Leader of the Jamaat al Muslimeen, Yasin Abu Bakr, who also attended the funeral, said: "My presence here shows that all Muslims are brothers, and we want to share our condolences to the family and our concerns about crime."

The hypocrisy of Abu Bakr is astonishing. The Jamaat al Muslimeen is at the source of the majority of the crime in TT. Since Abu Bakr armed the youth leading up to his attempted coup in 1990, crime and violence, already high with the coke trade, sky-rocketed in TT.

It is a pity that the mourners used such a sad occasion to call for jihad. No doubt, the mosques are full of arms ... as they were in 1990.

So, since Muslims (Muslimeen) are the source of much of the violence in TT, does that mean that when they make jihad they will kill the Muslims who are responsible for the country's violence? Enquiring minds want to know.