Inshan Ishmael
Media Watch is now following a verbal war between two religious broadcast entities Radio Jagriti, the station controlled by Sat Maharaj’s Sanatan Dharma Maha Sabha and the Islamic Broadcasting Network (IBN) owned by Insham Ishmael.
Ironically, Ishmael was one of Maharaj’s main supporters in his battle for the radio broadcast license which went all the way to the Privy Council.
Of late, however, Ishmael has been very critical of Attorney General Anand Ramlogan who represented Maharaj, and even of Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar.
Some of Maharaj’s accusations against Ishmael border on the defamatory and Media Watch has no intention of becoming embroiled in the battle between the religious zealots. Maharaj, who has a daily programme in which he pontificates ad nauseam on sundry matters (including his obsession that the TnT Mirror continues to outsell his flagging Bomb newspaper) has accused Ishmael of trying to divide Muslims and Hindu.
Last Friday in his daily rant on Jagriti FM Radio, Maharaj criticized Ishmael for even attacking his own Muslim brothers saying that the Muslims organizations Ishmael has been criticizing, have built schools and mosques, while Ishmael does not represent any Muslim body.
“What has Inshan built, not even a fowl coop,” he said.
Maharaj also criticized Ishmael for attacking the government on his IBN weekly ‘Breaking Barriers’ programme on Wednesday night.
Sat Maharaj
“He is saying those things because he cannot get a contract. Jack gave him a contract to build box drains and pavement and he take it away from him because he could not do the job,” the Hindu leader said.
“Inshan fighting for people in the Bamboo but he does not live there. He has gone to live in lands development by the government. His wife, who is a Hindu comes from Caroni, so he gone back home because they run him out of the Bamboo. They do not want him in the Mosque there because he likes to make trouble.” Maharaj added.
“He used to make the same trouble in the PNM,” he noted.
“As long you can’t give Inshan what he wants then he attacks you,” he claimed.
“He wants VMCOTT to fix all the police cars and when he can’t get the contract he is attacking the minister,” he added.
His co-host Krystal Ramroopsingh, CEO of the station and constant companion of Transport Minister Devant Maharaj, chipped in with some observations of her own.
“When he had his youth fest recently, he asked Devant for funding.” However, she did not disclose how she came to be in possession of information from the Transport Ministry or if Ishmael’s request bore any fruit.
“He (Inshan) said he wants to go toe –to-toe with me. When Muhammad Ali was famous, other boxers wanted to fight with him so they can become famous too,” Maharaj said.
Media Watch intends to tune in for Ishmael’s response.
