EX-PEOPLE’S National Movement (PNM) Senator Kamalludin “Chach” Mohammed, who had pioneered one of the country’s first Indian radio programmes is not angry at the recent comments made via a letter by his nephew, Jamal Mohammed.

Secretary of the United National Congress (UNC) Barataria/San Juan constituency, Jamal Mohammed, urged his uncle in a letter sent to several media houses not to accept any award from the ruling PNM since they “should never seek to honour you now, when 24 years ago, they should have rallied around you and made you Prime Minister of Trinidad and Tobago when Dr. Williams died in 1981”.

TnT Mirror spoke with Jamal Mohammed last week and he conveyed that he stood by what he said since it took people from as far away as India to honour his uncle, who was presented with a special Lifetime Achievement Award at the recent Bollywood Music Awards hosted at the Hasely Crawford National Stadium.

KAMALLUDIN
MOHAMMED

JAMAL
MOHAMMED

“He helped bring CARICOM into existence with the Caribbean Free Trade Agreement (CARIFTA),” Jamal said, “yet, he has never received a CARICOM award. And in my view he was supposed to get it.

“He was one of the founding members of the PNM and the only one alive now from since the days of the Eric Williams Cabinet.

“He is not treated as he ought to be treated.

“Why should people from outside honour him?”

He said that he realised that next year would be the PNM’s 50th anniversary and was sure that they would seek to honour him.

“My uncle was a member of Cabinet for 30 consecutive years and that is a major thing.

“The current leadership has not treated him well.

“He was supposed to be the prime minister, but no one supported him when Williams died in 1981 and in 1996 when he offered himself as chairman of the party and was rejected.

“The best way to have honoured him was to have made him prime minister in 1981,” he stated.

Jamal said his statements should not be misconstrued since he was not intending to cause controversy and was speaking as a concerned family member.

However, former PNM deputy Political Leader and senior Cabinet Minister, Kamalludin Mohammed said that he was not angry at his nephew’s remarks but did not want to comment on the letter that was written by him.

He said: “That is his view.

“Jamal is a bright, principled boy.

“I have no quarrel with him.

“That is his opinion.”

The old Chach said he felt very humble and honoured by the Bollywood Lifetime Achievement Award.

The award came from the Bollywood Commission Committee, which consisted of movie producers and high-powered executives.

Prior to 1947, Trinidad and Tobago did not have its own Indian cultural radio station and had to listen to Guyana’s East Indian station ZFY.

Kamalludin was one of the first persons to run and sponsor an Indian programme at Radio Trinidad that was owned by an English company.

Most of the older heads in the popular Mohammed clan are involved in Indian cultural radio programmes in some form.

It was in 1962, then Prime Minister Eric Williams advised Kamaluddin to remove himself from the radio programme, which he felt was a conflict of interest.

His brother Moean Mohammed, who was never involved in active politics took over the programme.

Later on, another brother, Sham Mohammed, who became an elected MP on a PNM ticket, made himself the host of the popular Mastana Bahar local Indian television programme.