Independence Day celebrations the world over tend to trigger a flood of discussions about how nation states come into being and the status of the various peoples who make up the imagined national community. It also invariably provokes narratives and counter-narratives about who the "founding father" or "fathers" were.

Myths and tall stories are often repeated such as the one about George Washington and the cherry tree. It is popularly said, for example, that Eric Williams is the "Father" of the nation of Trinidad and Tobago. He has been given this title by acclamation, however, since no survey has ever been done as to how many and which Trinidadians and Tobagonians so regard Williams.

Those who hold fast to the Williams mythology might argue that it would be irreverent to deconstruct, revise and debunk the many myths that are told about Dr Williams. These are said to be "sacred". Others argue that the nation is now more mature and diverse about its identity profiles, and that the foundation myths should be revised. As Williams himself concedes, "every age rewrites history". He himself set out to rewrite 19th century English economic history in a most irreverent way.

Many mythical stories have been told about Williams as an individual, and about how, when and by whom the People's National Movement (PNM) was formed. Many of these stories have been detailed in my Eric Williams the Myth and the Man. Other stories have been repeated orally. One places Williams in the company of a Baptist woman with whom he had a spiritual relationship. There is yet another told by one Emanuel (Manny) Granger and Mrs Josephine Rogers, the late wife of De Wilton Rogers, foundation member of the PNM. (Cf The BOMB, April 12, 1991) According to Granger and Rogers, the PNM was not born in the way described in the conventional myths, but in a house in La Lune, Moruga in which Rogers lived.

Granger claims that Rogers once told him to prepare to receive 'someone' who would be coming from overseas to this country, and that when he does, "Trinidad and Tobago will never be the same again". That person turned out to be Eric Williams. Granger recalled that "we did not just take [Williams] at his word. He was tested among us and found worthy and then accepted into the small society we had going". The members of the society reportedly included John Sheldon Donaldson Snr, and some other "very important people". Donaldson and Rogers, were in written communication with Wiliams, and it is known that they invited him to associate with The Teachers Educational and Cultural Association (TECA).

Granger claims that there was also an informal process that has not been publically revealed. Williams was initiated into a "secret circle", masters of which subscribed to a set of occult "rituals of devastating power". The main totem of the society was the "Balisier". According to Granger: "I was the person who went into the nearby forest and cut a balisier flower and brought it to the house during a ceremony called the "Opening of the Gates". The balisier was not chosen by guess, and the men who sat in council and decided on it had to know what they were doing and why." Granger claimed that he was the "keeper of secrets", and that Williams spent time in Rogers' La Lune home. "It was here Dr Williams and the PNM began the march on the table of time and history. It was here that Dr Williams undertook to serve the people of Trinidad and Tobago and the Caribbean in a meaningful way."

Granger's claim was corroborated by Rogers' wife. In the years that I spent doing research on Williams in the 60s, I got to know Rogers well. He, however, never told me about Williams' alleged sojourn in the La Lune wilderness, notwithstanding that he had by then come to hate Williams. His own written account of the early PNM years does not mention it and I relate it just in case there is anyone still alive who can confirm or deny what has been claimed by Granger.

Is it pure fabrication, or is there something to it? If so, what society is being referred to? It is said that Williams was a Rosicrucian. Did he also belong to some other society about which one has heard whispers?

Most Afro Trinidadians appear to regard Williams as "Father of the nation". I am, however, sure that there are those who believe that they too can legitimately claim shared paternity rights, given the role they played in negotiating the terms of our independence concordat at Marlborough House. I could think of Ellis Clarke, Tajmool Hosein, Lionel Seukeran, and Rudranath Capildeo. The Marlborough House Compromise was the cornerstone of our independence experience for the past 48 years.

Mr Manning has also laid claim to being Father of the nation. One is, however, puzzled as to what was the basis of the claim which he made in a solemn address to the nation on May 27, 1995. With a straight face, Manning told the country that "today, I speak to you as the father of the nation, and as the leader that you have chosen, not because I may, but because I know I must". What compelled him so to make such an irreverent claim? Was he responding to an inner signal that he was the chosen one? Which guru had put that notion into his head? Was his behaviour the product of a fevered mind that was racked with uncertainty as to whether he was in fact the chosen one?

Mr Manning went so far as to refer to us as his "political children" upon whom he called to make sacrifices to transform the vision which he had for the society into reality. That goal was to make Trinidad and Tobago the Hong Kong of the Americas. As he preached, "a lot is spoken of vision, but vision is more than saying that you have a vision. Vision is working to have a vision work". Manning also made the point that God's will had a great deal to do with success of a vision. As he concluded, "you choose a leader, believe in your leader and God will do the rest".

Of interest is Erica Williams' reaction to Manning's claim. As she said with studied subtlety, "I find it unseemly when either the individual or family members lobby for recognition. If it is at all deserving, it must be acquired naturally rather than artificially. As you know, part of my father's enduring appeal was his essential humility. I should not want, in any way, to compromise this attribute...in no way, am I so insecure about my father's record that this development unnerves me in the slightest. He did what he did and he was what he was, with all the graces and faults that being a human implies. History alone will be his best judge and I am content to leave it at that." That was clearly a rebuke to Mr Manning.

Ironically, Benny Hinn would confirm in Manning's mind that he was indeed God's anointed. In a rally at the Queen's Park Savannah, Hinn prayed for Manning's "prosperity in God's ways" and prophesied that the Lord will "exalt" him. As he told Manning, "I sensed, my brother, although I have never met you, that you are that [ i.e God's] man. My brother, when God exalts you, forget not God. I don't know you, I don't know who you are, but the Holy Spirit told me who you are."

What is one to make of all this, especially when Hinn would later say that Manning was foolish and that he had sensed that Trinidad was among the most demon possessed countries in the world?