Whatever is good, beautiful, excellent, noble, elevating, inspiring, instructive of truth, equality, justice, peace, harmony, quality, integrity and greatness, in any culture, religion or philosophy, should be considered worthy of the heritage of mankind and this should be accepted as the foundation of multiculturalism.

We are the people of a multicultural society, which we are by history, constitution and reality.

Philosophies that divide mankind must be abandoned, especially those that proclaim partiality of a deity in the affairs of mankind, legitimise use of drugs, narcotics, violence against persons and discrimination with respect to gender, must be rejected.

Blanket support for any creed must be curtailed in the light of reason, justice, science and intuition and experience. Openness and freedom of tranquil discussion must be employed.

We, with our colonial past, have been forced and constrained to accept toxic religion, philosophies and practices that intrinsically divide mankind as chosen and not chosen, favoured or not favoured. We must individually and nationally adopt the good, beautiful, noble and excellent and discard the ignoble, unjust, unwholesome, anarchic and degrading, obnoxious.

The law must protect the victims of such partiality and discrimination.

We have overcome a lot, that which is obnoxious in other societies, and we increasingly accept diversity in music, dress, religion and views of the world.We must reject political leaders who selfishly utilise our differences to divide us.

Religious leaders must reexamine ancient beliefs and not accept as blanket truth that which comes from some foreign authority or primitive document.

We have the potential to lead the world with our success in multiculturalism. God bless this nation!

Dr Roopnarine Singh

Chaguanas