WHILE Divali signifies the triumph of light over darkness, Movement for Social Justice (MSJ) political leader David Abdulah is wondering whether this will happen in Trinidad and Tobago.

In his Divali message to the nation, Abdulah said, "Certainly the lights of the deyas are supposed to 'dispel the gloom'. But in 2023 TT will they?"

He opined it would not happen because "we are our own worst enemies”.

Abdulah did not believe it possible for people to “cancel the chaos” that had emerged from TT's post-colonial reality.

He said that reality had at its core "a reality of division by race and religion and geography fanned by our so-called two party system."

Abdulah did not believe it possible for the Prime Minister or Opposition Leader Kamla Persad-Bissessar to put partisan politics aside and unite to "address the terrible gloom that covers the land as a result of the crime crisis."

He claimed the people who controlled economic and political power in TT had no real interest in addressing the country's problems either.

"We cannot simply light a deya and expect miracles to occur."

Abdulah said meaningful change would only happen when the population became "enlightened...

"In such a situation, it will take other leaders, other organisations of civic society, other processes to enable us to 'forge the common will' to take the country forward out of darkness and offer the hope that is necessary for us to “recycle our dreams, recast the mold, (and) transform our oncoming day."

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