Opposition Leader Kamla Persad Bissessar has called on citizens to reject the narrative that T&T is a place of religious intolerance.

Her call comes in the wake of two Hindu sites being vandalized in the last few days.

“Ours is a country where temples, mosques and churches are peacefully situated next to each other, sharing carparks, service facilities and recreational spaces. We all celebrate and partake in each other’s religious festivals and celebrations across any political, ethnic, race or social class lines. Therefore, it is dangerous to our society’s peace and civil stability when intellectually lazy allegations of hate crimes and religious intolerance are thrown out, without an iota of supporting evidence,” the Opposition Leader said in a statement on Wednesday.

Rather, Persad Bissessar says there is an overarching crime problem, noting that other religious spaces were targeted in the past.

“Recently, there have been crimes at some Hindu temples, but these must not be viewed in isolation as an attack on the Hindu community. In July this year, the Church of the Assumption parish office at Maraval was broken into, and previously, there were robberies or vandalism at the Mt St Benedict monastery, San Rafael RC church, St Francis of Assisi RC church and the Claxton Bay SDA church, among others. We have had robberies or vandalism at mosques in Sangre Grande, Carapo, and Tableland to list a few.”

She added, “The fact is that none of these robberies or acts of vandalism have been proven to be committed due to religious intolerance or hate. Some of these were crimes committed by drug addicts, mentally disturbed persons, mischief makers, or petty thieves.” 

The Opposition Leader urged citizens to “stop this unwarranted and divisive theme from gaining any traction” by cooperating with the TTPS to bring the perpetrators to justice.