TRINIDAD, TRINIDAD AND TOBAGO, January 29, 2008: Satnarayan Maharaj, secretary general of the Santan Dharma Maha Sabha of Trinidad and Tobago, wants to change the hierarquical order of the government’s offices.
The Table of Precedence, a protocol list used to determine who holds what position in terms of governmental high offices, was not initially an official list but was adapted since 1966. According to it, the President is the country’s highest office holder with the Prime Minister second and Chief Justice third. The Catholic Archbishop is named as the eighth highest holder of a public office.
Maharaj said if the ranking on the protocol list is considered by numbers and who commands the support of large groups in the country, then the representative of the Hindu Religion, which is the Maha Sabha should not be at number ten in the Table of Precedence, but at number nine. He added that it was put together at a time when the Hindu religion was not even recognised. “Things have changed and Hindus are fully engaged in national activities and command a large support,” Maharaj affirms.
According to census data from 1990, the population of Trinidad and Tobago is 30% Roman Catholic, 24% Hindu, 11% Anglican, 6% Muslim, 3% Presbyterian and 26% minority faiths.