Dr rudranath capildeo pictures
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But where would Trinidad be today if not Rudranath Capildeo? In this article, we will look at perhaps the most important legislator in our post-independence history— Rudranath Capildeo.
After Bhadase fell ill in 1959, leadership of the Democratic Labour Party was conferred on Rudranath Capildeo. At one PNM meeting, Vice-President and Government Minister, Isabella Teseha, remarked that it was a “good sign” for the people of the area that “few, if any, DLP faces” could have been found in the crowd—referring of course to the Indians that were in attendance.
One month before the election, a group of PNM supporters raided a gas station, looted shops and threw stones at a DLP office as well as candidates.
Dr. Capildeo was Leader of the Opposition in Parliament while his former QRC classmate, Dr. Eric Williams was Prime Minister.
Dr. He spent most of his teaching life at the University College London, but also taught at other institutions including Westfield College in London and the University of Khartoum, Sudan.
He attended the University of London, where he obtained his BSc in Mathematics and Physics in 1943, his MSc in Mathematics in 1945, and his PhD in MathematicalPhysics in 1948, his thesisbeingentitled The flexureproblem in elasticity.
Capildeo held lectureships at the University of London, including at both UniversityCollegeLondon and at Westfield College.
He was also the youngerbrother of SimbhoonathCapildeo and uncle of Nobel Prize-winning author V.S. Naipaul and of Shiva Naipaul. Capildeo returned to Trinidad and taught mathematics at QRC for a brief period. Freedom is a privilege and those who did not fight for it cannot possibly appreciate it as much as those who died for it.
Rudranath Capildeo was born on February 2nd 1920 in Chaguanas, Trinidad.
To the north of Port of Spain, for instance, where the PNM had lost two consecutive elections, a part of Belmont, where they won, was added to the boundary. Capildeo also authored a Mathematics textbook. Relativity, vector algebra and mechanics engaged the mind of this scientist. He began studies in medicine at Oxford University, but switched to Mathematics at the University College London due to illness.
He completed an intermediate Bachelor of Science degree and graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Mathematics (First Class Honours) in 1943.
A former national scholarship winner, he attended Queen’s Royal College (QRC). After attempts to secure a licence proved futile in the local courts, the Maha Sabha took the matter to the Privy Council where they emerged victorious in 2006. These included independence of Judiciary, consultation between the Prime Minister and Opposition Leader on matters of national concern, and the right of appeal to the Privy Council—the latter of which became instrumental in later years in the fight against discrimination against Indo-Trinidadians.
In 2002, without expressing any reason, the Maha Sabha’s application for a radio licence was rejected by the government.
A State of Emergency was declared and the police raided the homes of several Indian communities in search of guns though none were found.
Needless to say, the DLP lost the election. The PNM was also accused of gerrymandering. By 1971, in-fighting in the DLP tore the party apart and by 1976 the United Labour Front, led by Basdeo Panday, came to represent the voice of the Indian population.
It is indeed unfortunate that Capildeo’s track-record was tarnished by his short fuse and questionable allegiances.
But the fighting spirit of Capildeo raged on at the Independence Conference the following year. There were three major issues heading into the election that year: (1) the introduction of voter registration and identification cards; (2) the demarcation of electoral boundaries; (3) the introduction of voting machines.
It was argued that the voter registration process was designed to confuse the illiterate Indian population who could not understand the complex application process.