President Anthony Carmona says much of the violence in the country was caused by revenge.
He indicated that while speaking at a requiem Mass as part of the All Souls commemorative service at the Holy Trinity Cathedral, Port-of-Spain, during which he addressed both primary and secondary school students from all the parish schools.
Carmona urged the nation's youth to drop the revenge baton as they moved forward in the race of their lives as he said the time had come for them to put an end to the cycle of gang warfare, violent killings and bullying.
He appealed to them to move away from the culture of violence which currently pervades the society.
Accompanied by their teachers, students of schools in the capital were invited to attend the yearly morning service at 9.30 am, which was officiated by Reverend Carl Williams, while members of the public were invited to attend mass at 6 pm yesterday.
Saluting the education professionals present, Carmona acknowledged their efforts to organise the students to attend the remembrance service, as he said almost everyone in the congregation had experienced the loss of a loved one, whether through natural circumstances or otherwise.
Referring specifically to those persons who have died as a result of violent crime, Carmona asked those present to join him in prayer for the souls of these persons.
Declaring that “we live in a society where everybody feels that they are a victim, everyone in society feels they are a victim,” Carmona continued:
“The persons on the top feel they are a victim because of his own ethic, because of his sacrifice and his hard work, he feels he is a victim of his success.
“The man in the middle, he too feels he is a victim because he pays his taxes and obeys the law and he does what is right. And there is the man who feels he is a victim of the system.”
The President went on to explain: “What is common between all of those persons, is that they have all benefitted in some way from the State. Yes, they all have burdens and they all have dreams and are citizens of Trinidad and Tobago and we need to get away from seeing ourselves as victims.”
Turning his attention to the void left through the violent and untimely demise of someone, Carmona reflected on his own upbringing as he said:
“I cannot imagine what it would have been, if at the age of ten or 15, I lost my father through a violent death. I can tell you, I doubt I would have been here today, because when you lose your father, you sometimes lose a sense of direction.”
Claiming that long ago, a family's loss meant a community loss, Carmona acknowledged the changing times as he issued a special encouragement for the children who had lost parents in violent circumstances to write to him.
Promising that “I will respond,” the President polled those present as he asked them to indicate by a show of hands, who had aspirations of becoming a doctor.
As the students raised their hands in response, he then approached a young female student seated on the pulpit and shook her hand as he addressed her as doctor.
Urging the youths to work hard and follow their dreams, Carmona sought to impress on them the importance of heeding the advice and guidance of their teachers and parents in the journey towards attaining a university education.
Imparting words of advice to the students, Carmona said: “What I’m telling you is that you have to have hope, keep a sense of vision and invoke the power of God.”
“What I can tell you is that do not let your environment define who you are, do not let the fact that you have lost a relative through violence make you a creature of hate, and do not for one moment feel that because you are not so rich going out that it will define who you are.”
Telling the students they had the ability to become anything they desired, Carmona said the urge to seek revenge “must end with us.”
He added that the baton of revenge must be dropped as the race could not continue in the same way.