-Persaud
Indian males have not been living up to their responsibilities in the society, according to Agriculture Minister Robert Persaud, who says it is up to the young people to change this phenomenon.
“The Indian male in this society is not living up to his responsibility.
There are too many instances where the Indian male in the society is failing his family and failing his community,” Persaud said on Sunday, while addressing the graduating class of the Saraswati Vidya Niketan School in Cornelia Ida.
Persaud said that his statements were “not ethnically biased” and pointed to reports in the media to reinforce his point.
“You read the newspapers, who are the majority of wife beaters?
You read the newspaper in terms of the family that has been separated and involved in difficulties…and for too long we have refused to speak about it,” he said.
He stressed that it is time for young people “to do something” about the issue, emphasizing that youths have an important role to play in bringing the transformation.
Persaud said that academic success is not the only ingredient necessary for advancement of the community and the nation and said that this needed to be balanced with the “right values and social consciousness”. He stressed the importance of young people being each other’s keepers.
Pointing to the recent murder of Neesa Gopaul, Persaud said while the government institutions had the girl, she had also been failed by the society and the community.
“For too long when we see mother being abused by a drunkard husband, when we hear about a daughter being molested, when we see a young man suffering from….drug addiction or some other problem, some of us say that’s their problem,” he said.
Persaud added that persons in the community needed to change this attitude while also emphasizing the important role religious organizations have to play.
