Bemoaning the amount of deaths, particularly murders, in the country, a religious leader yesterday asked his congregation to pray for grief-stricken families shedding sad tears for their loved ones and experiencing a blue Christmas season.
Knocking those who keep repeating that crime is on a decline, Reverend Daniel Teelucksingh, in his Christmas Day sermon at the Susumachar Presbyterian Church in San Fernando, likened country’s crime situation to war-torn areas in the Middle East.
However, Teelucksingh exclaimed, “Who really cares?” as he complained that too many families are forced to spend a sad Christmas and New Year because their loved ones were murdered and they got no justice.
Pointing out that there is a kind of magic and power in Christmas that brings family together as they exchange gifts, Teelucksingh said for many families Christmas will be forlorn.
“I make an appeal here in San Fernando to all the families in T&T, to spare a thought and share a prayer for families who are not going to have a merry Christmas, not today and not this season.
“This is because a family member or family members will not be there this Christmas,” he said, adding that no carol, parang or gift could make them happy.
He said the only song those families might mournfully sing is about a blue Christmas.
“Who are these families, who know about the sad tear drops and the sad memories that come calling, 420 of them in 2015, about 450 in 2016 so far, family members who were murdered. ... The sad, sad tear drops keep falling ...”
Also mentioning four-year-old Jenice Figaro, who was recently beaten to death, two children who were killed in a fire at their Valencia home and the boy who fell into flooded river and died, he said relatives want justice but there is none to be had.
“Those sad, sad tear drops and blue blue memories call for justice. I read those cases, I hear those cases and parents and loved ones are saying I wish there will be justice, they are calling for some kind of closure in these cases, but this is a land where nobody seems to care, this is a land where so many cases remain cold. Where has the justice gone wrong?” he said.