In yet another invasion of a place of worship by criminals, thieves broke into the Lower McBean Hindu Mandir in Couva, central Trinidad on July 6 and vandalised the murti of Durga Devi during theft of jewelry and clothing.
This latest invasion is yet another episode in what is a pattern of attacks on churches. On June 27, heartless criminals deprived the poor, needy, homeless, and hungry children of a hot meal when they broke into the Holy Cross RC Church’s soup kitchen in Princes Town and stole the four-burner stove, two blenders, a microwave oven, and a pressure cooker; the worthless thieves even took away the rice, cooking oil, potatoes, and ground provisions.
In another invasion on June 11, armed thieves broke into the Hare Krishna temple in Longdenville, traumatised its devotees, and stole (TT) $10,000 from a safe. Then on June 5, thieves broke into the Kailash Parvat Sharna Gatie Ashram in Las Lomas, stole money, a sound system, and ransacked the pantry, taking away food, cooking gas tanks, pots, and pans.
On May 20, armed intruders entered the Lakshmi Narayan Mandir in Freeport, traumatised, and then robbed its spiritual leader Pundit Gajendra Kumar and his family of cash and jewelry. In December, 2017, Father Clyde Harvey was robbed by armed men at the St Martin’s RC Church.
The latest incident of sacrilege at the Lower McBean Hindu Mandir disturbed its leader, Dr Rampersad Parasram. Said Parasram: “High crime rates in the country are one thing, but desecration of places of worship is just not acceptable.” The sanctity of places of worship such as the mandirs, churches, and mosques should be respected, rather than violated, he declared.
Church devotee, Kavita Jadubancy, was also affected by the July 6 McBean mandir robbery, saying it is becoming increasingly difficult to practice faith without humiliation and hate.
However, despite the trauma of the armed robbery at his Freeport mandir, Pundit Kumar had an uplifting message for all of us, saying: “Our country has never seen this kind of behaviour before, and it tells us that something is not right. People have to return to their temples, churches, and mosques. We have to pray for those who are involved in these criminal acts. They need spiritual and humanitarian help.”

If the inhumane face of an administration separating immigrant children from their parents, and then locking them up in wire cages with aluminum foil for blankets was heart-breaking, then perhaps the evidence of Thailand’s extraordinary and herculean effort that rescued 12 boys and their coach is helping to restore our faith that there is goodness left in mankind.
It took far more than dedication and commitment for the team of cave divers to rescue the boys and their coach last week deep inside the labyrinth of passages buried in the extensive Tham Luang Cave system. For this rescue, each boy became an individual and worthy life in the journey out of entrapment through a mix of international collaboration, improvisation, skill, and prayer. It took huge water pumps, with many passages submerged, kilometres of guide rope, and strategically placed air tanks along the winding, three-kilometre-long escape route. So dangerous was the site that one diver died during preparation for the extraction. It was a four-hour journey for each child.
“We are not sure if this is a miracle, or science, or what. All the 13 Wild Boars are now out of the cave,” the Thai navy SEALs posted on their Facebook page in celebration of the successful undertaking.
As we celebrate this amazing rescue, we commend the Thai government for its tremendous effort in saving these lives, and for the reunification of the children with their parents – for us, these are worthy acts of healing and restoration.