Bhadase Sagan Maraj (; 29 February 1920 – 21 October 1971) was a
Trinidadian and Tobagonian politician,
Hindu leader, civil rights activist, trade unionist, businessman, wrestler, and author. He founded the
Sanatan Dharma Maha Sabha in 1952, which grew to be the largest and most influential Hindu organization in Trinidad and Tobago and the wider Caribbean. He also founded the Caroni East Indian Association, the
People's Democratic Party, the
Democratic Labour Party, the Democratic Liberation Party, the Federation of Unions of Sugar Workers and Cane Farmers, and ''The Bomb'' newspaper.
Early life
Bhadase Sagan
Maraj was born on the 29th of February 1920 into a
Brahmin
Brahmin (; sa, ब्राह्मण, brāhmaṇa) is a varna as well as a caste within Hindu society. The Brahmins are designated as the priestly class as they serve as priests ( purohit, pandit, or pujari) and religious teachers ( ...
Hindu Indo-Trinidadian family who lived on Sagan Street in Caroni Village in the county of
Caroni in central
Trinidad
Trinidad is the larger and more populous of the two major islands of Trinidad and Tobago. The island lies off the northeastern coast of Venezuela and sits on the continental shelf of South America. It is often referred to as the southernmos ...
in the British colony of
Trinidad and Tobago
Trinidad and Tobago (, ), officially the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, is the southernmost island country in the Caribbean. Consisting of the main islands Trinidad and Tobago, and numerous much List of islands of Trinidad and Tobago, small ...
. His parents were Baboonie and Mathew Sagan Maraj. His mother Baboonie was the daughter of Parmesar Maharaj. His father, Mathew Sagan Maraj, was a devout
Hindu, a ''
mukhiya'' (village head), and a leader in the Hindu and Indian community of central Trinidad. At the time there was much tension between Hindu and Muslim Indo-Trinidadians in Caroni, and when Maraj was thirteen years old his father had been shot and killed by a Muslim gang while he was on his hammock on the porch of his home reading the ''
Bhagawad Gita''. His uncle was also killed when a Muslim gang had tied him to a stone and threw him into the
Caroni River The name Caroni may refer to:
*Caroní River, one of the biggest rivers of the Orinoco basin in Venezuela
*Caroni River (Trinidad and Tobago), a major river on the island of Trinidad and Tobago
*Caroni Swamp, a major wetland on the west coast of th ...
. After his father's death, Maraj went to live with his ''aaji'' (paternal grandmother). Many attempts were made on Maraj's life, so he took up wrestling and by the age of twenty he became an accomplished wrestler. He had attended the Caroni
Canadian Mission School and the Pamphylian High School in
Tunapuna
Tunapuna is a town in the East–West Corridor of the island of Trinidad, in Trinidad and Tobago.
Town
Tunapuna is located between St. Augustine, Tacarigua and Trincity. Tunapuna is the largest town between San Juan and Arima. It is an impo ...
.
Maraj started off digging sand for construction purposes in the Caroni River.
This was only the beginning, for soon the young Maraj had bought a truck and was in the transport business. The advent of the
Second World War
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...
and the arrival of the
American Armed Forces in the British colony threw Maraj into the big league.
He was one of the biggest contractors on the American naval base at
Chaguaramas and when the order came for the Americans to pull out their task force from that country, Maraj was able to buy out large areas of the base that were being deactivated. Maraj was not yet 30 when he counted his first million dollars. When Maraj was elected to the
Legislative Council in 1950 there was no
Sanatan Dharma Maha Sabha. Hindu schools were only a dream and illiteracy among Hindus was about 50%.
Maraj's guru was
Pundit Basdeo Misir.
Civil society activism
In early 1952, the
Sanatan Dharma Maha Sabha was formed and this organisation was given permission to build and operate their own schools and Bhadase declared "By September, we will have six: schools." The cynics laughed because Maha Sabha did not even have a plan for a school but September saw the establishment of six Hindu Schools.
Hindu schools were mushrooming everywhere to the charge that Bhadase was building
cowshed schools, which were unhealthy and physically unfit for children to be educated, he declared, "It is better to have a child receive an education in a cowshed than none at all". The then government arranged to assist and fund the building and operations of Hindu and other religious schools in Trinidad and Tobago.
Politics
He was elected to the
Legislative Council in 1950, founded the
People's Democratic Party in 1953, and later merged it into the
Democratic Labour Party in 1957, which he led between 1957 and 1960 (when he lost control of the party to
Rudranath Capildeo). Bhadase (as he was most widely known) continued to be active in politics until his death, often opposing Capildeo and other members of the DLP. After Capildeo's
Chaguanas
The Borough of Chaguanas is the largest municipality (83,489 at the 2011 census) and fastest-growing
– Afra ...
seat was declared vacant in 1967 Bhadase won the seat in a by-election boycotted by the DLP.
In 1958 Bhadase Maraj won the Federal Election with his newly formed Democratic Labour Party. He also led a sugar union, All Trinidad. However, Bhadase soon succumbed to ill health. The strenuous battle of the 1958 Federal Election had by then taken its toll. In 1959, the cry was soon heard, "Bhadase is dying."
Bhadase was able to survive this first bout of illness but he was never again the same driving and dynamic Hindu force. And when he finally died on 21 October 1971 the headlines said, "WILL THE MAHA SABHA SURVIVE BHADASE?"
When the DLP boycotted the
1971 general elections Bhadase organised the ''Democratic Liberation Party'' to contest 21 seats in the election. He ran for the Oropouche constituency against George Williams of the PNM. However, all of his party's candidates, including himself, were defeated when the DLP leadership brought out their supporters to vote for the
People's National Movement candidates rather than see Bhadase's party win. However, his party did receive close to 15,000 votes and 12.61% percent of the national vote. He died several months after the election. His son-in-law,
Satnarayan Maharaj succeeded him as the ''
de facto
''De facto'' ( ; , "in fact") describes practices that exist in reality, whether or not they are officially recognized by laws or other formal norms. It is commonly used to refer to what happens in practice, in contrast with '' de jure'' ("by l ...
'' leader of the Sanatan Dharma Maha Sabha.
Personal life
Bhadase Maraj was first married at the age of fifteen to Vijanti Maraj, however the marriage did not last long because her father took her back home fearing for her life due to the constant threat on Bhadase Maraj's life. Maraj was later married to Hilda Chinibas and Rachel Chinibas who were sisters. He had a total of nine children: six with Hilda and three with Rachel, whom he spent his latter years with till he died. His daughter Shanti Maharaj was married to
Satnarayan Maharaj, who went on to succeed him as the ''de facto'' leader of the
Sanatan Dharma Maha Sabha. After Satnarayan Maharaj's death in November 2019, Vijay Maharaj, who was the son of Satnarayan Maharaj and grandson of Bhadase, took over as the acting leader of the Sanatan Dharma Maha Sabha.
Legacy
Today after his death, the Maha Sabha to which he devoted so much of his life and personal wealth still lives on trying to provide the
Hindu leadership which Maraj gave them during the nineteen-fifties. The greatest obituary to Big Bhadase came from Augustus Ramrekersingh who wrote in the ''
Trinidad Express'' on 21 October 1971 "More than any other single individual, Bhadase made the
Indians
Indian or Indians may refer to:
Peoples South Asia
* Indian people, people of Indian nationality, or people who have an Indian ancestor
** Non-resident Indian, a citizen of India who has temporarily emigrated to another country
* South Asia ...
proud of their heritage in a society which was
Christian
Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words '' Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρ ...
and
Afro-Saxon, hence hostile to them."
References
Further reading
*
* (via ProQuest archive)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Maraj, Bhadase
1919 births
1971 deaths
20th-century Hindu religious leaders
Trinidad and Tobago people of Indian descent
Members of the House of Representatives (Trinidad and Tobago)
Trinidad and Tobago Hindus
Members of the Legislative Council of Trinidad and Tobago
Democratic Labour Party (Trinidad and Tobago) politicians
Trinidad and Tobago businesspeople