Environmental activist Dr Wayne Kublalsingh has never promised anyone, including his family, that he would commit suicide. Instead, he is leaving his personal health up to his doctors to do whatever they feel is necessary and in keeping with their professional oath, whenever his body “relents”.
Kublalsingh, who has embarked on a second round of fasting outside the office of the Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar to have the Debe/Mon Desir section of the project put on hold and reviewed, argued that his action was not about death but about life.
Q: Dr Kublalsingh, let’s get straight to the point: are you not engaging in a political f-a-r-c-e and not a fast?
A: (With a poker face, at his makeshift camp outside the Prime Minister’s office in St Clair, surrounded by some supporters on Wednesday, just before noon) F-a-r-c-e…? This is a very deep engagement in the history of our nation. You listened recently to what a member of COP was saying?...Mr Dookeran is always talking about new politics, but he doesn’t talk about the economics.
Are we talking about economics or about your f-a-r-c-e?
I said no, and I am explaining why I said it is not a political farce. I am talking about the deeper values.
Very well, but let’s stick to the issue at hand...a fast which you say is some kind of a cause, but yet you have politicians gracing your space here. Isn’t that an indication you have shifted your focus away from the highway re-routing campaign to opposition politics?
No. We have a number of visitors here. We have people from civil society, Fr Harvey came this morning, this is a free zone, this is a comfortable zone, and people feel a sense of peace coming here expressing…
Dr Kublalsingh, some time during your first such exercise, didn’t you say words to the effect that you were thinking about supporting the PNM because of the Government’s stand in this matter?
Well, I think your information is incorrect. I was asked by a journalist about the possibility of the PNM in the next (general) election, and I said they had a significant chance of victory. I have met with the Prime Minister on two occasions, I have met with the leadership of the Congress of the People, I have met the MSJ, I met Mr Rowley on two occasions. So I have given them equal attention, diplomatic attention.
I favour none of the parties. We are not involved in partisan politics. I do vote, but I don’t think I would publicly endorse any political party.
I am sure, Dr Kublalsingh, you must be aware of the Trini penchant for giving people “basket” only to let them down when the going gets really sticky. Don’t you believe that some of these wannabe leaders have been leading you up the garden path?
Not at all, that’s not how we see it. I am the one who approached comrade (David) Abdulah for support, because I said when the elites have abandoned this cause, for whatever reason, they are the ones who have been constantly with us, and I find them eminently suitable to ventilate our issues.
The sceptics are saying that the human body cannot sustain the kind of fast you are undertaking without water for the length of time that you have been doing. We can do without food for some time, but without water for a day is just not on the cards.
The Prime Minister made us a promise to hold and review the section we are protesting against, which was reiterated in the Armstrong report, right? I am saying no food, no water until she abides by the recommendation in the report. But I think it is much more than the body; the body is one part of it…
You have to be practical: the body can go without food for much longer than without water…liquid.
I cannot explain the mystery of what I do, but very early in the morning I get up and sit in my wife’s garden, which is very cold, and I breathe in, and I expect to breathe in a little bit of moisture in the evening. When the sun goes down I do the same thing. To what extent that helps, I really don’t know, but that’s my programme.
You wouldn’t say you are an extraordinary human in that you do not drink water on a regular basis?
What is extraordinary is that God, the spirit, He makes these things possible. It is a mystery to me as well. It is a mystery to everybody else. At some point—I do not expect to last forever—at some point my body will relent, I know that. It is just a matter of time.
Dr Kublalsingh, are you taking this fast to its logical conclusion…the taking of your own life?
Oh, that has never been my conclusion, taking my life. This fast, this hunger strike is about life, it is not about death. I will never promise anyone that I would die. I have made a pledge to everyone, including my family. I have given my doctor strict instructions: if my body relents, if I have gone unconscious, they have full authority to deal with my body.
To save your life? (One of his female supporters wipes his greased feet with a damp towel).
They know what they have to do...
Including the taking...
(Interrupting the question) I expect they would stick by their professional code of conduct. My body can go only so far and if it relents, I can’t help after that: I wouldn’t be conscious to know what is going on. But I intend to just face the issue and go through until my body relents. I can’t do anything more than that.
Didn’t Mr Warner (when in government) wish you would die quickly? What do you make of his apology to you this time around?
Well, he apologised for breaking our camp and I accepted his apology, as I think he deserves the respect of forgiveness, and I have done that. We are about creating a revolution in new economics. We have to be able to value our society through its various assets, the human and sociological included. You understand the value of these assets—because if you don’t understand them, you can’t go to the market.
Dr Kublalsingh, you have broadened your concerns from the actual re-route campaign to other social and political issues...
Well, they have always been issues, they have never been different. In 2002 we undertook a huge attack on transparency and accountability; when you go and destroy all those human assets, when you destroy communities, the forests, the seas, the mountains, you have to justify why you are doing these things.
It is now 12.32 pm, Dr Kublalsingh. Have you had lunch yet?
(Breaks out in a hearty laugh) Well, my lunch today has been a very good interview with Clevon Raphael, sent by a beautiful solider and angel to consciously support us. I do a lot of praying and fasting, so lunch is much more than the material.
It is much more economic and financial...that is the point we want to make. There are a lot of spiritual and cultural values here (turning his head in the direction of his supporters).
Dr Kublalsingh, at what point do you think you would relent if the Government refuses to back down from its stand? ...and this is a two-point question: Is it your belief that the Government should base its policies on threats by citizens to stage a fast, and wouldn’t this be setting a bad precedent?
It is a bad precedent to make promises and not abide by them. When the Government does what she has promised, which is to put on hold and review the Debe/Mon Desir section of the highway, this hunger strike would come to an end immediately, if she agrees. She doesn’t have to do it, she only has to agree.
Weren’t you being a bit facetious saying that you were going to New York to meet with her last week?
Not at all. My life is at stake. I am totally within my rights to ask her for a meeting. It is within her rights to refuse. She refused the meeting, saying it would be unproductive.
Is it that you couldn’t afford the airfare to go to New York?
It is she who decided she would not meet me, so I had no choice. I hope when she comes back, she looks very thoroughly and carefully and would make the best decision on behalf of the people.