DID Prime Minister Dr. Keith Rowley intervene to allow banned Jamaican gangsta artiste Bounty Killer into the country last weekend?
Did Rowley respond to a late-night plea from another Caricom leader and instruct National Security Minister Fitzgerald Hinds to lift a ban on Bounty Killer under the Immigration Act?
There are raging questions since Bounty Killer (Rodney Price) was permitted into Trinidad and Tobago for a public concert at Queen’s Park Savannah, Port of Spain.
Reports are that Price was termed an “undesirable visitor,” under provisions of the law, and debarred entry last Friday night.
But the ban was reportedly lifted on Saturday morning, at the instruction of a senior public official, in time for the artiste’s performance.
Show promoter Magnum Xplosion admitted that Bounty Killer was “initially refused entry into the country.”
He was blocked for nine hours.
Bounty Killer was quoted as saying: “Trinidad is a hard time dem try to gi di gad.”
The artiste’s lyrics have glorified guns and violence and attacked gays.
T&T has a rampant gun culture, with hundreds of homicides committed each year by gangsters armed with illegal weapons.
The Waajihatul Islaamiyyah (The Islamic Front) expressed “utter shock and deep disappointment” over the developments, and noted that missionary Sheikh Ibn Farooq was recently denied entry into the country.
The Immigration Division classified Farooq and members of his charity group as “undesirables.”
Farooq and his team had planned a 10-day visit, with charity and prayer sessions in their itinerary.
The Waajihatul Islaamiyyah claimed “religious discrimination and bigotry.”
The religious body stated: “It is a sign of the decay of our democracy when those who uphold moral and ethical values are silenced while purveyors of violence and degradation are given free rein.”
Imtiaz Mohammed, President of the Islamic Missionaries Guild, raised similar issues, and termed the matter “alarming.”
The organisation said Bounty Killer “only promotes gun violence and degrades women.”
Over the years, Bounty Killer has been banned from several Caribbean and European countries.
He was barred from entering T&T in October 2009.
He lingered at the security gates at Piarco International Airport for several hours before boarding a flight to Jamaica.
During a 2004 performance at a Summerfest in T&T, he was arrested on stage for using obscene language.
His passport was seized while he was on $25,000 bail during his trial.
In April 2008, the dancehall artiste was banned from Guyana and a show promoter was censured.
Then-Home Affairs Minister Clement Rohee stressed: “Bounty Killer will not enter this jurisdiction.”
Show promoter Jonathan Beepat disassociated his organisation from the entertainer’s pro-violence lyrics.
The Waajihatul Islaamiyyah demanded an apology from Rowley and a reversal of the decision on Farooq.
The group stated: “The Government’s actions are a direct affront to the Muslim community and to all citizens who value justice, fairness, and the rule of law.”
In his song “Tempt Me,” Bounty Killer utters such lyrics as: “War and violence is what them prefer then/Gunshot a go purge dem.”
In “Bulletproof Skin,” he said the war isn’t over until his “black bullet” hits its mark.
In “War Face,” he states: “Nah, no mercy…war and crime and violence is all dis boy preaching.”
Bounty Killer, 52, has been termed one of Jamaica’s most aggressive dancehall artistes.
