Satnarayan Maharaj

Satnarayan Maharaj (also known as Sat Maharaj) is a religious, cultural and political leader in Trinidad and Tobago. He is the Secretary General of the Sanatan Dharma Maha Sabha, the major Hindu organisation in Trinidad and Tobago. He also writes op-ed contributions in many newspapers in Trinidad and Tobago. In 1976 Maharaj unsuccessfully ran for Parliament as a Democratic Liberation Party candidate.

In June 2005, High Court Action 2065 of 2004 was heard before Justice Peter Jamadar in the San Fernando High Court. This was a consitiutional motion filed by Satnarayan Maharaj and Inshan Ishmael, president of the Islamic Relief Centre. The applicants in the case had challenged the constitutionality of the Trinity Cross, the highest national award, on the grounds that its continued existence and award were in breach of the applicants’ fundamental rights as guaranteed by certain Sections of the Constitution. Anand Ramlogan, lawyer for the applicants argued that the State kept the Trinity Cross, knowing that “non-Christians are unable and unwilling to accept (it) because it is perceived to be and/or in fact is a Christian symbol.” The result is an experience of disparate treatment, or unfair discrimination, for “many deserving non-Christian citizens who...will never be rewarded by the State and country.”

He is the son-in-law of the founder of the SDMS, Bhadase Sagan Maraj.