E/CN.4/2004/18/Add.1 page 21 48. It is generally accepted that economic power is in the hands of the Indo-Trinidadians, while the Afro-Trinidadians are dominant in the administration and politics; however, in some sectors, such as the police and the oil industry, there is parity between the two groups. The Special Rapporteur heard allegations of discrimination in schools. Indian schools apparently tend to restrict enrolments by Afro-Trinidadians and to ban hairstyles considered to reflect a particular ethnicity (afros, dreadlocks, braids). Despite the widespread racial mingling, it seems that mixed Indian-African couples are subjected to enormous pressure from their families, particularly the Indian families. 49. When asked about incidents of racial discrimination, both the Ombudsman and the Police Complaints Authority, which is the body responsible for investigating complaints against the police, stated that they had received no complaints in that regard. 50. Indo-Trinidadians interviewed assert that Afro-Trinidadians dominate culturally, to such an extent that Trinidad and Tobago is perceived by outsiders as an exclusively Afro-Caribbean country. Several people noted, however, that all Trinidadians identify with calypso music, which Indo- and Afro-Trinidadian singers alike have enriched with their compositions, enabling it to be appreciated by all. 51. Although, like Guyana, Trinidad and Tobago has inherited a similar multi-ethnic population and a society divided by conflict among communities and racial discrimination, it is facing less ethnic polarization. Following his visit to Trinidad and Tobago, the Special Rapporteur would particularly like to draw the Commission’s attention to the crucial role of interreligious dialogue in situations where ethnic tension and ghetto mentalities spring from the intermingling of race, culture and religion. Indeed, the main religious and traditional spiritual leaders of this country recognized very early on the perils of ethnic polarization and fought back by publicizing their own exchanges and the similarity of their spiritual messages, by meeting personally, attending each other’s religious ceremonies and making joint statements on the major social questions affecting the country. What these religious leaders have done, in effect, is to provide a remarkable object lesson in living together by practising “religion” in the original sense of the word - binding together, not tearing apart. Consequently, despite historical, demographic and, in certain respects, political similarities between Guyana and Trinidad and Tobago, the latter enjoys a particular multicultural vitality in individual contacts and religious practices. The political class, regardless of party, bears the basic responsibility for putting this multicultural potential to use for democratic, social and economic ends, and political moves in this direction seem to have begun: the Prime Minister informed the Special Rapporteur of his recent initiative calling for the establishment of several committees on interracial relations among other topics, and an ethnic studies centre. The Special Rapporteur considers at this stage that the Government of Trinidad and Tobago seems to have set in motion a process that is likely to lead to institutional reform, thereby reducing the importance of the ethnic factor in society. The fact that the Prime Minister himself chairs the Ethnic Relations Commission is an acknowledgement that political commitment at the highest level is crucial to a sincere and lasting reconciliation between the various communities. That said, and pending further information, the degree of political consensus in this process is still in question.