Raffique Shah, a citizen of Trinidad and Tobago was born in March 1946. He attended Presentation College and the British Royal Military Academy, Sandhurst. He joined the Trinidad and Tobago Regiment on September 5, 1964 prior to taking up a scholarship at Sandhurst. He was commissioned on July 28, 1966 at the rank of Second Lieutenant and returned to Trinidad to take up duties at Teteron Barracks on January 2, 1967. In 1970 amidst the Black Power uprising in Trinidad and Tobago, Shah and another lieutenant, Rex Lassalle, led a mutiny at Teteron Barracks on April 21 to prevent Prime Minister Dr. Eric Williams from using the military against the people involved in the Black Power uprising. After ten days, Shah and Lassalle surrendered and were imprisoned to await Court Martial. The Court Martial was held in 1971, during which Mr. Shah delivered his address over two days. He was imprisoned and later freed after successfully appealing his case at the local and Privy Council courts. Mr. Shah then became active in the trade union movement and helped establish the political party, the United Labour Front. He has contributed to journalism through his numerous columns in various newspapers.