allAfrica.com: Mauritius: Resurrection Day- Whatever affects One Directly, affects All Indirectly. (Page 1 of 1)

Mauritius: Resurrection Day- Whatever affects One Directly, affects All Indirectly.

May Day this year brought about a new phenomenon on the already colourful political scene of this country: that of Resurrection. First, there is Père Grégoire who has resurfaced but, unlike Jesus Christ, he is not back to save the whole of Mankind but only part of it. In a nation where everybody needs everybody, any emotional talk, clamouring for division and disunity, is dangerous and condemnable, no matter how much it may be cushioned in political language and the opportunism of appealing to other communities. Division and discrimination are poor chisels in the carving out of a harmonious and egalitarian nation, which should be built on the solid foundation stones of meritocracy rather than the shifting sands of racial quotas.

One may well argue that the Creole Community is worse off -a condition which begs definition- in comparison with other communities, something we have no reason to be proud of. Its salvation cannot, however, be achieved independently of or by ignoring the hardship of the disadvantaged from other communities. The root causes of deprivation and poverty transcend the racial divide.

What is needed therefore is a holistic approach which is colour blind. We need every citizen in this country to be able to pull every needy citizen out of the misery they are in. We need the will power of those who are in power as well as the tax money of those who are sweating to make it. Any divisive rhetoric is likely to drive one community against another ending in a vicious spiral of animosity and hatred the country can ill afford. Any discriminatory claims are not in the interest of any community and should not be encouraged by any civilized society.

The other resurrection, it would seem, is that of sir Anerood who will apparently "fer dimoun tremblé". Now, sir Anerood may very well have been a very good Prime Minister and may have enjoyed and still enjoys the respect of the nation. ( ) His bilan in today's political scene is neither here nor there: he served the country in a different time of history and faced challenges which are no longer the same. He has now left the political arena. ( ) We voted or did not vote for his son and the latter has to fend for himself and hold his own.

Any threat that his father may make a comeback in whatever form and "fer dimoun tremblé" is likely to legitimately raise questions about his own capabilities as a leader. Whether used as a threat to the Prime Minister to keep Mr. Jugnauth in the Presidency, and therefore out of the way, for another five years or as an invitation to Mr. Bérenger for another, more acceptable, winning formula, the fact remains that such a statement may sound like the playground talk of a school child threatening that big daddy will come and right all the wrongs perpetrated by bullies who do not pick on those who are their size. "I am' gives Mr. Pravind Jugnauth a much better fighting chance than 'my father was' or 'my father will be'".

More important than my fear for Mr. Pravind Jugnauth's leadership traits, I fear for some people who may have become so mesmerized that they can no longer make the difference between reality and nostalgia. Memories of the past are always more beautiful than the reality of the present. Failing to acknowledge this perverts one's judgement and deforms one's view of the future. SAJ did have moments of great glory and also moments of extreme unpopularity.

We have every reason to remember his glory but our fear of an imminent international food crisis and our nostalgia for a past, which in our memories seems so blissful, should not distract us from the reality that our planet will continue to turn on its axis regardless of the presence or absence of individuals. It is not people we should be focused on but policies. By glorifying individuals, no matter who they may be, we are trapping ourselves into accepting more excesses from those whose excesses we seem to have forgotten.

Let us learn to talk about manifestoes, policies and pressing issues of national and international importance rather than individuals. Let us talk about solutions to the problems rather than who is responsible for creating them. Let capable and honest politicians appeal to our rationality rather than to our emotions. Let them plead for unity of all Mauritians and look ahead instead of preaching division and looking back to the past.

The fate of the Creoles and that of all other disadvantaged citizens will only improve if we all hold hands to construct a better nation which is reconciled to the conscience of its past. Preaching discrimination of any type is using people's emotions opportunistically and demagogically. There is a commonly-used word for that in this country. Let's not be shy of calling a spade a spade: this is overt communalisme!

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