Today that we are celebrating the independence day of Mauritius, it is worth it to pause for a while to appraise ourselves of the state of health of our Mauritianess, however difficult it is to clearly define what we understand by this abstruse term.
It has its ups and downs. During the Indian Ocean Games, it was not only healthy , it was bursting with energy. It was a prime example of the national fervour at its best and if we had an army we could have even thought of trying to wrest back Diego from the yankees to channel this coming together of the nation. It was not the governmen's or anybody’s making; it just happened like in the case of any national disaster , we see this Mauritianess, this sharing, this mutual care. It is not a show like when we display occasionally the national flag on our cars and houses ; it is genuine but unfortunately this example of national solidarity is just a flash in the pan and we revert back to our deviant ways seeking the comforts of silos competing or complaining against other silos.
The national fervour disappeared very soon after the games to reappear again for the papal visit that revealed another aspect of our Mauritianess-Mauritains of all creed and colour deserting their silos to line up the highways and streets and working their way to Marie Reine de la Paix, Port Louis, to catch a glimpse of Pope Francis, all in a national élan of piousness and fervour. Even the unpleasant episodes of the private audience at the Reduit and the distribution of medals reserved for the families of the Prime Minister and the President of the Republic did not dim that fervour and the coming together of one people, one nation. And similarly at the recent Ganga Talao pilgrimage, it was encouraging to see that our Mauritianess is better served by the recognition and reverence of our diversity than by pitting group against group, silos against silos, in a zero-sum competition.
But it was too good to stay that way for long; as election looms, politics infiltrates everywhere and our Mauritianness fades away. With its divisive vote-bank politics, the self-serving leaders succeeds in lining up one silo against the other for their self-perpetuation and economic benefit. Like that donkey which wears the skin of the lion to impose its sway on the animals of the jungle ,the furtherance of the interests of each silo comes in the garb of Identity Politics.
In fact, this clamour for Identity Politics is just a pretence, pure hypocrisy for “ban rodeurs boutes”. And its progenitors are also such people who sit in the shade of the silos and enjoy themselves. It is just a ruse to drag simple people towards antagonism and distrust of others-pa nu ban sa-and nothing more. And Mauritianess takes its toll and it will take years to paper over the cracks, the fallacies and the grudges left over by such divisive politics.
DESPITE ALL, HOW TO CONTINUE ENTRENCHING OUR IDEALS OF MAURITIANISM?
When we think in identities, we create a one-dimensional world. We reduce the complexity of the universe down to something we can easily wrap our head around. This has its use, but it leads to false dichotomies of good and bad, us and them, and right and wrong. If we do away with labels that define our identity, however, and instead understand that different people have different life histories, shaped by different genetic and environmental factors, we
we are aiming for a more integrated understanding of different people and their realities and evolving to cooperate and changing the boundary of who we include in our tribe from just “us” who are against “them” to simply everyone.
For a more integrated understanding of each other:
We believe that the key to understanding and appreciating each other , lies in education - a multi-cultural education that encourages pluralism. A great humanitarian and spiritual leader advises that “The right education is that which creates a reverence for diversity in nature and a sense of belonging with the whole world. Opening up a youth’s mind to respecting other religions and cultures, bringing up a young person in a world that encourages human values, like a sense of oneness with others, trust and compassion is the only sustainable solution. When youths begin to understand that human values exist in all the great traditions; , when the young glimpses the humanity of believers of other faiths; and when they know that truth is expressed outside their own religion, then narrow-mindedness, will not survive." And our own typical Mauritianess will prevail.
