That’s from the latest clip of Mr Bergue , pointing to the socio-economic cleavages that have all hardened under this regime , the deep frustration of the Creole community with the nation’s political leaders and with its own so-called political and social representatives, watching from the sidelines while the immiserisation of and discrimination against the Creole community continues unabated .
In the context of the Prime Minister inaugurating the new Fitness Centre for civil servants at the SICOM Building in Port Louis and talking about the importance his government is giving to health and well-being, Mr Bergue does not fail to remind us that this regime does not miss an opportunity to cater to "its Hindu and Muslim communal vote bank" , which makes up some 98% of the civil servants; this fitness centre is an additional benefit that comes on top of the PRB, the duty free and transport allowance, the concessionary loans …u name it .
"Why this discrimination, especially on heath and well-being, by providing modern and well-equipped centralised facilities to only certain privileged groups or communities?"
And Mauritius Telecom practises the same discrimination, its MUGA centres-creating sustainable infrastructure, promoting activities through the use of technology and leveraging on the active collaboration of the government, local authorities and community- are based only in "the Hindu and Muslim communal belt"-Triolet, Phoenix, Tyack, Goodlands, La Source….Is this purely incidental or pre-meditated ?
While the residents of «cités » are being deprived of these state-of-the-art sport facilities- the very ones who need these the most and are one our best athletes ! It comes as no surprise that we are failing so miserably in football ! Years back, I was playing football for the Rose Hill Youth Circle and we had all the pains in the world to find a playground to practice; now 50 years later , not much has changed !
At the time she was carrying out research at the UoM, Sheila Bunwaree had remarked : “Le modèle mauricien de paix et d’harmonie ne traite pas tous les Mauriciens en égaux. L’arc-en-ciel de Maurice marginalise les défavorisés historiques que sont les Créoles. »
And what have we seen over the years ?
We are seeing now a more powerful autocratic state that has intensified societal fragmentation ; the state has become the great contractor, the great buyer, the great provider, the great receiver. In what sense ?
It has continued subsidizing and supporting its vote bank, the rich economic and social elites. It has ensured that the system remains servile to its vote bank, to the elite- the connected, the powerful,.…
Take the example of the education sector, it has continued providing the funds to boost an elitist system -- from the pre-primary to tertiary level -- that consolidates the power of the rich and middle class. Education is no longer the ideal ladder out of poverty; it is too outdated and inadequate for meeting our future needs and it perpetuates inequalities in opportunity.
Moreover, the root causes of the injustices-alienation, humiliation and disempowerment caused by the absence of opportunities have worsened over the years, both in the public and private spheres.
I think there’s reason to worry. I take Mr Bergue's message as a wake up call if we want to avoid becoming a society of hate and fracture and if we wish to ward off the possibility of more serious explosive « émeutes » in the future.
I understand that often the identity politics of minorities are sure to ignite the countervailing identity politics of fearful majorities, blinding some of the populists to the clarity of truth.
But to ensure that our diverse society do succeed, as pointed out by Yascha Mounk in his bestseller "The Experiment" -" We must build democracies that attract the wholehearted support of all their members, societies whose residents feel pride in their collective accomplishments, encounter others with an open mind, and are capable of sustaining real solidarity with each other. Diverse democracies should be bustling yet peaceful and heterogeneous without being fragmented."
It is only after having consolidated our "vivre ensemble" on solid foundations that we can allow ourselves to say that " it is individuals, not the groups to which they belong, who are the fundamental building blocks of society ". We still have a long way to go before we begin thinking like that.
