Points
To Ponder
‘situation
cornélienne’ for the MMM
Will
Ashock and Pravind Jugnauth support P. Bérenger’s bid for
PMship?
A
First Point:
What has politics kept in store for our different political
parties, and the more so for the individual politicians, for
the future? All politicians seem to be waiting for the Privy
Council to give its opinion in the Ashock Jugnauth case. In
the meantime, they are staying put, they do not want tell us
what they want to do nor what is their feeling. Nobody ever
thought that Ashock Jugnauth will be such an important
person in the field of our politics.
It
seems to me that the MMM is in a real “situation cornélienne”.
The MMM will have to choose between Ashock Jugnauth and the
Union Nationale on the one hand, and Pravind Jugnauth
and the MSM on the other. The qualifications used by both
these gentlemen against each other is such that they cannot
be in the same political alliance.
Paul
Bérenger has said, at different times, in respect of both
Ashock Jugnauth and Pravind Jugnauth that they have the
material to be Prime Minister. But he cannot offer the prime
ministership to both of them. In the circumstances, he can
call them both and tell them that as it is not possible for
both of them to be Prime Minister, and as there is only one
such post, it would be better for himself to occupy that
post, of course with their support. They can then choose to
occupy the number two or number three posts respectively.
Oh
yes, now I am thinking of Pradeep Jeeha and Ajay Gunness.
There is also Vishnu Lutchmeenaraidoo and Vijay Makhan. But
I had forgotten of Madun Dulloo. All these persons should be
taken on board.
With
whom will the MMM go for the forthcoming election, be it the
by-election or the general election? Will it be able to
accommodate all the parties and all the individual
politicians that have been promised to be taken on board?
What a difficult situation! Maybe the small parties and the
individual politicians will be left by the roadside and the
big parties will form an alliance and win the election. That
will be the day.
*
* *
Aapravasi
Ghat & Le Morne
A
Second Point: We are all proud,
and rightly so, that two sites from Mauritius have so far
been accepted on the World Heritage List and all the persons
who have worked so hard to make this possible deserve our
congratulations.
The
first site that was accepted on the World Heritage List of
UNESCO has been the Aapravasi Ghat, the place where
essentially the migrants from India landed in Mauritius on
their arrival as contract workers in the sugar industry. I
have been told that at one time, these Indian workers
represented about 70-75% of the population of the country.
As sugar was the only wealth of the country at the time, we
can guess what has been their contribution to our economic
development.
And
now we have the Le Morne Cultural Landscape that has been
added to the list. Le Morne has been described as “a
former hideout of runaway slaves in Mauritius… a rugged
mountain that juts into the Indian Ocean in the southwest of
Mauritius was used as a shelter by runaway slaves, maroons,
through the 18th and early years of the 19th
centuries”.
These
two sites serve as excellent memories of the very difficult
times that our ancestors had to undergo in this country, of
the ill treatment that they had to endure at the hands of
the white masters, and how they managed to survive in such
atrocious circumstances. History is here to teach us lessons
of the past and it is for us to remember who did what to our
ancestors.
The
purpose of my writing on this point is about another
programme which UNESCO has put in place. This is the
‘Memory of the World Programme’. Broadly, its mission is
–
1.
To facilitate preservation, by the most appropriate
techniques, of the documentary heritage;
2. To assist universal access to documentary heritage;
3. To increase awareness worldwide of the existence and
significance of documentary heritage.
One
set of records from Mauritius was submitted for inclusion in
the Memory of the World Programme in 1997 and in the same
year it was accepted for inscription on the world Programme. And those were the records of the French
Occupation of Mauritius. That set of records very much forms
part of the history of Mauritius.
What
I am requesting government to do is to start the necessary
moves to have all the records of the Indian Immigration of
Mauritius to be included in the Memories of the World
Programme. All the registers and other documents now lying
at the Mahatma Gandhi Institute and elsewhere and maybe the
documents that can be traced in India, could form an ideal
subject matter for this worthwhile cause.
I
know that UNESCO can help us with advice, information and
training to carry out the project.
At
the same time, government can look into the records of the
Mauritian slaves, as well as other documents relating to
slavery, and get those documents also inscribed on the
Memory of the World Programme. After the two sites, we must
go for the documents.
There
is a case for languages in use in Mauritius in the past or
even now but that will disappear in a near future, for
example Bhojpuri. More on that later on.
*
* *
What’s
wrong with the Voice of Hindu ?
A
Third Point: People living in the
area of Victoria Hospital were complaining about the
behaviour and doings of drug addicts when they were coming
to the hospital to take their daily dose of methadone. Those
drug addicts were, according to both the residents of the
area and the employees of the hospital, meeting in the yard
of the hospital and at the bus-stops and making life
difficult for those who were legitimately at the hospital or
near the bus-stops. Several declarations were given at the
police stations against the drug-addicts, about the alleged
offences committed by them, but to no avail.
In
spite of those declarations no measures were taken by the
police or other authorities. There were some manifestations
but again there was no reaction on the part of the police.
Eventually, the members of the Voice of Hindu got involved
and they landed at the hospital. From then on, we have
noticed five developments that deserve to be outlined.
The
first is that since the visit of the Voice of Hindu at the
hospital the Ministry of Health has decentralized the
distribution of methadone and fewer addicts attend Victoria
Hospital. The time of the distribution has also been changed
from 6.00 am to a more reasonable time of 8.00 am. And what
is more important, the few drug addicts who do come to
Candos are more or less well behaved. The number of
complaints against the addicts has also gone down. What then
did the Voice of Hindu do that was wrong?
The
second is that because of the failure of the authorities,
especially of the police, to act, circumstances were created
where the Voice of Hindu could not keep quiet. And their
interference in this difficult situation brought the
necessary peace and quiet to the people concerned, and these
people were not only Hindus but Muslims, Sino-Mauritians and
General Population as well. I have stated previously and I
am repeating it here now, that I do not know any member of
the Voice of Hindu nor have I asked anybody who those
persons are.
The
third is the very violent outbursts of the racist newspapers
and others against the Voice of Hindu, to such an extent
that the organisation was presented as the villain of the
piece. And those newspapers were joined in by politicians en
mal de publicité. These newspapers had a field day, so
much so that there was a feeling that they were about to go
for a full session of Hindu-bashing. Let them continue like
this and they will be responsible for the outcome. The
racists created the impression that the drug addicts are
perfect angels whereas the Voice of Hindu is the real demon.
The
fourth is about the role of the authorities, especially that
of the police force, when complaints are made by the members
of the public. Should they wait for the Voice of Hindu to do
their job for them? Why did the ministry
of Health have to wait for the Voice of Hindu to come to the
hospital to put some order in the manner in which methadone
was being distributed? If the members of the Voice of Hindu
would not have interfered, the people who were suffering
because of the drug addicts would still be suffering. Is
this an accepted and acceptable situation?
I
am not concerned with those few racists who have to defend
their turf, I am concerned with the feeling of those who
suffer and who have no voice. What is the feeling of the
police force now? People are told that they should rely on
the police when they face difficulties, but can they trust
the police as they did in the case of the drug addicts at
Victoria Hospital?
And
the fifth point is simple: the politicians and the police
authorities have been dictated to by the racist press which
includes some private radio stations. And of course with the
help of some “vendeurs”, I will not say what or who. It
is a shame that the country has gone down to such an extent.
And now I am informed that the office of the Voice of Hindu
and the residences of the leaders have been searched by the
police. Analyse the events well and do inform us what is the
fault of the members of the Voice of Hindu. Believe me, the
whole episode smacks of Hindu-bashing. Remember, I am not
saying that The Voice of Hindu represents the whole of the
Hindu community, but there should be “une certaine mesure
en toute chose”. And I do not hold a brief for the Voice
of Hindu.
*
* *
A
prison is a place for punishment, isn’t it?
A
Fourth Point: Once I was in the
United States of America and I had the opportunity of
driving right through the Arizona desert. Arizona is a very
vast state, with few people around and the weather is very
hot, far hotter than in Mauritius. What has brought my
memories to life is an article a friend of mine sent me on
the prison system of one of the counties of Arizona and the
treatment meted out to the prisoners.
Everybody
in Mauritius should agree that America is a well developed
country, that it treats its citizens with due consideration,
that its prisoners are given a treatment that they deserve,
that human rights are well respected and that we have got a
lot to learn from the Americans. What if certain states
still have capital punishment for certain crimes, I believe
that those who are the subject of such a punishment rightly
deserve it, I am not being ironical, there is nothing more
serious for me.
In
the States, sheriffs of counties are elected. Joe
Arpaio is the sheriff of the county of Maricopa in Arizona.
He has under his responsibility the prison of the
county. Though his method of administering the prison system
is criticized by some people, yet he gets elected by about
90 % of the votes. What does he do to get criticized but yet
get 90 % of the votes?
He
gives the most simple food to the inmates, a meal now costs
about a fifth of a dollar. Besides, prisoners have to pay
for their meals, however small the price of a meal can be.
Cigarettes have been banned. All equipment for physical
fitness have been confiscated because “prisoners are here
to pay a debt to society, not to build their muscles in
order to give them the power to attack innocent citizens
once they get out of prison”.
The
sheriff has started enforcing hard labour so that prisoners
will work on projects with a social component, and everybody
will know what is in fact happening in the prison. And the
sheriff says that hard labour means what it says, and it is
also meant for both men and women. There can be no
discrimination between the sexes in so far as law
enforcement is concerned. Women are subject to hard labour
as men.
The
prisoners are allowed to watch television, but they can
watch only two channels. They can watch the Disney Channel
and the Weather Channel. When the sheriff was questioned as
to the reason for which the prisoners are given the
opportunity to watch the weather channel, he replied that
the prisoners must know how hot the outside temperature can
be and they will have to work in such an extreme
temperature. He reminds others that American soldiers
operate in temperatures going well over 50 degrees and yet
they have not committed any crime either against the country
or against any citizen, they are in the service of the
country. At the moment the prisoners have to comply, and if
they find it difficult to be in prison, they must not come
again.
The
prisoners are not served any coffee and they complained.
They were told that coffee does not have any nutritional
value, besides they are not lodged in a high-class hotel
that will serve them whatever suits them. They must never
come back to the prison a second time, and they prisoners
are very much conscious of this fact.
The
sheriff says: “The
criminals must be punished for their crimes. They do not
have to live a life in luxury until they get out of prison,
they must not then commit another crime and return to prison
once more and lead a life inside prison which is far above
the life of ordinary citizens, who can never think of having
what the prisoners want.”
What
do the people who manage our prisons think of the system
adopted by the sheriff of the county of Maricopa? Fewer
crimes are being committed, prisoners are scared of being
sentenced to prison, no money is spent on the prisoners, the
prisoners are forced to work and they are not tolerated for
being idle and they work on social projects. A prison is
a place for punishment for crimes committed. What is
wrong with this system?
It
seems to me that the persons responsible for our prisons are
scared. They are scared of the prisoners themselves or they
are scared of the politicians. Or maybe they are scared of
such organizations as the human rights groups or such other
organisations that say they look after the welfare of
prisoners. By the way, these people should look after the
welfare of ex-prisoners, that is once they have paid for
their crimes. I should say that for as long as a person who
has been sentenced to a term of imprisonment has not
completed his prison sentence, all his civil rights should
be suspended. This is what 99% of the population of the
country would prefer.
Are
our politicians concerned with the welfare of 99% of our
population or of just 1%? The Attorney General should tell
us what is his opinion on this matter.
By
the way, Suren Dayal, the member
for the constituency of Moka-Quartier Militaire raised the question of
re-activating death sentence for those convicted of dealing
in drugs. We must go by what is being done in countries that
are considered to be more developed and ahead of us. We take
the example of Singapore where the death sentence is still
in force. We are not ahead of Singapore in our fight against
those who deal in drugs.
Many
people are against the death sentence, but in exceptional
circumstances, you must adopt exceptional measures. How to
get rid of the drug dealers in the country? Do you know that
drugs have been seen in the secondary schools, especially in
state secondary
schools? You
know, get them young and they will help the drug suppliers
with all the clients that they need. The police cannot cope
with the situation. Tomorrow will be too late. The solution
must be found now. We are in a situation of emergency, and
the only way to deter would-be criminals is to apply the
death sentence without fail to convicted drug dealers.
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