2009: Another Year in Paradise
The author shares his insights on the present situation of Mauritius before the ‘peuple admirable’ gets ready to forget the many injustices it endured during the year choosing to embark on that safe selective retention mode while the country’s democratically elected Chief Entertainer gets ready for his white X-Mas. In an annum marked by Navin’s multiple historic trysts with world greats, the No.8 elections and numerous other scandals arising from the laissez faire style of the country heads, the unthinking majority chose yet again to postpone its baptism in active citizenship sine die.
What you should not forget...but you’ll forget anyway
No exit clause, no excuses: We witnessed how at the Air Mauritius, a real life version of Pope’s The Rape of the Lock unfolded where poor decisions resulting from the incompetence of some meant that the company had to compromise its short and medium term profitability. In the process, our Phaeton Rubicola effectively lost its credibility but the situation also highlighted the inability of the Great One to put the right people in the right place.
And Justice for all?: The travesty of justice in several cases continued to grab headlines with favouritism now openly practiced with the rooting for the interests of family members, political acquaintances and corporate entities (read political financiers). The King of hollow speeches shouted with all his might that he has managed to turn this country around and thereby salvaged our collective destinies from ‘l’oligarchie sucrière’. The majority of the population heeded his words believing that the much needed democratisation of the economy would materialise. Unfortunately for our motherland, the sly fox had been veiled as the protective shepherd back in 2005 and we failed to notice it.
Capitalism x 2: A double dose of Sithanenomics in this post-crisis year, with most experts close to the nantis lauding the greatness and profound intelligence of the Minister while the public, as is customary now, unable to overstand the many issues now accepting the visionless minister’s actions as a boon. How our national maven, for all his knowledge in economics and political science, managed to submit his resignation to the wrong person in 2007 still riddles our minds. Till today, many of us still rue this missed opportunity.
Welcome to the Navin Show:
Our glorious leader managed a master stroke by garnering all the credit for Pravind's win in the No.8 family feud.However, his haughtiness reached new heights with his ever growing desire to be perceived as someone highly important at global level. And who has to put up with the renditions of his discussions with the heads of economic powerhouses? We do. Puerility on Navin’s behalf? No, more pernicious than that, pure unbridled adulation of oneself. Part of the press that answers to Ramgoolam’s every beck and call also managed to instill in our minds the idea that the outcome of the next elections was already finalised.
Protection Montagne: How we managed to let ethnicity be the leverage for success, or how politics was perverted to tolerate illegality (with the latest example being the efforts of the former Lord Mayor squashed as a means of ethnic baiting) was another defining feature of 2009.
Occult forces continued to operate in several sectors providing an almost endless supply of money to fuel businesses. Of special interest was the greater use of greeting codes that are now that all powerful sesame and which possess the unique ability to open locked doors. This today offers the ability to show one’s appartenance to the right clique in public (extending to radio waves) and private spheres thus resulting in a flawed system where some of us are allowed undue privileges because of their racial affiliations.
The No.8 elections showed that the new king makers were vain individuals from socio-cultural organizations that continued to let their destructive influence tarnish an already soiled democratic space. A long way from “Ene sel lepep, ene sel nation”.
Other Issues: The MMM? Still lost.Pravind? Sans envergure.
A glimmer of hope.
Eliminating the rat race: Bunwaree laid the foundations for a thinking society with such bold propositions that included the projected scrapping of the elitist system. This was followed, as expected, by such simplistic comments from pseudo experts as “akoz ou zenfant pas laureat ou p dire sa”. This is far from being an issue springing out of any form of jealousy or feeling of resentment. It has to do with the simple realization that this present system which thrives on parrot learning is ending up doing more harm than good. It also has to do with the return on investment which is simply not worth the amount of money devoted to such an endeavour. Especially so, if the greater part of the country’s nationally funded eminence grise’s only aim is to pad its bank accounts by working abroad. Not that there is anything wrong with that. But not with studies financed by taxpayers’ money.
Others claimed that they would not return to the country because of the lack of meritocracy and corruption that phagocytes it. But are those acute issues pertinent to Mauritius only? Are they not present in even the most developed of countries? The greatness of all responsible citizens consists in helping change their country for the better instead of deciding to escape to foreign shores. Equally vile were the attacks on the Minister’s reforms were the conservatives’ claim that it constituted a form of ethnic bashing. Until we extirpate the debate on education from the communal gutter, no expected outcome will ever be translated into reality.
The Mauritian(s) of the year award:
2009 belongs to Sam Lauthan and Jack Bizlall. The former for being noble in a party that is no longer so and for having the class of leaving politics untainted selecting to stick to his beliefs while others have long succumbed to their gluttony for power. The second one for having the ability to say things in the ‘overcrowded baracoon’ that confirms that not all of us have given up their quest for a better society. Both of them militans (the coaltar not the caviar versions). The rarest of breeds these days.
The untimely departed
James Burty David, that quick-witted, courageous soldier, peerless in loyalty among labourites shall be missed by many. Hardworking with an unwavering attachment to the venerable institution that the Labour Party is, JBD shall be an example for many aspiring and practicing politicians. Chapeau bas!
Vivement 2010.
Chetan Ramchurn
Showing posts with label Navin. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Navin. Show all posts
Saturday, December 26, 2009
Tuesday, September 29, 2009
Nail in The Coffin by Chetan Ramchurn (Le Mauricien 29.09.09)
1969-2009-MMM
NAIL IN THE COFFIN
Time to annihilate this archaic version of the MMM… let the vitriol from my Parker Sonnet flow…
My faith in the Purple Heart has not wavered since I chose to be part of it. Has not faltered, despite the hateful salvos of the arrogance-inebriated propagandists so keen on reducing the party to néant and has not vacillated in the face of accusations of our supposed surgically-precise partitioning of different communities. But the fact that we are stuck in that damning navel gazing mode where we celebrate our past glories and overlook the many inglorious episodes that have led us to be branded as obsolete have made the last few months the nadir of my young political days.
Succinctly, before our eyes, plagued by an abysmal absence of vision, the party mires into fibrillation with an intellectual side that has stopped pumping for far too long. What we should ask ourselves at this defining moment of the party’s existence is how we never managed to shake off that infamous “Le Parti des Minorités” tag that others slapped on us or how when in power we failed to bring much needed changes with electoral reforms or more transparency in the public and private sectors and as importantly in political financing, or as from 1983 onwards how everything that we stood for became confined to the realm of ideas and was never translated into action (bar the reform of the education sector), how corruption that lynchpin of so many other societal wrongs was seen to be tolerated by us…or that the self-professed Noble Party witnessed backroom shenanigans where worthless candidates were promoted in favour of more able ones for positions of power to suit the whims and wishes of some of the party heads.
Trapped in culpable inaction, the Militans, guardians of the moral sacredness of the MMM need to understand that if they follow this treacherous path, no return to the genesis of the party can be achieved. No longer can they let themselves be frogmarched into accepting the unacceptable; the promotion of insipid figures chosen because of their past affiliations, the loss of ideological foundations to our lutte. Or the relinquishing of that ingredient that was at the origin of this whole journey; the fight against all forms of racial divisions and the celebration of Mauritianism (Ene sel lepep, ene sel nation). Indeed, has the party that advocated class warfare stooped so low that our winning formula for the next elections resides in the return of that crucial missing piece that led to our defeat in the 2005 elections? (“Aujourd'hui la désillusion de l'électorat musulman face à l'Alliance Sociale est totale et il revient en masse vers le MMM.” Bérenger/ Week-End 20/09/09).
But maybe I am veering away from what I should be doing as the archetypal ‘militan’, going beyond merely being a beni-oui-oui and engaging in something that is so rare within the MMM ranks these days; thinking. My interest in and subsequent decision to be a contributor to Mauritian politics was strongly motivated by the Kaya Riots and l’Affaire Amicale, both incidents showing the sinister side of Paradise Island. The first one reminding us of the frailty of our society and the second one demonstrating the intolerance the human kind was capable of. In 2008, I joined the MMM. Convinced that if there was one party that could prevent our motherland from falling prey to intestinal divisions, it would be one that combined the teachings of former Labour greats with that of Marx and which had an unrivalled history in its formative years of fighting for the proletariat.
Listening to the self-professed opinion leaders pullulating on our radio waves, the conclusion would be that Bérenger is the root cause of all woes within the MMM. With his place alongside the likes such illustrious Mauritians like Anquetil, Curé ,Rozemont, Bissoondoyal and SSR now firmly enshrined, the leader of the MMM might have slipped into solipsism choosing to heed only to himself and has failed (until recently, with le retour aux sources) to give the needed strategic thrust to the party. And in the meantime, philanderers of the MMM temple abounded, all indulging in some form of ideological molesting with a party conceptualised by utopians.
The time has come for us to change the way we do politics. We should refrain from mechanical mudslinging and abstain from what Navin did back in 2005, rely on demagogic “Le Grand Soir” style discourses and foster ideas that are adapted to modern realities. Let us genuinely strive to alter how party members view their role and ensure that the now famous line “Dans la lutte pena recompense” is an ode to meritocracy and not simply used to thwart those petits copains that the party fails to serve. Let us stop playing the ostrich game and question ourselves and start from scratch with militans that genuinely care about the future of this nation.
I am not worried about what lies ahead. The MMM will rise again from its present ideological and intellectual blackout. Having read with optimism the paper “Qu’est-ce qu’être militan en 2009” and having spoken to some of my peers, I know that there are other inhabitants of Planet MMM that share my views. Yet, more than ever now, there is the need to discard those ideas and people that have made us so hollow over the years. The ambition of the party at its creation was to eradicate the trenches between the different communities and was based on socialist principles such as the establishment of a more egalitarian society… ideals that like the MMM simply will never die.
Here is my cri de coeur, “Thinking militans, unite”
Chetan Ramchurn
A Young Member of the MMM
NAIL IN THE COFFIN
Time to annihilate this archaic version of the MMM… let the vitriol from my Parker Sonnet flow…
My faith in the Purple Heart has not wavered since I chose to be part of it. Has not faltered, despite the hateful salvos of the arrogance-inebriated propagandists so keen on reducing the party to néant and has not vacillated in the face of accusations of our supposed surgically-precise partitioning of different communities. But the fact that we are stuck in that damning navel gazing mode where we celebrate our past glories and overlook the many inglorious episodes that have led us to be branded as obsolete have made the last few months the nadir of my young political days.
Succinctly, before our eyes, plagued by an abysmal absence of vision, the party mires into fibrillation with an intellectual side that has stopped pumping for far too long. What we should ask ourselves at this defining moment of the party’s existence is how we never managed to shake off that infamous “Le Parti des Minorités” tag that others slapped on us or how when in power we failed to bring much needed changes with electoral reforms or more transparency in the public and private sectors and as importantly in political financing, or as from 1983 onwards how everything that we stood for became confined to the realm of ideas and was never translated into action (bar the reform of the education sector), how corruption that lynchpin of so many other societal wrongs was seen to be tolerated by us…or that the self-professed Noble Party witnessed backroom shenanigans where worthless candidates were promoted in favour of more able ones for positions of power to suit the whims and wishes of some of the party heads.
Trapped in culpable inaction, the Militans, guardians of the moral sacredness of the MMM need to understand that if they follow this treacherous path, no return to the genesis of the party can be achieved. No longer can they let themselves be frogmarched into accepting the unacceptable; the promotion of insipid figures chosen because of their past affiliations, the loss of ideological foundations to our lutte. Or the relinquishing of that ingredient that was at the origin of this whole journey; the fight against all forms of racial divisions and the celebration of Mauritianism (Ene sel lepep, ene sel nation). Indeed, has the party that advocated class warfare stooped so low that our winning formula for the next elections resides in the return of that crucial missing piece that led to our defeat in the 2005 elections? (“Aujourd'hui la désillusion de l'électorat musulman face à l'Alliance Sociale est totale et il revient en masse vers le MMM.” Bérenger/ Week-End 20/09/09).
But maybe I am veering away from what I should be doing as the archetypal ‘militan’, going beyond merely being a beni-oui-oui and engaging in something that is so rare within the MMM ranks these days; thinking. My interest in and subsequent decision to be a contributor to Mauritian politics was strongly motivated by the Kaya Riots and l’Affaire Amicale, both incidents showing the sinister side of Paradise Island. The first one reminding us of the frailty of our society and the second one demonstrating the intolerance the human kind was capable of. In 2008, I joined the MMM. Convinced that if there was one party that could prevent our motherland from falling prey to intestinal divisions, it would be one that combined the teachings of former Labour greats with that of Marx and which had an unrivalled history in its formative years of fighting for the proletariat.
Listening to the self-professed opinion leaders pullulating on our radio waves, the conclusion would be that Bérenger is the root cause of all woes within the MMM. With his place alongside the likes such illustrious Mauritians like Anquetil, Curé ,Rozemont, Bissoondoyal and SSR now firmly enshrined, the leader of the MMM might have slipped into solipsism choosing to heed only to himself and has failed (until recently, with le retour aux sources) to give the needed strategic thrust to the party. And in the meantime, philanderers of the MMM temple abounded, all indulging in some form of ideological molesting with a party conceptualised by utopians.
The time has come for us to change the way we do politics. We should refrain from mechanical mudslinging and abstain from what Navin did back in 2005, rely on demagogic “Le Grand Soir” style discourses and foster ideas that are adapted to modern realities. Let us genuinely strive to alter how party members view their role and ensure that the now famous line “Dans la lutte pena recompense” is an ode to meritocracy and not simply used to thwart those petits copains that the party fails to serve. Let us stop playing the ostrich game and question ourselves and start from scratch with militans that genuinely care about the future of this nation.
I am not worried about what lies ahead. The MMM will rise again from its present ideological and intellectual blackout. Having read with optimism the paper “Qu’est-ce qu’être militan en 2009” and having spoken to some of my peers, I know that there are other inhabitants of Planet MMM that share my views. Yet, more than ever now, there is the need to discard those ideas and people that have made us so hollow over the years. The ambition of the party at its creation was to eradicate the trenches between the different communities and was based on socialist principles such as the establishment of a more egalitarian society… ideals that like the MMM simply will never die.
Here is my cri de coeur, “Thinking militans, unite”
Chetan Ramchurn
A Young Member of the MMM
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
