We, the people of Mauritius, would like to address to friendly countries that we have always had a privileged political and economic relationship with India since independence and even before. Our country has been under different imperialism and foreign political influences since its discovery at the beginning of the 16th century when Mauritius appeared on a European (Italian) map.
Our geopolitical situation can be a cause of vulnerability pertaining to security and surveillance of our vast maritime zone. It’s no secret and we are voicing for years now about the exploitation by looters of our blue ocean. Consequently, we need international solidarity to prevent illegal exploitation of our ocean, but our voices go against political and economic interference that can endanger our democracy.
International helicopter money during the last general election and its other techniques and technologies interference in our democracy are not new, nor is the role played by the alien citizen in our voting system. But it’s high time to raise the alarm bell. The Mauritian community should not be taken for granted, we are in the process of nation-building and we shall overcome any evil on our way.
India and Mauritius have come a long way together in terms of partnership in various fields. However, Mauritius is in a weak position of dependency in terms of economic and technical capacity as well as in skills and know-how. Nowadays India is recognized as a masterpiece in global machinery.
Even being still technologically dependent, Mauritius is a “sovereign political entity’, and this is not only enshrined in our constitution. This affirmation of sovereignty is an ongoing process and quest for economic and political freedom. Two intellectual giants who have helped to shape our political vision are uncontestably Rabindranath Tagore and Frantz Fanon. An Ideology on Nationalism Modelled with a Utilitarian Objective.
‘Nationalism in India’ by Tagore
In his essay ‘Nationalism in India’, the concept of ‘Nation’ is according to Tagore an “organized power structure” that the nation acquires for itself and not “a community” or a “fellow being” as described stereotypically.
« A nation is not just any union of people but a political or economic union. » For Tagore, the nation is fine-tuned for the specific purpose of creating maximum economic profit : « The political unit of a nation-state is inherently connected with the capitalist mode of the economy and its profit-making that transforms an individual into a dimensional man whose only reason for existence would turn out to be an accumulation of wealth. »
On the other hand, nationalism according to Frantz Fanon in ‘The Wretched of the Earth’, is said to be failing in achieving liberation across the boundaries of class as its aim is primarily to address the colonized bourgeoisie : “a privileged middle class who perhaps seeks to defeat the prevailing colonial rule only to usurp its place of dominance and surveillance over the working-class, the lumpen proletariat” (A McClintock – Social text, 1992). « The middle class plays an active role in the anti-colonial struggle, the moment the nation becomes independent they cease to become the revolutionary class. The middle class having fought off the European colonizers come to occupy the very position of the departed colonizers which brought in a picture practicing the colonizers’ rule without the colonizer as they did not dismantle the colonial mode of economic exploitation. It continues to remain suppliers to the mother country even after independence.
This economic relationship between the periphery and the mother country is called neocolonialism. The economic exploitation continues even after colonization because of improper organization of the middle class in the name of nationalism. Rabindranath Tagore and Frantz Fanon through their discourse on nationalism bring out a unique perspective on Nationalism and how it is being misinterpreted most of the time. They criticized nationalism because of its oppressive mechanism, which tends to create a subaltern community.
For Tagore nationalism is a construction grounded on needs and wants rather than truth and love. According to Tagore, the race was more of a natural entity, and therefore an acceptable, social unit rather than the concept of a nation. He envisioned the world like a »rainbow » in which all the races would live together in amity and harmony, keeping their “distinct characteristic but all attached to the stem of humanity by the bond of love.”
Mauritius and India’s cultural umbilical relationship is not merely an ancestral religious legacy. It has an economic historical legacy that can be traced back to indentured labor. So, Let’s not fool ourselves with the bondage of cultural identity, it can be the most dangerous game to play in an era of a global community.
We have heard of the call of the Indian Diaspora by Sri Narendra Modi. The sole speech of cultural identity is a virtual soft version of a tradition, both countries cannot surf on a wave that could be a Tsunami in a time of political landslide. Sri Narendra Modi has been fighting hard to remove India from the colonizers’ yoke. Here in Mauritius, we are aware of the dangers of scientific-driven methodologies of the divide and rule syndromes to maintain political and economic power.
Homi Bhabha’s notion of hybridity
Within the dispersal process of the dispersed community in its dispersed location, there have been many bridges over troubled waters. Here we would like to quote the work of Homi Bhabha on the notion of hybridity:
« Homi Bhabha states that the assimilation and adaptation of cultural practices, the cross-fertilization of cultures, can be seen as positive, enriching, and dynamic, as well as oppressive. He further states that it is also a useful concept for helping to break down the false sense that colonized cultures- or colonizing cultures for that matter- are monolithic, or have essential, unchanging features. Postcolonial studies have been preoccupied with issues of hybridity, creolization, and with the in-betweenness, diasporas, mobility and cross-overs of ideas and identities generated by colonialism.
Homi Bhabha generated the concept of hybridity of cultures refers to mixedness or impurity of cultures knowing that no culture is really pure. According to Bhabha, every culture is an original mixedness within every form of identity. He states that the cultures are not discrete phenomena, but being always in contact with one another. »
We might be a small island but we are well aware of the vast ocean that we do possess in terms of Maritime economic zones. The secret deal agreement between India and Mauritius concerning Agalega is being perceived as a threat to our territorial sovereignty by the people of Mauritius.
The opacity of this agreement is being considered as a personal deal between two individuals – Pravind Kumar Jugnauth and Sri Narendra Modi – and not a bilateral agreement between two states. The collective consciousness in Mauritius will not allow the dismantling of our territory even though every citizen is very aware of the economic input of India in the development process of the Republic at large. Mauritius is not for sale.
Mauritius does not hold any military power, and Mauritian taxpayers don’t understand the massive loan or line of credit debt for the military infrastructure and military jetty in Agalega. It is an unnecessary debt that jeopardizes our Mauritian economy. The government of PKJ which is looking for justice at the international court on the military invasion of Britain and the USA on Diego Garcia cannot negotiate another military base within its own territory without the Mauritian people’s involvement at large.
Recently France’s outgoing foreign affairs minister, Jean-Yves Le Drian couldn’t encompass his emotional thoughts and even went undiplomatic when he declared: “I can’t stop myself from saying that the defeat of Morrison suits me very well” during a ceremony while he handed over to his successor, Catherine Colonna. According to Le Drian, Morrison’s actions showed “brutality and cynicism, and I would be even tempted to say a form of notorious incompetence,” The U-turn of Australia towards France concerning a new defence pact, caused a rift between the two countries.
On the opposite side of the planet, from the African continent, the Malian transitional government just voiced out loudly to France government to take off its knee from Mali’s neck so that, Mali can breathe.
The nature of PKJ’s and N. Modi’s relationship nurtures a type of mechanism or methodology to maintain PKJ into power thus distorting Mauritian democracy. This strategy benefits mere personal political ambition on one side and on the other side assuring geopolitical empowerment.
These are wrong motivations as it is not state-to-state wins. It just comforts the political power of an individual while violating a state’s sovereign democracy. Is it not the old colonial mechanism used in the old days to install imperialism?
We want to reassure the government of India that our common cultural, historical and economic relationship and partnership are not and will never be Hindu bashing. India/Mauritius relationship is anchored in the heart of the Mauritian community. It’s a State to State and People to People shared wealth and prosperity for a better world, sealed in common respect.