Danisha Sornum
“…It is the life of the ordinary man and woman of this country who form the backbone, and who, after all, represent what is the prosperity of the land, that matters…,” said Sir Seewoosagur Ramgoolam. As the country gears up for the national elections in a few weeks’ time, these words of wisdom should resonate with every single Mauritian, irrespective of creed, colour, religion, or ethnicity. These words should thump even louder in the hearts of those who will stand before the people of this country with the promise of a better tomorrow.
Like many others of my generation who have not had the chance to meet SSR in person, I have discovered him through the lens of others who have known him and the numerous pages of history that bear testimony to his indelible contribution to the building of our nation – the right to vote for every single son and daughter of this land; the fight for independence; the creation of the welfare state; and the noble task of nurturing a young nation through a just and equitable education system. Most importantly, SSR created space for promoting languages and culture as a means of strengthening our social fabric. Amidst the recent controversies triggered by the Government taking back the land of the Tamil people without consultation, I’ve come to value and treasure the great soul that SSR was even more. Here was a leader who understood the danger of deculturalization; the danger of a single narrative that silences different cultural voices.
As far back as 1935, in an article that SSR wrote, entitled “Sons of Immigrants”, he advocated for the teaching of all oriental languages alongside English and French. He saw language not only as a vehicle for communication but also as an expression of sense of belonging, a balm to the soul. When he became Liaison Officer for Education, he translated this vision into reality by introducing oriental languages in schools across the island. With the collaboration of Professor Ram Prakash, a Consultant from India, who had extensive knowledge in the different Asian languages such as Hindi, Urdu, Tamil and Telugu, and who designed textbooks for students, SSR set a solid foundation for the preservation of languages and culture as part of our national heritage. Visionary as he was, SSR understood all too well the numerous inherent challenges our budding nation would face post-independence given its history of double colonization, slavery and indentured labour. That is why social peace and cohesion were always the magnet that would direct all his early policies and guide his decision-making. He encouraged cross-cultural learning and respect through the celebration of religious festivals, many of which were decreed public holidays back in the day, and which still bring us together and vibrate our hearts today. SSR promoted cultural investment, and decades later, or I must rather say, generations later, we still reap the returns. We may not often realise this, but the good part of being a Mauritian is that cultural intelligence is not foreign to our nature.
It’s disheartening that sometimes the narrative of our nation is narrowed down to “either-or” brackets; we hear an all too common, seemingly intelligent discourse that mandates the denial of language, culture, religion and ethnicity altogether, in the pursuit of a single identity. That, I believe, is the greatest disservice we can do to this country, as it tries to overly simplify the complex nature of who we are as a nation. We are all Mauritian sons and daughters, not despite our differences, but rather with all our differences. Our Mauritianism is in and of itself a splendid expression of colours, cultures and traditions that have survived the toughest of times.
SSR had an unwavering faith in the Mauritian people; in our capacity to show resilience and grit even in the most daunting times; in our ability to get back on our feet stronger each time we fall down; and in our capacity for true acceptance of the other. Many of us are probably overwhelmed with the coarseness of political discourse, and the brashness with which some sitting Ministers have shown total disregard to the cultural heritage of the people of this land, placing culture on the scale of “galimatia”. Such cultural insensitivity, is appalling and outright distasteful. But no matter how hurt and angry the people of this country may be, we’ve always known better than to wallow in wrath.
The life of the ordinary man and woman of this land, with all their aspirations and dreams, was what mattered to SSR, and is still what should matter to each one of us today. The ordinary man and woman of this land have the ability to carry hope in the face of utter adversity; the ordinary man and woman of this land refuse to pay lip service to Mauritianism. I dare to believe that we have the moral courage as a nation to stand up for what is right and that we will carry the legacy of Mauritianism as SSR believed we would.