Blog: Who wants to gag Politicians? And why?

From time to time, objections are raised publicly against politicians addressing religious gatherings. Recently Steve Obeegadoo, MMM MP, asked a PQ to the Prime Minister requesting him to consider reaching a consensus among politicians not to address religious gatherings or squarely consider legislating to bar them from doing so.

This PQ is followed by debates and discussions in some quarters on the secularism of the Mauritian Republic. It is also a sequel of the speech of Vice Prime Minister Anil Bachoo in his constituency at a function marking the arrival of Indian immigrants. Anil Bachoo is reported to have made references to the majority community to retain political power in its hands and to the Ravana, the villain of Ramayana.

I wish to dispel a misconception about Ravana. Ravana was a devout believer, staunch devotee of Shiva benefiting from special blessings from Shiva. His Sri Lanka was made of gold. Unfortunately Ravana had turned evil and Lord Rama had to destroy him. As Shri Krishna had come to give the values in the Bhagawad Gita in the Mahabharata. They were all rulers and politicians. Their devotees cannot separate politics from religion.

I have always been wondering why some people want to gag politicians? Why they want them not to speak at religious gatherings? Who is hurt by their speeches? What is the normal content of their speeches on such occasions?

I have found out that the critics are either ignorant of our history, culture, religions and the role religion has played and continue to play in the emancipation of the people. Religion has sustained them in difficult times. The practice of religion by the majority of the people has helped them to maintain their ancestral language, culture and identity.

It seems that these critics have a hidden agenda. Their agenda is to snatch power – political power from the ruling party that is Labour Party. They have discovered that the Labour Party and to some extent the MSM enjoy the support of mainly organised Hindu and Muslim organisations. The organisers of these functions normally invite the political leaders of their community and the leaders of the main political parties to attend and address their gatherings. On such occasions, those who master the ancestral languages convey their messages directly. Unfortunately the members and Leader of the Opposition normally do so in Creole. And as such is at a disadvantage.

Imagine Paul Berenger having learnt a lesson or two from Sonia Gandhi and would have learned Hindi and mastered the Hindu epics like the Ramayana and the Mahabharata. Sonia Gandhi of Italian origin is not even Indian born, but today is the uncrowned queen of the whole of India. Paul Berenger, Mauritian born would have been unstoppable. He would have reached the hearts and minds of the majority of the people directly. I remember Sir Kher Jagatsingh, Sir Anerood Jugnauth and Dr Navin Ramgoolam having made a conscious effort to learn Hindi and Bhojpuri.

The Christian churches are organised in a different pattern. The Catholic Church has the Bishop of Port Louis at its head and the Anglican Church has as head the  Bishop of Mauritius. The Pope heads all Catholics in the world and is also the Head of State of the Vatican City. He is received as such in all parts of the world as per protocol. The Queen of England is still the head of Anglican Church.

They all deal with politicians. They have a hold on members of the churches who do politics. I still remember the statement of two cabinet ministers stating that they are Catholics first then ministers. Politicians including the President, the PM and Leader of the Opposition are invited at all religious festivals. They do attend and are received with all the courtesies and honour due to their rank. They do address the gatherings. Usually they all speak of unity, peace, harmony and respect for all religions practised in Mauritius.

I do not find anything sinister in politicians attending such functions. It is well known that leaders of many democratic countries do so. The President of the United States yearly calls for a prayer meeting and invites leaders of the world. Our Prime Minister has attended some. He also sends greetings on main religious festivals. I have also seen a DVD of Tony Blair attending and addressing a Diwali function in London. He was the first British Prime Minister to do so.

These critics unfortunately target mainly Hindu and Muslims organisations and their functions. I feel they are either ignorant of the fabric of our society or they do not understand the culture and religions of different components of the population.

It is a historical fact that the owners of the slaves and the indentured labourers happened to be Christians and mostly Catholics. They were able to convert their slaves and their descendents to Christianity, tried to make them believe that they belong to the Western culture. The language of their master, French, is their adopted language. Unfortunately in the process the majority lost their roots, their languages, and their culture. Today, they have only Creole and the sega as their heritage. This reminds me of the Westerners who came to Africa with a bible in their hand and after some time the Africans had the bible and the Westerners the land of the Africans. South Africa today is struggling to return the land seized by the Westerners to the descendents of the original African owners. It is some comfort that the African Cultural Centre is working hard to restore our African heritage.

Unlike the descendents of the Asian community, Indian and Chinese, the majority consisting of Muslims, Hindus and Buddhists have retained their culture, languages, identity and customs. They played a crucial role in the struggle leading to independence. The Hindus in their beliefs could put life in a stone and worship it as God. They have made of Ganga Talao an international pilgrimage centre.

Eid, Diwali, Ganesh Chaturthi, Ugadi and Cavadee are celebrated as national festivals. A taskforce presided by a cabinet minister, at present by Anil Baichoo, is setup to assist and facilitate the organisations of these festivals. Government also gives religious subsidy to approved organisations. The religious education institutions also receive grants from the government.

The socio-cultural and religious organisations provide a unique platform to politicians of all parties to share the stage. They are a symbol of our unity, respect to the culture, religion, and language of all the components of our society. They contribute in maintaining peace, stability and harmony in the country.

It is only those who have not cared to learn about the language, the culture and the religion of the population find themselves at a disadvantage. So they want to do away with this practice. In India it was Bal Gangadhar Tilak, Indian nationalist leader, known for his quote "Swaraj is my birthright and I shall have it", who used Ganesh Chaturthi festivals to convey his political message. Mahatma Gandhi has used 'Ramrajya' as a model government based on the values of the Ramayana.

In Mauritius, the Bissoondoyal brothers had organised the Mahayaj and the Jan Andolan to mobilise the masses in the 1940s. The Arya Samaj has used its cultural network to fight for independence. It was no coincidence that the first ceremony for independence Sir Seewoosagar Ramgoolam attended on the 12th March 1968, was at the Arya Sabha in Port Louis.

Many politicians in all parties emerge from socio cultural religious organisations and continue to maintain their umbilical link with these organisations. By and large, these organisations have been the grassroot backbone of Labour and MSM. MMM has benefited from the dissidents of these organisations. By creating cultural centres, MMM is perceived to have adopted  the policy of divide and rule and making Mauritius a country of minorities. Fortunately it has failed. The linguistic cultural organisations, the linguistic unions and the main socio-cultural and religious organisations have come together and are working to promote unity.

It is against this backdrop that we must see through the hidden agenda of those who are objecting to politicians addressing religious gatherings. Mauritius is a secular republic; our freedom of expression is guaranteed. Our secularism is inclusive of religion unlike the secularism of France where there is a separation of State and religion. The critics should remove their handicap by learning and respecting the language, culture and religions of Mauritians. They better follow the advice of Sir Seewoosagur Ramgoolam – do not touch religion, culture and language. Participation of politicians at religious functions should be viewed in a larger historical perspective.

By the way who is not a politician in Mauritius?