Blog: What If?

The Muslims gathered in large numbers to bolster their crusade to maintain the Best Loser System (BLS). The intellectuals, or whatever, who were present at that gathering dished out their belief that without the BLS the Muslim minority will not feel secure in the country.

So the BLS must stay at all costs in the interest of the protection of the Muslims. There have been reactions to that stand, some condemning and some approving those who are militating for keeping the defenders of the BLS. That it is the right of the Muslims to express their views on the BLS cannot be disputed.

Yousouf Mohamed went as far as asking when a Muslim or a member of the General Population will ever be elected as prime minister in his own right. Has any Muslim leader ever attempted to do so? At least in the case of Paul Berenger he has tried in 1983, 1987, and 2005 without success and could only reach the seat of prime minister following the famous Medpoint deal in 2000.

What if the Hindu leaders had gone on a platform to defend the rights of Hindus to have a certain number of representatives in the National Assembly?

What if amongst the Hindu leaders, members of the so-called socio cultural groups attended?

This may appear to be a hypothetical scenario but may become a reality given the turn that all the debates on the BLS is taking. The Hindus are also entitled to a certain number of seats in parliament in compliance with the 1972 census that is still applicable for the purposes of seat allocation in the National Assembly.

What if the Hindu leaders including the socio-cultural leaders gather to insist that there should be so many Hindu candidates made up of different castes both in the First Past The Post system and the Party List so that not only Hindus but also Hindus of different castes would feel more secure vis-a-vis the other communities?

When the Muslim platform or when Benjamin Moutou speaks of ethnic crushing they seem to be blissfully oblivious of the fact that the Hindus also need to feel secure. To feel secure they need the electoral guarantees that the Muslims and the General Population are ferociously fighting for.

Being the majority community by itself does not necessarily secure that community security if the other communities gang up against the majority community. We have seen ugly events against the majority community in the sixties with the killing of Rampersad Surath and infamous slogans from the anti independence crusade.

The question therefore is what if the Hindus rally, irrespective of caste, to claim their electoral due? The immediate reaction of opinion writers and some mad bloggers who have such free access to the blog of some newspapers will lash out at the socio-cultural groups and will call their leaders names.

A look at some of this phenomenon will prove that assertion. The Hindu majority according to many in this country have no right to voice out their grievances or lay claim to any legitimate right through their representatives or socio-cultural leaders. If they do they are worse than Satan. Their leaders are demonised in the most vulgar of terms.

Those who are defending the BLS by making reference to what the Hindus have obtained should be more careful in their approach. Making exception for the United States no country in the world including those with a majority of Muslims has a president or prime minister who issues from the minority. Let the defenders of the BLS tread carefully and not try to disturb that already fragile ethnic balance and harmony prevailing in the country.