Racism in Mauritius

              Mark Twain once said in 1897 "You gather the idea that Mauritius was made first, and then Heaven, and that Heaven was copied after Mauritius." Undoubtedly, this sounds beautifully nice to our ears...But, this quotation was particularly used by this great American author to illustrate the beauty of our country, the beauty which lies in our being a multiethnic country. Yet, is our country really a peaceful one? If not, then why...

              Truly speaking, this would have been a biased statement if I had said that Mauritius dwells in a peaceful surrounding. This is so because our country is full of ignorant people, full of racial prejudices... We all remember the unforgettable legendary singer, Kaya...In a time of crisis when we should have supported this particular person, what had we done? We just preferred to turn our back to his claims and all, until we lost him. But, have we asked ourselves, why? The answer lies somewhere around, the racism phenomenon engulfed us...He belonged to the Creole race and as such, many other ethnic groups preferred to maintain their treasonable silence. Surely, this would not have been the case if one of their own was in utter turmoil...

              Another traditional fact that shall testify of the presence of racism is that many of us are still against mixed marriages. We do understand that some people are not to be blamed for they have been taught by their elders to adhere to their familial customs...Still, if THEY just can’t "mingle" with other races for marriage-related subjects then how come several of us are still faced with the relative dilemma of having to change our religion to marry our beloved ones who practise another religion. Are we being fair? Not at all...

(to be continued)