Taking a leaf from Mauritius
 

by Afreeha Jawad 

That the majority's religion and language is not granted constitutional importance is a great facilitator to the national unity of Mauritius - that small Indian Ocean island State of 2,040 square kilometres with its vibrant ethno/religious cultural mix.

This was the writer's inference following an interview with President Sir Anrood Jugnauth who was here on a fortnight's visit at the invitation of Dr. A. M. M. Sahabdeen, Chairman, Sahabdeen Trust Foundation.

Certainly, more concrete substance was also made available in Jugnauth's own words:

"We in Mauritius constantly harp on national unity starting from schools."

Undoubtedly, children are a nation's lifeblood and if Mauritius has sustained communal harmony by injecting its importance into young minds, much credit is due to the politicians themselves in that country for as the President himself admits;

"All religious festivals be it Ramazan, Diwali, Christmas or whatever is celebrated on a national basis into which the State puts in much effort. The celebrations are even decentralised for people in every locality to take part."

Yet, he referred to Mauritius society as being fragile. "So we are alert on conflict areas and we nip it in the bud as and when it comes."

The sixty six seat unicameral national assembly has 62 elected members and the 4 appointed by the Elections Commission and from the losing political parties give representation to the numerous ethnic minorities.

This then is more than a reminder of stakeholder importance even in election defeat. Certainly, the Mauritius experience is exemplary for countries that suffer ethno/religious explosions. It also prevents marginalised groups into ethno/religious/political parties.

What's more, the four equal horizontal bands in the Mauritius flag of red, blue, yellow and green signify its ethnic blend with no particular colour apportioned more space over some other.

Creole is the main language common to all in Mauritius while English remains the official language. A little over half of the 1,230,602 populace - 48 per cent - are Hindus, one third or 23.6 per cent Christians and the rest 16.6 per cent Muslims. Ethnic representation percentage wise, remains Indo-Mauritian 68, Creole 27, Sino Mauritian 3 and Franco Mauritian 2.

Ramgoolam kept re-iterating the unity in diversity concept right along favoured by Mauritius decision-makers not to forget the right to language in educational matters though at primary level English and French is insisted upon. "Hindi, Tamil, Urdu, Chinese, Arabic - you name it... it's all there and it's upto the child to choose. We tell them well it's your language, that you will be taug ht in. So why create problems by making it official?"

With a 90 per cent liberalised economy which Jugnauth himself boosted way back in '83 and tourism - a key contributor to the Mauritius economy - this writer inquired into the maintenance of that country's socio/environmental integrity. Said he: "Values do get eroded. It's everywhere. No big problem. Some change is inevitable. We must decide one way or the other - change or no change."

As for retaining environmental wholesomeness following an intensive tourist industry Jugnauth attributes its intactness to the avoidance of charter flights. "It's only the high class tourists allowed entry who don't interfere with locals," he said.

Class and riches being no passport to virtue, Mauritius is not without the negative effects of tourism but of course to a far lesser degree which would not be the situation if charter flights found ready accommodation. Firm laws handle whatever digressions in child sex. Being a recently developing country Mauritius is into much privileges coming its way.

As a result, the country's policy-makers are doing their best in national development. While agricultural contribution to GDP is 7.6 per cent, its industrial intake is 30 per cent and services figure 62.4 per cent. As a result, Mauritius is invariably vulnerable to environmental issues such as water pollution and coral reefs degradation.

Food processing, textiles, clothing, chemicals, metal products, transport equipment and non-electrical machinery are its leading industries while sugar cane, tea, corn, potatoes, bananas, pulses continue as agro-based ventures. With just 49.26 arable land, Mauritius is disadvantaged in rice cultivation another reason being non-availability of sufficient water which is why she imports rice.

However, her interests in industrialisation needs to be watched for its spillover into environmental damage. Anrood Jugnauth is not without regret over US hegemony in Diego Garcia. Striking a positive note he said; "It's not easy to fight the US and Britain but we hope we will get it in the future" - a reminder of how important mutual respect should be in international affairs - more so in the treatment of smaller nations.

The textile industry minus its quotas is not as prosperous as before he regrets and informs of how concessions given to others coupled with wage costs enables cost-effective production. "So, we can't compete. Free trade exists between Mauritius and members of some organisations. There's unrestricted travel for Eastern and Southern countries".

When asked of Sri Lanka-Mauritius trade ties President Jugnauth said it was all upto the private sector of both countries to venture out. He was accompanied by his wife Sarojini Devi who expressed her deep love for Sri Lanka and a return should time permit.