Medpoint and the Power Syndrome in Mauritius/L'Express 01.02.2011 by the MMM Youth Wing
In a short story entitled “The Man”, the writer depicts the situation akin to that of an African country where one civilian has slayed the country’s ruthless leader; a tyrant who thrives on fear and who lives in a well-secured palace far from the access of any ordinary citizen. Back in my high school days, the tale was of special interest to me. Its writer Emmanuel Dongala, unfortunately not as well known as his peers Achebe or Soyinka, used sarcasm brilliantly showing a population had been subdued and how excessive power could cripple a whole country for the benefit of a few…
The immorality of our land
Somewhere along the way, we gave up on ourselves. Citizenship became too burdensome and was thus redefined to stand for occasional rants on radio waves and one voting expedition on a 5 year basis. Post 1983, the notion of solidarity meant less and less to most of us. Materialism kicked in, corruption bloomed and partisanship won against patriotism. While scandals piled up, the population found the magic line to relieve itself from any moral burden, “Zot tou cokin”.
Few bothered to change this state of affairs. Occasionally, Jack Bizlall would shout his hate at this festering system. We would all applaud his courage and get back to our passive mode. Despots mushroomed during this period, duly rewarded by the kings of the day with undeserved nominations in the country’s elite companies. Mauritius became a country where moral values were relegated to hollow speeches prior to the elections.
The case for active citizenship
The citizen as an agent of change is a concept that we chose to relinquish. In France, what Cabu satirically termed the “Manifeste des 343 salopes” in the Le Nouvel Observateur showed that civil disobedience was very much pertinent. In Tunisia, Bouazizi’s death sparked in its aftermath the end of an unfair system. Could we like them take to the streets and manifest our discontent in front of the Prime Minister’s Office? Or else could we start a petition with hundreds of thousands of us asking for total transparency in the medpoint case? Or like Thoreau did, should we refuse to pay taxes for expenses that have been incurred in total opaqueness? The avenues to express our disagreement are many. What is still missing is the will to change things.
The citizen is dead. Long live the citizen.
Chetan Ramchurn
On behalf of the Jeunesse Militante
The immorality of our land
Somewhere along the way, we gave up on ourselves. Citizenship became too burdensome and was thus redefined to stand for occasional rants on radio waves and one voting expedition on a 5 year basis. Post 1983, the notion of solidarity meant less and less to most of us. Materialism kicked in, corruption bloomed and partisanship won against patriotism. While scandals piled up, the population found the magic line to relieve itself from any moral burden, “Zot tou cokin”.
Few bothered to change this state of affairs. Occasionally, Jack Bizlall would shout his hate at this festering system. We would all applaud his courage and get back to our passive mode. Despots mushroomed during this period, duly rewarded by the kings of the day with undeserved nominations in the country’s elite companies. Mauritius became a country where moral values were relegated to hollow speeches prior to the elections.
The case for active citizenship
The citizen as an agent of change is a concept that we chose to relinquish. In France, what Cabu satirically termed the “Manifeste des 343 salopes” in the Le Nouvel Observateur showed that civil disobedience was very much pertinent. In Tunisia, Bouazizi’s death sparked in its aftermath the end of an unfair system. Could we like them take to the streets and manifest our discontent in front of the Prime Minister’s Office? Or else could we start a petition with hundreds of thousands of us asking for total transparency in the medpoint case? Or like Thoreau did, should we refuse to pay taxes for expenses that have been incurred in total opaqueness? The avenues to express our disagreement are many. What is still missing is the will to change things.
The citizen is dead. Long live the citizen.
Chetan Ramchurn
On behalf of the Jeunesse Militante
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