Why Independence?

Mauritius Times – 70 Years

It has never been secret that the Mauritius Labour Party stands for an independent Mauritius within the Commonwealth. Since the general election of 1953 the people has been made aware of the fact that gradually and inevitably Mauritius will have to be ruled by Mauritians. It can be said without fear of contradiction that the election of 1953 was fought on the issue of Responsible Government coupled with universal adult suffrage. In its 1959 electoral manifesto the Mauritius Labour Party again made it clear that it was going to fight the elections on the issue of the ultimate independence of Mauritius. The opponents of the Labour Party have therefore to agree that the people of Mauritius have expressed its opinion on this matter. There can’t be any attempt at putting the clock back now.

Mr Bissoondoyal’s implied allegations that the elections were rigged are worth the newsprint on which they are printed. And Mr Koenig’s fears of the interests of minorities have proved to be completely imaginary. Such arguments might be useful at Plaine Verte, but it will be difficult to use them at a constitutional conference in London. Mr Macleod is no kid. It therefore follows that independence is going to be a natural sequence in our constitutional evolution.

But just now the Parti Mauricien and the IFB are bandying about all sorts of arguments which tend to confuse the issue. The main theme of their anti-independence campaign is that if Mauritius becomes independent it will no more be entitled to any help from the British Government. This is an argument which constitutes fraud on the public. Besides, one has the impression that the multi-headed opposition has come to a stage when its war-cry has become obsolescent. The days of “bateaux langoutis” are over and the era of “hégémonie hindoue” died together with NMU. What can the opposition offer now? An old battery how much it is charged, has no other place except the garbage: therefore, another bogey has been found, and it is the imaginary dangers of independence. The Labour Party must consequently keep on an incessant campaign if only to nullify the nefarious obscurantist campaign of the Opposition.

If we only take a look at what is happening elsewhere! Just see the amount of money which is being poured into the emerging independent countries. Cyprus is an opposite example: it became free at the cost of thousands of lives and millions of £ to the British people so much so that it tended to become the British Algeria! But on the next day of the proclamation of its independence the British Government announced the grant of a generous loan to Cyprus. The development projects in many newly-independent countries are still being helped by the British people. On the contrary it seems that when you are an independent country you have greater chances of obtaining help and not only from Britain.

Another bogey is being raised simultaneously: communism. From what has been published in other sections it is inferred that communism is finding its way in Mauritius and there is a carefully veiled attempt at suggesting that the Labour Party is likely to go communist. We do not think communism has any chance in Mauritius. Nor do we think that Mauritius Labour Party has anything to do with communism. A political party which draws its inspiration from the British Labour Party cannot without openly contradicting itself have any communist affiliations. And everybody knows also that the British Trade Union Congress is certainly against communism.

Whatever be the theories of Mr Koenig or the special predilections of Mr Bissoondoyal, it is important that we know why we should fight for our independence. In other countries this would have sounded a rather stupid question. But believe it or not there are people who think that we should not be free! It takes all sorts of people to make this world, and democracy wants that every opinion be given a chance. When slavery becomes a habit and when it is taken as a normal condition of living it becomes more difficult to break its chains.

We cannot govern any more by Whitehall. It is time we started fending ourselves and as a country we have proved that we are up to the mark. If the Opposition thinks that it can do better, it should have the patience to wait for its turn. The fight for independence is not a fight against the Labour Party, but it is a fight against a system of government which is obsolete. If Mr Koenig or Mr Bissoondoyal is so sure that the whole population is behind them, one of them must start preparing his speech as the first future Prime Minister of Mauritius but let not anyone has the impudence to say that we do not want independence.

When Mr Harold Macmillan comes to South Africa and does not hesitate to tell the apostles of apartheid that we are living in a world of equality and when Mr Macloed declares it in Rhodesia, another seat of racial segregation, in Mauritius some people take pride in saying that we do not deserve independence. We do not believe that slavery has become such a habit in Mauritius. The sad experiences in Congo might be dangled as an argument against independence, but people who are abreast of politics know that our situation is different for two reasons (a) we have had the privilege of being a British colony, and (b) our people has been given already a sense of participation in ruling the country. Besides, Mr Macloed and the British Government are ready to receive our delegates and the way things are moving elsewhere it can be taken for granted that only the stage has to be set to welcome independence.

7th Year – No 315
Friday 9th September 1960

Mauritius Times ePaper Friday 22 August 2025