{"id":3742,"date":"2015-08-21T10:53:07","date_gmt":"2015-08-21T10:53:07","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/mauritiustimes.com\/mt\/2015\/08\/21\/mt-60-years-ago-7\/"},"modified":"2017-09-19T12:19:03","modified_gmt":"2017-09-19T08:19:03","slug":"mt-60-years-ago-7","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.mauritiustimes.com\/mt\/mt-60-years-ago-7\/","title":{"rendered":"Remy Ollier \u2013 Prophet of Coloured Mauritians"},"content":{"rendered":"

MT 60 Years — 2nd YEAR NO. 45 \u2013 17 June 1955 —<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

Glimpses of Mauritian History<\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n

Nous attaquons les principes, nous respectons les hommes, notre journal n\u2019est pas l\u2019\u00e9cho de nos passions, mais de nos recherches, de notre vigilance, de l\u2019int\u00e9r\u00eat public.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

— R. Ollier<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

In 1829 England put on the same footing as the whites the coloured population who had not so far enjoyed political and civil rights. Four years later A. d\u2019Epinay obtained for the colony the freedom of the press which before this time could not publish anything without the permission of the Colonial Secretary. The whites took advantage of this freedom to found the Cern\u00e9en<\/em> which R. Ollier was to describe as \u201corgane d\u2019une aristocratie d\u00e9cr\u00e9pite et qui s\u2019en va.\u201d The coloured population founded the Balance, whose editor was Berquin, who only after a year had to pay severely for the courage to raise his voice against a class tenacious in the preservation of its privileges. In the word of Fokeer, he was unlawfully imprisoned, muleted into heavy fines and finally banished from the country.<\/p>\n

The Balance appeared for the last time on the 31st October 1835. With it died for the moment the hope of the oppressed classes, who having no organ till 1843, were the victims of the Cern\u00e9en, which as the proverbial cock on the dunghill crowed its loudest.<\/p>\n

Remy Ollier came as a godsend to the coloured population. He was aged 26 when he founded the Sentinelle, a weekly paper on the 8th April 1843. He was fitted for his self-imposed task not by deep learning, university training or experience, but he had in him something more than all these \u2013 a burning passion, akin to genius, for furthering the interests of the coloured population. At an early age he had been apprentice to a harness maker. He could be seen often with a book in one hand and an awl in another. We may find an echo of the feelings of his early life in the words, \u201c\u00e0 quelque rang social que l\u2019homme soit plac\u00e9, l\u2019instruction lui conf\u00e8re une sup\u00e9riorit\u00e9\u201d.<\/p>\n

Shocked at the inequality and injustice around him, he was determined to go against the current. He knew that though England had recognized their rights since 1829, the coloured population was debarred from many privileges. They could not send their children to the Royal College; they were not represented in the Legislative Council and were socially the inferiors of the whites. In his virile language he depicted the situation:<\/p>\n

\u00ab Peuple, tu n\u2019as plus rien. Tes droits, vain songe. Ta propri\u00e9t\u00e9, demain on viendra te l\u2019arracher, et comme le neveu d\u2019Abraham il te faudra fuir, sans regarder derri\u00e8re cette pluie de souffre qui va d\u00e9vorer ton berceau. Ton caract\u00e8re, tu n\u2019as plus. Courbe le front esclave, tu n\u2019as plus. Courbe le front esclave, le murmure m\u00eame est un crime aujourd\u2019hui. \u00bb<\/p>\n

A crying injustice was that the coloured population were not represented in the Legislative Council. In different articles Remy Ollier brought out the fact that 70,000 inhabitants, coloured people and blacks, were not represented in the Council. He denounced this as an injustice for the interests of the Englishman in the colony and the white was safeguarded whereas that of the lower and middle classes were neglected. He warned the local government that \u201cil m\u00e9contente et consterne les loyaux et fid\u00e8les sujets britanniques et pourrait ali\u00e9ner au gouvernement les c\u0153urs de ceux qui sont toujours rest\u00e9s invariablement attach\u00e9s. \u00bb<\/p>\n

He drafted a petition to Queen Victoria which the coloured population claimed, \u2018la justice et l\u2019impartialit\u00e9 des institutions et des lois britanniques, en mettant leurs esp\u00e9rances et celles de leurs enfants aux pieds de votre Majest\u00e9, la suppliant d\u2019autoriser le gouvernement de Maurice \u00e0 appeler un ou plusieurs hommes de couleur dans son Conseil. \u00bb<\/p>\n

\u00ab L\u2019\u00e9galit\u00e9 r\u00e8gne \u00bb he wrote with indignation \u00ab d\u2019o\u00f9 vient qu\u2019il y ait des Pensions de demoiselles blanches, dans lesquels ne peuvent jamais \u00eatre admises les demoiselles de couleur. \u00bb<\/p>\n

He deplored the fact that the coloured population did not have the same advantage as the whites in their education. When he wrote of this disability, he must have been thinking of his own youth passed in no flattering circumstances.<\/p>\n

Remy Ollier was aware of the fact that among other things the coloured people felt most humiliated in not being the social equals of the whites. Governor Sir Lionel Smith failed to invite the members of the coloured population to a ball.<\/p>\n

On the 3rd June 1843, R. Ollier wrote on this matter. \u2018Nous sommes tr\u00e8s fiers, avons nous dit, pour solliciter l\u2019entr\u00e9e des soci\u00e9t\u00e9s particuli\u00e8res. Ce n\u2019est pas ici une soci\u00e9t\u00e9 particuli\u00e8re\u2026 c\u2019est la f\u00eate de la nation, f\u00eate de la nation, f\u00eate o\u00f9 doivent se trouver tous les gens honn\u00eates et bien \u00e9l\u00e8ves du pays soit quelque \u00e9piderme que le sort les a fait na\u00eetre. \u00bb<\/p>\n

\u00ab Nous ne voulons pas nous blanchir \u00bb he reminded the whites, \u00ab nous sommes les \u00e9gaux des blancs par nos droits. \u00bb<\/p>\n

A steady opposition dogged his heels from the day that he founded the Sentinelle. He roused against him not only the whites but also government officials against whom he had pronounced bitter truths. He was brought before the court more than ten times but always came out unscathed as right was always on his side. It has been said by his biographer (J. O. Bijoux) that when he died there were still 28 legal suits pending against him.<\/p>\n

But as he himself said, \u201cPersonne ne saurait faire plier notre front brun que la libert\u00e9 a peint des couleurs de son soleil. \u00bb What is unfortunate about R. Ollier is that he died when his work was unfinished. Hardly had he in his writings denounced injustice and inequality for two years when death snatched him away. In R. Ollier the coloured population lost one whom they could never replace. History only says that he died of intestinal troubles at the age of 28. We should say that his death remains a historical mystery \u2013 he might well have been poisoned living as he did in an atmosphere surrounded by enemies who wielded power.<\/p>\n

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