{"id":376,"date":"2010-07-01T17:38:44","date_gmt":"2010-07-01T17:38:44","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/mauritiustimes.com\/mt\/2010\/07\/01\/lex-18\/"},"modified":"2020-05-23T12:16:33","modified_gmt":"2020-05-23T08:16:33","slug":"lex-18","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.mauritiustimes.com\/mt\/lex-18\/","title":{"rendered":"Why should Paul B\u00e9renger step down?\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"

Points to Ponder<\/u><\/span><\/p>\n

By Lex<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

A First Point: <\/strong>After the general elections, some followers of the MMM have voiced the opinion that it is high time that Paul B\u00e9renger should take his leave as the leader of the party. My opinion has always been and it still is that Paul B\u00e9renger is the MMM and the MMM is Paul B\u00e9renger; the one cannot exist without the other. The reasoning is simple: those who consider themselves as forming part of the minorities should have a political leader of their community but they do not have a politician they can consider as a leader, so they have to fall back on Paul B\u00e9renger. Even a section of the Hindu community, which considers itself as part of the minorities, follows this reasoning and considers Paul B\u00e9renger as its political leader. Those persons who say that Paul B\u00e9renger should give up the leadership of the MMM do not realize that there is nobody at the present time who can take the place of Paul B\u00e9renger. There will then be so many mini-political leaders, each representing a section of the minority that there will never be some semblance of unity among the minorities.<\/span><\/p>\n

What is the reason for which Paul B\u00e9renger is being requested to step down? There are two main reasons: the first one is that he has been the leader for a long time and that he must make way for somebody with a fresh outlook, with new ideas, who can have around him young politicians, especially those who have a solid intellectual background but at the same time with the background of the MMM political philosophy. This is a tall order, but if it can be achieved it will be for the good of the MMM.<\/span><\/p>\n

However, where is the MMM going to look for such a leader? I sincerely do not think that the persons responsible will be able to find him, because he does not exist. The MMM can find so many leaders as we have minority communities, tot homines quot sententiae<\/em>,<\/strong> as the Romans used to say. But the MMM does not need so many small leaders, it needs one strong leader who will be able to lead all the members of the minorities in one solid group. I do not see this happening in a foreseeable future, because each minority group will say that that somebody from its particular group must lead the party. There will never be an agreement as to which person and from which group should lead the party.<\/span><\/p>\n

Paul B\u00e9renger has been able to get the minorities, or at least a majority of them in the MMM and he does what he thinks is best for them. I am not saying that all the minorities are with Paul B\u00e9renger, far from it. In some cases, up to 75% of the members of a minority are not with the MMM. Neither am I saying that all the members of the majority community are against him. We have witnessed that even during the last general election, some members of the majority community have sided with Paul B\u00e9renger.<\/span><\/p>\n

For reasons of practicability, but more so for the very existence of the MMM, Paul B\u00e9renger must continue to lead the MMM, and this so long as he will have the will to do so.<\/span><\/p>\n

The second reason for which some persons want Paul B\u00e9renger to give up the leadership is that he has been talking too much as the leader without bringing the desired results. Politicians who are active expect to succeed in the political field, but the MMM politicians, in spite of their best efforts to win the last general election and subsequently form the government, lost the election heavily in term of seats, and this is what counts in an election. They say that Paul B\u00e9renger is not acceptable by a large majority of the electorate and therefore he should voluntarily resign as the leader.<\/span><\/p>\n

Those persons also say that past experience has clearly shown that if the MMM continues with the same leadership, it will never win an election, at least for the National Assembly. Maybe if the MMM were to go into an alliance with a strong party, it might form part of the government, but the MMM will not be able to claim to be the leader and therefore the post of Prime Minister will be out of hands of the MMM.<\/span><\/p>\n

However, the MMM says that it has to be a party that can win a general election on its own, have its own Prime Minister and govern the country according to its own philosophy and its own programme. Or even if it will have to fight an election in a partnership, the partner will be a very small party indeed, in such a way that the partner will not have any influence.<\/span><\/p>\n

Who is the politician in the MMM as of now who can even think of taking the place of Paul B\u00e9renger? Maybe Alan Ganoo or Steve Obeegadoo or even Arianne Navarre Marie? Choosing any of them as leader will kill the MMM prematurely, as from what I understand, these people cannot even reach the knees of Paul B\u00e9renger, so short are they compared to the political height of their leader.<\/span><\/p>\n

So the situation is such that the MMM will have to accept Paul B\u00e9renger as the leader for a long time yet. However, the members of that party will have to accept at the same time to stay in the opposition, in spite of all the bravado. They cannot exist without Paul B\u00e9renger but with him as the leader, the party cannot succeed. Ils sont dans une situation corn\u00e9lienne. Que faire?<\/em>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The Media\u2019s Bandar-log<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

A Second Point: <\/strong>Existe-t-il une diff\u00e9rence entre les Bandar-log de Rudyard Kipling et certains de nos journalistes, qui pr\u00e9tendent \u00eatre ind\u00e9pendants mais qui, en v\u00e9rit\u00e9, ne le sont pas\u00a0? Cette diff\u00e9rence serait-elle minime\u00a0?<\/span><\/p>\n

J\u2019ai lu, il y a fort longtemps un c\u00e9l\u00e8bre ouvrage en fran\u00e7ais, suppos\u00e9ment \u00e9crit pour les enfants, mais plut\u00f4t lu par les adultes\u00a0: c\u2019est \u2018Le Livre de la Jungle\u2019 <\/em>de Rudyard Kipling.<\/span><\/p>\n

Voyons ce que dit Rudyard Kipling \u00e0 ce sujet.<\/span><\/p>\n

Je me rappelle de l\u2019\u00e9pisode o\u00f9 Mowgli, l\u2019enfant humain, \u00e9lev\u00e9 par une famille de loups avec l\u2019aide de Balou et de Bagheera, est captur\u00e9 par les Bandar-log et de la mani\u00e8re dont il est trait\u00e9 pendant sa capture.<\/span><\/p>\n

Qui sont les \u00ab\u00a0Bandar-log\u00a0\u00bb (ce terme n\u2019est pas de moi mais de l\u2019auteur lui-m\u00eame) ? Les Hindous et les Musulmans devraient th\u00e9oriquement le savoir et les autres peuvent demander \u00e0 leurs voisins la signification de ce terme.<\/span><\/p>\n

Je cite textuellement une partie de cet ouvrage ci-dessous\u00a0:<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cLes singes appelaient ce lieu leur ville, et affectaient de m\u00e9priser le Peuple de la Jungle parce qu’il vit dans la for\u00eat. Et cependant, ils ne savaient jamais \u00e0 quel usage avaient \u00e9t\u00e9 destin\u00e9s les \u00e9difices ni comment y habiter. Ils s’asseyaient en cercles dans le vestibule menant \u00e0 la chambre du conseil royal, grattaient leurs puces et faisaient semblant d’\u00eatre des hommes\u00a0; ou bien ils couraient au travers des maisons sans toits, ramassaient dans un coin des pl\u00e2tras et de vieilles briques, puis oubliaient les cachettes\u00a0; ou bien ils se battaient, ils criaient, se chamaillaient en foule, puis, cessant tout \u00e0 coup, se mettaient \u00e0 jouer, du haut en bas des terrasses, dans les jardins du Roi, dont ils secouaient les rosiers et les orangers pour le plaisir d’en voir tomber les fruits et les fleurs. Ils exploraient tous les passages, tous les souterrains du palais et les centaines de petites chambres obscures, mais ils ne se rappelaient jamais ce qu’ils avaient vu\u00a0; et ils erraient ainsi au hasard, un \u00e0 un, deux \u00e0 deux, ou par groupes, en se f\u00e9licitant l’un l’autre d’agir tellement comme des hommes. Ils buvaient aux r\u00e9servoirs dont ils troublaient l’eau, et se mordaient pour en approcher, puis s’\u00e9lan\u00e7aient tous ensemble en masses compactes et criaient\u00a0:<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

— Il n’y a personne dans la Jungle d’aussi sage, d’aussi bon, d’aussi intelligent, d’aussi fort et d’aussi doux que les Bandar-log.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

Ensuite, ils recommen\u00e7aient jusqu’\u00e0 ce que, fatigu\u00e9s de la ville, ils retournassent aux cimes des arbres, dans l’espoir que le Peuple de la Jungle les remarquerait. (\u2026)<\/em>
\nEt, au lieu d’aller dormir, comme Mowgli l’aurait fait apr\u00e8s un long voyage, ils se prirent par la main et se mirent \u00e0 danser en chantant leurs plus folles chansons. Un des singes fit un discours et dit \u00e0 ses compagnons que la capture de Mowgli marquerait une nouvelle \u00e9tape dans l’histoire des Bandar-log, car il allait leur montrer comment on entrela\u00e7ait des branches et des roseaux pour s’abriter contre la pluie et le vent. (\u2026)<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u2014Tout ce qu’a dit Baloo au sujet des Bandar-log est vrai, songeait-il en lui-m\u00eame. Ils sont sans loi, sans cri de chasse, et sans chefs\u2026 rien qu’en mots absurdes et en petites mains prestes et pillardes. (\u2026)<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

Tout meurtri, las et \u00e0 jeun qu’il f\u00fbt, Mowgli ne put, malgr\u00e9 tout, s’emp\u00eacher de rire quand les Bandar-log se mirent, par vingt \u00e0 la fois, \u00e0 lui remontrer combien ils \u00e9taient grands, sages, forts et doux, et quelle folie c’\u00e9tait \u00e0 lui de vouloir les quitter.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

\u2014 Nous sommes grands. Nous sommes libres. Nous sommes \u00e9tonnants. Nous sommes le peuple le plus \u00e9tonnant de toute la Jungle\u00a0! Nous le disons tous, aussi ce doit \u00eatre vrai, criaient-ils. Maintenant, comme tu nous entends pour la premi\u00e8re fois, et que tu es \u00e0 m\u00eame de rapporter nos paroles au Peuple de la Jungle afin qu’il nous remarque dans l’avenir, nous te dirons tout ce qui concerne nos excellentes personnes.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

Mowgli ne fit aucune objection, et les singes se rassembl\u00e8rent par centaines et centaines sur la terrasse pour \u00e9couter leurs propres orateurs chanter les louanges des Bandar-log, et, toutes les fois qu’un orateur s’arr\u00eatait par manque de respiration, ils criaient tous ensemble\u00a0:<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

\u2014 C’est vrai, nous pensons de m\u00eame.\u00a0\u00bb<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

Ainsi, nous apprenons que les Bandar Log excellent dans l\u2019art de se juger et ils le disent\u00a0: \u201cC\u2019est vrai, nous pensons de m\u00eame\u201d. Et je crois que certains journalistes de chez nous sont comme les Bandar-og de Rudyard Kipling\u00a0: ils disent qu\u2019ils sont ind\u00e9pendants mais qui a jug\u00e9 et port\u00e9 ce jugement\u00a0?<\/span><\/p>\n

Tout comme les personnages de l\u2019ouvrage de Kipling, ils ont jug\u00e9 eux-m\u00eames qu\u2019ils sont ind\u00e9pendants. Par cons\u00e9quent, je ne vois pas de diff\u00e9rence ou de distinction entre les Bandar-og et certains de nos journalistes qui se disent ind\u00e9pendants.<\/span><\/p>\n

Il vaudrait mieux laisser aux autres le soin de vous juger \u00e0 votre juste valeur, ceux qui auraient la capacit\u00e9 de le faire avec du recul. Et volontiers, j\u2019accepterai leur jugement.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Juvenile delinquency on the rise<\/strong>\u00a0<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

A Third Point: <\/strong>We have learnt from different sources that juvenile delinquency has been on the rise. On top of this, school children have taken to skipping schools and that not only boys, but girls as well. The practice of \u201cl\u2019\u00e9cole buissonni\u00e8re\u201d has always existed and so has delinquency, but it is all a question of degree, of intensity and what the youngsters do when they skip schools or when they become delinquents.<\/span><\/p>\n

Who is to be blamed when youngsters turn delinquents? First of all, I will say the authorities, more especially the ministers who have the responsibility to prepare them for their future. Those persons responsible just ape the western world where a different culture prevails and anyway, their method of living is completely different from ours. I am sorry to say that our politicians have no knowledge whatsoever of the very bad influence that they inculcate on our youngsters through their policies which they do not understand at all. I will ask those politicians if they agree with their own policies and if they really bring up their own children according to the policies that they prepare for other children and parents.<\/span><\/p>\n

Who believes that a child cannot be brought in the right path by the use of a ruler, a stick or a slap? Ask any parent if a child can be brought up without a proper \u201ccorrection\u201d? Ask the ministers and others responsible and you will get the answer. Have they ever heard of the locution \u201cspare the rod, spoil the child\u201d? I do not think that they have ever come across this saying, and it is not too late to learn. Let them find out the real meaning and then we can ask them if they agree with this saying.<\/span><\/p>\n

But unfortunately, now we have the rights of the children, sixteen rights, I am told. What about their responsibilities? And then you have people with fat salaries doing just the contrary of what they should be doing. They help children to turn into delinquents because those children have been taught that no one, neither the parents nor the teachers can punish them.<\/span><\/p>\n

More than the authorities, the parents themselves are doing everything possible to give up their responsibilities as parents. It is the duty of the parents to bring up their children as we were brought up and instill some manners as to how they should behave. But nowadays, parents are more concerned to earn as much money as possible and spend them on pleasure activities. Let the children grow up as they will, who cares. This who-cares attitude is prevalent everywhere.<\/span><\/p>\n

Nowadays, both mother and father go to work, they live away from the parents and other relatives and the children are left in the care of the supposed teachers for part of the day. And according to the regulations and the law as well, a teacher is not allowed to use corporal punishment if the children misbehave. If he does so, the law will visit him. In the circumstances, the teachers have given up the duty to punish those pupils who deserve to be punished. After all, the children are left on their own, the law is against well deserved punition be it by the parents or the teachers and at times the parents themselves go against the teachers with violence. In the circumstances, why care for such children, they try to teach them, and that is all.<\/span><\/p>\n

Juvenile delinquency will go on increasing. All because of the lopsided policy of the authorities and because of the could-not-care-less attitude of the parents. I am sorry for our future. And here I am pointing my figures at the Brigade des mineurs, the Children\u2019s Development Unit, the Ministry of Education, the Ministry responsible for family matters and of course the parents, who should bear the greatest responsibility\u2026\u00a0<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Bataille du Vieux Grand Port<\/strong>\u00a0<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

A Fourth Point: <\/strong>Do we have any real historian in Mauritius or are all those who claim to be historians just make-believe historians? These days we are called upon to celebrate the \u201cBataille du Vieux Grand Port\u201d supposed to mark the conquest of our inland by the British from the French.<\/span><\/p>\n

I am told that the English lost the \u201cBataille du Vieux Grand Port\u201d but the war continued. And after some months, the two belligerent nations fought another battle in the northern part of the country. This took place at Montagne Longue-Creve Coeur and the English won. Following this battle, the French had to give up possession of the island and it became a British possession.<\/span><\/p>\n

Indian soldiers fought side by side with the British and they played a major part in the conquest of the country. The Indians of those days and their descendants are proud of the part played by their countrymen in the country in which we live. But more than that, why is it that the Indians have not been given credit for the part they played in the conquest of the country?<\/span><\/p>\n

Should I ask the Minister responsible for the organisation of the \u201ccelebrations\u201d to look into this matter and tell us what is the truth? He can start by looking at the various documents and the research papers of Prahlad Ramsurran, who has done a very good job on the subject.\u00a0<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Prison mutiny<\/strong>\u00a0<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

A Fifth Point: <\/strong>We are sorry that prisoners have caused a riot in the prison at Grand River North West. Who is to be blamed? Definitely not the Police Force, for the sole responsibility should be borne be the Commissioner of Prisons. He has been too soft with those in the Prisons, either on remand or as prisoners. Maybe I will have something to say on this subject later on.<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

* Published in print edition on 1 July 2010<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Points to Ponder<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":198,"featured_media":6560,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[25],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-376","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-politics"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.mauritiustimes.com\/mt\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/12\/MT-Logokk.jpg?fit=1200%2C880&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p8QzSF-64","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mauritiustimes.com\/mt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/376","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mauritiustimes.com\/mt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mauritiustimes.com\/mt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mauritiustimes.com\/mt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/198"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mauritiustimes.com\/mt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=376"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.mauritiustimes.com\/mt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/376\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mauritiustimes.com\/mt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6560"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mauritiustimes.com\/mt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=376"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mauritiustimes.com\/mt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=376"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mauritiustimes.com\/mt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=376"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}