| Ramgoolam has completed the work
started earlier by the founder of Port Louis, Mahé de
Labourdonnais who stills stands facing the harbour he
built and who laid the foundation of successful French
colonialism. Less than a century later, the first British
governor Sir Robert Farquhar brought about the great
reconciliation of the defeated but proud French
colonialists who became the sugar oligarchy and the
virtual rulers of this country, holding all the reins of
power - economic, administrative, cultural, social and
political. However, Remy Ollier, a young liberal
journalist had a tough time struggling for the civil
liberties of the Coloured population. The ex-slaves found
a spiritual champion in Père Laval, the dedicated
Christian missionary and saintly figure. Another great
champion of human rights was Adolphe de Plevitz who stood
up for the rights of the oppressed Indian immigrants
against the exploiting class of sugar owners who treated
the docile Indians as beasts of burden and as their
slaves.
In the
1930’s came Dr Curé and Emmanuel Anquetil who
founded the Labour Party and the trade union movement in
Mauritius and thus paved the way for the emancipation of
the working classes. But still, this country would have
been torn apart and lagging far behind had it not been
for the emergence of Sir Seewoosagur Ramgoolam, 1900-85,
who stands out among the great nation builders of the
world in the wake of Gandhi, Nehru, Mao Tse Tung of
this century. As the father of the nation, the
philosopher statesman and first Prime Minister,
Ramgoolam has not only liberated the country but has
invested it with strong democratic, institutional and
infrastructural foundations that have stood the test of
time. Today, Mauritius counts among the few and rare
free, democratic, peaceful and prosperous countries in
the Indian Ocean and African region, a model to the rest
of the world.
SELECTED
SPEECHES OF SIR SEWOOSAGUR RAMGOOLAM.
|
