The six demands of Père Grégoire: Myopia and political correctness in place of reality.
- By R.A.J. (guest)
- Published 6th May, 2008
'Ye
shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free'. The
Gospel of John, 8:32
The annual May Day nonsense is
thankfully over and the country is still marveling at the desecration of our
environment by politicians whose environmentalist credentials are limited to
asking each other, 'Have you seen the film, An inconvenient truth?'. Shockingly
repellent posters and lurid banners displayed so shamelessly in public areas
will now find their way to Mare Chicose at a fraction of the speed it took to
paste them all over the island. The main political parties will argue
vociferously over their share of the 25,000 people who bothered to turn up to
listen to the noisy damnations and imprecations of their opponents. 25,000 out
of a population of 1.2 millions! And our leaders are so intelligent that they
cannot see the absurd ludicrousness of fighting to claim any credit for being
able to lure a fraction of 2% of the entire population to spend a couple of
hours with them…Never has the humble briani looked so unappetizing and
uninviting!
The speeches followed the pattern I predicted in last week's paper. Ramgoolam screamed about the incompetence of the MMM/MSM government and called Berenger the most incompetent minister of finance in history; he mentioned Illovo but once again forgot to mention any sanctions against the irregularities he claims existed in that deal. He has now adopted a new phrase in his repertoire, zot dal pa pou cui ar moi, a rather unfortunate choice of words bearing in mind the price and quality of lentils these days…Berenger continued to play the blushing bride, and is apparently waiting for more clamour from his assorted band of militants koltar and gormless opportunists in order to 'reluctantly' put himself forward as our next prime minister. True to form, he was responsible for the most stupid prediction of the day and rather carelessly prognosticated that Ramgoolam will not be Prime Minister in a year's time. He really ought to change those tea leaves, as all his forecasts have the same degree of accuracy as those people whispering furtively in each other's ears about the winner of the next race at the Champ de Mars…and then coming up with all manners of excuses for not noticing that his 'winning' horse was really a donkey. Pravind Jugnauth revealed his latest weapon, and shimmering visions of SAJ on horseback galloping in the hot midday sun to rescue Paradise Island only served to make very unflattering comparisons between the father's political acumen and the son's naivety and immaturity.
There was however a bigger manifestation of support and enthusiasm at a rally held at the stadium that bears the name of our erstwhile King Creole; and a new King Creole was hoisted high on the shoulders of his supporters and entered the stadium like a pop star surrounded by muscle bound, unsmiling individuals wearing the inevitable dark glasses presumably to emphasise their toughness. Pere Gregoire gave a virtuoso performance and enthralled the adoring masses with a vision of the Promised Land. Unfortunately, he failed to provide the details that would make his vision remotely attainable. We had a list of six demands, a pot pourri of plain common sense and eminently sensible proposals, and intellectual myopia coupled with wishful thinking that draws its inspiration more from populism than reality.
Last Saturday's editorial in Le Mauricien gave a cogent analysis of those six demands and found two to be assez farfelues and one to beexecrable. Let us look at each of these demands and ask ourselves whether wearing blinkers is the most appropriate way to address the severe problems that our Creole compatriots face:
1/ Amending the constitution so that 'General Population' is replaced by 'Creoles'. Do we then, in the interests of fairness and equity, create other groups to reflect the religious and linguistic characteristics of the other disparate groups that form the 'Rainbow nation'? Shouldn't the constitution be also amended to include whites, Buddhists, those of Chinese origin, those of the Ba'hai faith, those of Asian origin who have now joined the 'Missions', the many milates who do not want to be referred to as creoles, etc, as separate groups ? And why should ethnicity be derived exclusively from religion in this secular democracy? What about atheists, agnostics, and those who believe that religion is a unifying force rather than a cause of blind fanaticism? Surely a true Christian spirit would instead ask for all ethnic categories to be removed from the constitution so that it truly reflects the hopes and aspirations of only one group of people: Mauritians. If we are all children of God, why is God's representative so keen to entrench the divisions in our society by appearing to want to help a set group of people only?
2/ 35% of Civil Service posts to be reserved for Creoles. I do not wish to labour this point and it would be sufficient for me here to quote the unarguable logic of Saturday's editorial: "En admettant que ceux que Jocelyn Grégoire et ses amis veulent transformer en fonctionnaires aient toutes les qualifications requises par les diverses Service Commissions, il resterait encore à s'assurer, sur la base de quelque 80 000 emplois publics, qu'on trouve bien 28 000 créoles disposés à occuper ces postes." The editorial rightly points to Chapter 2, Section 16 of the Constitution which states that "...no law shall make any provision that is discriminatory either of itself or in its effect" and helpfully describes discriminatory as "affording different treatment to different persons attributable wholly or mainly to their respective descriptions by race, caste, place of origin, political opinions, colour, creed or sex whereby persons of one such description are… accorded privileges or advantages that are not accorded to persons of another such description. What exactly is pere Gregoire suggesting? That we should sack 28,000 current civil servants and replace them with a similar number of Creoles, irrespective of their qualifications? Or should we resolve the problem by simply creating an extra 28,000 posts? Pere Gregoire really ought to know better than using the scandalous treatment of Deputy Commissioner Jean Bruneau as his hobby horse for propagating views that are not only dangerous but intellectually and factually incoherent. That is what politicians do, and yet he keeps reminding us that he has no intentions whatsoever of becoming one…
3/ Recognition of creole as an official language. There is nothing intrinsically wrong with this demand and the one thing that unifies all of us should indeed have its proper status recognized. But there is a world of difference between making this demand and then linking it to the low academic achievements of the creole population. No such links have ever been conclusively proven and the evidence is very patchy to say the least. Perhaps it might be helpful to remind people that academic success is largely dependent on many other variables, and the language medium of teaching is an infinitesimal part of it. How could we otherwise explain the fact that Chinese and Indian students in the U.K. achieve outstanding levels of success in all areas of British education even when their mother tongue is anything but English? Have a look at the success rate of foreign students in French, German, Italian, American, Canadian, Australian, etc universities and you will see that the children of immigrants with a rudimentary grasp of the official language in these countries have no problems achieving excellent results. But it has become fashionable to state that the poor academic results of Creole students are entirely due to the fact that they are not taught in creole. Pray, tell me then, how come the sons and daughters of the local Chinese shopkeeper don't have this problem? How come the children of Indian labourers who speak bhojpuri and creole at home manage to overcome this so called handicap? How come the offspring of the Imam or someone working hard in Arab town end up becoming doctors, lawyers etc when they too speak either Urdu or creole at home?
All these merchants of false dreams ought to take a break from the political correctness that prevents them from seeing the real cause of the problem of low academic achievement. I will have a bit more respect for them when they start encouraging parents to take a far greater interest in the education of their children, adopt a higher sense of responsibility in their role as parents, and put their children at the top of their list of priorities. And they could do worse than condemning the real cancer at the heart of our education system: private tuition. How can poor kids have an equal start in life when they see their friends completing the syllabus in the teacher's garage? How can poor parents look after their children properly when a substantial portion of their wages is given every month to teachers for doing what they are handsomely paid to do in the classroom?
4/ Better representation of Creoles in parliament. I could not agree more with this demand. The various 'King Creoles' we have had so far have done nothing but fill their own pockets and those of their friends, whilst exploiting ethnicity for purely electoral purposes. How come the constituency of Black River/ Savanne has no Creole representative? What about Roche Bois? Is ethnic profiling supposed to cater for Moslems and the various castes of Hindus only? It is an absolute disgrace and the chap who invented the term 'scientific communalism' ought to be slapped a few times so that he stops treating us as imbeciles.
5/ An independent Commission of Inquiry on land theft, otherwise known as 'prescription'. The only people who can object to that are the thieves who have exploited the gullibility and innocence of the victims.
6/ Une ecole de la deuxieme chance. Pere Gregoire should go further than this and demand that the ludicrous requirement for 'O' and 'A' level and S.C. and H.S.C. grades to be obtained at one sitting be consigned to the elitist dustbin that it rightly belongs to. And workers who want to better themselves by gaining more qualifications ought to be granted day/evening release by their employers when required and without any consequential loss of their employment privileges.
It is good that someone has managed to galvanise the Creole population to the extent where they don't need free transport and brianis to attend a meeting in such vast numbers. But Gregoire is doing them a grave disservice by making demands that are both grotesque and impractical. The fact that Berenger has opportunistically claimed that "Nou associé nous pleinement à sa banne revendication-là" ought to, from experience, indicate to him that most, if not all, of them will never become reality. Ramgoolam's support of these demands again confirms the fact that our politicians will say anything to obtain power…
I really hope that Pere Gregoire will use the support he plainly enjoys from the Creole community in a constructive and practical manner. He should translate that support into a frank and honest discussion about the failings of that community and encourage some introspection into the level of criminality that seems to be afflicting a substantial number of our Creole youngsters. Turning a blind eye to these real problems and encouraging the culture of learned helplessness that has held them back for far too long by making outrageous demands is perpetuating a blame mentality that never sees one's own fault.
I am sure Pere Gregoire can see the truth and reality in this line from The New Testament: "Let them alone: they be blind leaders of the blind. And if the blind lead the blind, both shall fall into the ditch."
R.A.J.
Email: servipei@yahoo.com
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10 Responses to "The six demands of Père Grégoire: Myopia and political correctness in place of reality." 
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said this on 10 May 2008 9:56:24 PM MUT
Did you ever heard about Fort Elmina on the coast of Ghana ,a secret witness ,also called the Gold Coast, African King were selling the slaves and the Ashanti and Dahomey.
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said this on 08 May 2008 8:20:29 PM MUT
I fully appreciate the article of R A J. Mauritius is a peaceful country. We should reject calls from any would be demagogue to overtun all our future aspirations.That priest is doing more harm than good to the creole community.He should instead teach the community how to struggle and not to act as parasite to any government or institution whatsoever.
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said this on 08 May 2008 6:32:19 PM MUT
Just a few observations to leave on the floor for further expert dissection.
1. Gregoire's US lobbying training and style - What works in the US may not be a WINNING formula for other countries. True his approach is very Americanised, very mega- church assembly, tele-evangelical and the lot. And why not? 2. As many of you have recognised, the community in question, has been left behind ( literally for dead as a community) in all spheres of community progress- education, social,financial and equally important they are also excluded in the political games for all intents and purposes. At best they are or have been the Depot fixe of one or two political parties, historically. 3. We all agree that no country can prosper in the long term if a segment of the population is condemned to such marginalisation. Here I have in mind, the link between unemployment, crimes, alcoholism, imprisonment, family breakdown, single parenting, school truancy, incomplete schooling, under educational achievement, and I can go on and on. But the point is made. 4. Life is all about competing and survival and very little about caring and even less humanism, I am afraid to concede. But if that is so, the least we should fight for, should be to ensure that the competition is FAIR AND JUST. But nowhere is that so. THE PLAYING FIELD IS NOT LEVEL AT ALL BY A HUGE MARGIN. 5. In fact I draw an analogy as follows: where all of us – sont sur la piste de Champs de Mars derrieres les Starting stalls, deciding which race to take part in, the Maiden Cup or some other less prized sixth or seventh race. As always there will be ONE winner in each race, and quite often the winner is a complete outsider. At least , all the horses took part. At least on paper each one of them had a chance of winning. Oh yes I forget this is Mauritius, I should take into consideration the doping and other race fixing element in my analogy! 6. But where are the community in question , let alone they are NOT sur la piste du depart , they are nowhere near Champ de Mars. They are not even in the paddocks or stables. Let alone winning the race, they will never even finish last simply because they are not in the race at all. I am not sure they are mere spectators or hanging around Bookmakers – oh, but that is another debate. 7. Now back to reality, in my humble opinion there are a combination of factors responsible to explain the predicaments of the said community. Notice that up to Now I have not used the term creoles to refer to the Community in question. I will explain why later, if you bear with me for a while. 8. The reasons are ; Not necessarily in any order: (A) CONSEQUENCES OF SLAVERY PRACTICES, (B) DEMORALISATION OF THE COMMUNITY AS WHOLE, (C) COMPLETE DESTRUCTION OF ASPIRATIONS, (D) INABILITY TO ORGANISE AS A COMMUNITY DUE TO THE DEMORALISATION PROCESS, (E) LIFESTYLE THAT WAS NOT CONDUCIVE TO PROGRESS, (F) VICTIMS OF RACISM AND DISCRIMINATIONS, BOTH FROM OTHER COMMUNITIES BUT SIGNIFICANTLY FROM WITHIN AS WELL. (G) STIGMATISATION FOR BEING WHO THEY ARE AND HOW THE LOOK, (H) INABILITY TO CONFORM TO THE EUROCENTRIC MODEL FOR PROGRESS. (I) IN FACT TURNING TO THE EUROCENTRIC MODEL WAS ALSO THE CAUSE OF THEIR DILEMMA. (J) FROM COLONIAL MASTERS TO CHURCH MASTERS- SLAVERY OF A SUTLE FORM (K) ETC, ETC 9. THE WHOLE CURRENT DEBATE IS ABOUT WHETHER YOU AGREE OR DISAGREE WITH THE ABOVE. 10. We are witnessing a Pick and Choose exercise. 11. We should remember that at the time of the abolition of slavery, the PLAYING FIELD DID NOT BECOME LEVEL AT ALL. SLAVERY PERSIST IN ALL SHAPES AND FORMS AND TOOK A LEGAL FACE. SLAVES BECOME NENENES ETC. 12. The term Creole- this is very misleading and is a Red-herring in my view,. Reference to 35 % of the Population is also misleading and will not serve the interest of the Creoles that Gregoire is claiming to defend. 13. Creoles as a generic term were never a MONOLITHIC group, ethically, racially or religiously speaking. 14. Just check the raging debate going on among the large Mauritian population in Australia. Many of them object to be classified as Creoles if the term has an African connotation. This is what the rest of us know as La Malaise creole, described by Fr Gregoire in terms of the sub-divisions of the community as Ti Creoles, Grand creoles, Demi clay, Mulates etc etc. 15. In light of the above, Fr Gregoire would serve his cause better by dropping his demand for a new classification for the General population. This in itself will be a big detractor for him from the most important task of guiding his followers towards lifestyles that are geared towards individual and community progress. Above all, he will never get consensus among the GP. 16. He is yet to convince me that with a different classification from GP, suddenly the creoles will fare better in society. There is no link, in as much as I can gather, between how you are classified under the constitution and the progress or failure you encounter in society. At least on paper, the Constitution does not guarantee any special treatment or quotas for the Hindu majority. If at all, Hindus as a community derives benefit of some kind don’t blame the constitution, blame the corrupted political machinery. 17. During the mid eighties, at the peak of the so-called Aneerood economical miracle, another minority, namely the Muslims complained being singled out for discriminations by the then administration. Several highly qualified Cadres migrated to Canada. Now under a different administration, that same Muslim community feel otherwise. I won’t go as far as saying they are getting preferential treatment, it is good enough and important that there is no perception of being discriminated. The point is : under both administrations, they were classified as Muslims in the Constitution. 18. Prior to Independence, up to the late sixties, guess who were the ELITES of the country, they hail from the General population. Most teachers, top civil servants in most ministries, most bank Managers ( still are) , most head of departments in the private sector were from the General Population. Ironically then, the Hindu community were asking for quotas in the Civil service. History has a funny way of repeating itself. Late sixties and early seventies, most of these Elites left for Australia. That is another hot potato. 19. When they left they created a big vacuum in one than ways. The nice daughter of the Creole Police officer was thus deprived of the Young dashing MCB bank Clerk who had moved to Australia. Thus the massive GP migration to Australia causes a serious blow to the Social Class mobility of the GP. 20. What is needed, in my view, is to inculcate even to an obsessive level and zeal, that Fr Gregoire is too familiar, a belief in investing in education at all level. We have heard very little of this. I dare say, that the Creoles in the Cites, in my book, a big chunk of them, do not believe in education, perhaps as a result of generational discriminations, hence if all of us could give a helping hand, to reverse this trend, the country as a whole will gain. |
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said this on 08 May 2008 7:13:14 AM MUT
What I have read so far is a series of patronising elitist statements on opportunity and race relations. But my dear friends, creole people could not care less. Decent education, decent housing, and respect from the other members of society are what they are asking for.
So far, even if they have not earned respect from their peers, they have successfully instigated enough fear for people to start listening to them. Gregoire attracts so much attention because people are scared of his power. Capturing the attention and may be controlling a population otherwise deemed sheepish on one day and or uncontrollable on the other day is his best achievement. So far, he has been effective in channelling resentment into prayers and peaceful meetings. This is why people should be happy that Gregoire is doing what he is doing even though his style and requests rubs us the wrong way. However, even Gregoire will one day lose his control should at least some of the demands not be met. If I was Government, I would start by meeting the most responsible ones like access to a fairer education even of that means creating another system within the system. A high fail rate in the education system, not diversity within the system, eventually fuels division in society. Regarding the more irresponsible demands, there are high chances that they can be monitored. It is up to political leaders to engage into dialogue and negotiate some kind or arrangement. Gregoire is not stubborn ideologists like Mario Flore. He is a professional lobbyist trained in a country where lobbies are more powerful than political parties. He knows that lobbying entails negotiation and giving away some requests to make sure the others move forward. He will bend when need be. Provided there is some evidence of progress in some areas or course. Gregoire means business in his endeavour to follow up on requests. If governments react as they did in the past, tempering requests at first and then allowing things to die down peacefully, then things might turn sour. And even Gregoires charisma might prove ineffective. |
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said this on 07 May 2008 8:08:15 PM MUT
R.A.J is just a nutter, who seizes the opportunity to glamourise himself as a writer who rambles on and on. No one can write anything better than him. He is larger than life. Quite frankly, he is a very frustrated individual who can't make anything right in life and so hide in his insecurity by using initials which are baseless and meaningless.
Come on Mr. R.A.J, why such anonymity?? |
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said this on 07 May 2008 6:38:41 PM MUT
In a time when most communities are identifying themselves with political parties that seem to be representing and/or defending their values, the need for a figure like Pere Gregoire does exist indeed. If we go back in history, we will realise and accept that the Creole Community in Mauritius is about two generations behind, in terms of social, cultural, educational and financial development, as opposed to other well established communities. The irony is that the Creole Community has been in Mauritius well before any of the well-to-do communities. The next question should be, why are they in such a situation? Again, one has to look back in time to find the answers. Apart for the Creole Community, every single ethnic community that has made it to the shore of Mauritius has done so by their own free will. And of course, for one to leave their homeland and the safety/security of their well-established country, one has to be motivated by the prospect of materialistic gains, which it usually a reason good enough to sacrifice the advantages mentioned above. In the case of our compatriots (Creole), it was not a question of wants or even needs but a question of force. Once the former colonial power had realised that the Creole Community were not cost effective anymore, they were abandoned in favour of the indentured labourers, who were going to be paid, no matter how little, for their sweat. The ancestors of the Creole Community had the pain of witnessing a different community being paid to do jobs that they were previously being force to do without any remuneration at all. They were not even considered for these jobs. Hence, the need to become fishermen, etc. The Creole Community has been playing catching with other communities since. They need as much help and encouragement as possible. In order to build a strong nation, every single community within that nation has to be given the change to start on par. If Pere Gregoire’s idea is to equip the Creole to get to at least on the par status, then he should be encouraged and his ideology should be promoted by one and all. Finally, if, as a society we can tolerate the existence of a Cehl Meeah or a group like VOH, which, by the way, the author thinks should not exist, then we can surely, as a nation, see the need for a Pere Gregoire. One should be able to be objective and accept that a wrong was done and it should be cured.
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said this on 06 May 2008 8:32:46 PM MUT
Dear R.A.J,
So what's the next step after Pere Gregoire? Let me propose this: How about the Muslims, Tamils, Telegus, Marathis, Chinese, and whites having each a 'King' to fight for their 'shares'. Or even better: How about each religion living in a different district? And how about the hindus having a 'King' for each castes? Wonderful Mauritius! This will make lots of kings and all mauritians will live happily ever after! Cannot dream of a better way to divide mauritians! What is the problem with the creoles in Mauritius? Apartheid? We all came to Mauritius as slaves and we all had access to education. He who made necessary efforts succeeded. This phenomenon of the african population in lots of countries in the world is the same. Why is it that in the US most of the population living in the poorest areas, in slums, are of african origin? May be Pere Gregoire can answer this for me. All this fuss about creoles is a big joke. Lots of creoles succeeded within our population and achieved very good positions and have proved excellency in different fields. They worked hard to achieve this. So Pere Gregoire please ask your people to stop crying and to wake up. There is only hard work and discipline that can help. You do not need an MBA or PHD to succeed in life. A good mason or carpenter can also be a prosperous business man. I can still remember after completing my studies, of the different attempts I made to join the private sector in Mauritius and I was rejected each time. At that time you needed a recommendation from the church or from the rector of a 'St' college. I should not be the only one in this case. And I have never seen any comment about this anywhere. But I did not spend my life crying about it! I looked towards the future and there were lots of avenues opened to me. All my friends who completed their studies secured a job irrespective of their religion. I do not recall anyone among them being penalised because of his name. There are so many mauritians of good faith in every religion and who have at heart the dream to see a better Mauritius tomorrow. The idea that a part of the population has been 'sacrificed' does no more stand and can only bring more misunderstanding and division and encourages a sad reasoning for some of them. You are a man of religion Pere Gregoire. Your role is to unite us all. I believe in you although I am a hindu. And I believe in all these people who are looking in the same direction just to make Mauritius a better place to live for us as real mauritians. |
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said this on 06 May 2008 8:31:36 PM MUT
R.A.J, just wait and watch how many people will respond to your lon winded essay on this subject matter. I am sure the general population of Mauritius are no fools. They pretend to be fools when they vote at the general elections. Everyone has his motives and everything has a sellby date or useby date. I am sure that mauritians are more educated in making informed choices. At the same time mauritians are unique in their ways of thinking and behaving. It is a culture on its own. Culture is also NOT static. It changes through the process struggles in life.
Do not expect those who have struggled and strived hard to achieve what they have to just give away their contributions so easily. Pere Gregoire should really gets his facts and stop making such folly. I seriously believe that the community that probably think they are lagging behind MUST look and learn from others in order to feel and to be treated as equals. Gregoire's has probably done an awekening call to a section of the community BUT at the same time addedd fuel to communal disharmony. Jumping on the bandwagon, as much as it may sound the "feel GOOD" factor, this I am afraid is NOT the solution to Mauritian Society. |
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said this on 06 May 2008 5:47:01 PM MUT
The inconvenient truth about prescription should be brought to the limelight and all the names revealed.
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said this on 06 May 2008 1:48:44 PM MUT
His funding is coming from ..., he is not helping the creole population, he wants to be a one man show, sad to see that some seem to be listening to him, he is full of nonsense.
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