Paradise has slipped into a spirally downward trend of unethical practices...

I read your letter with sadness but with great comfort. I was sad to read that our Paradise has slipped into a spirally downward trend of unethical practices and crimes but derived a lot of comfort that we have people of your stature and courage to talk about it openly. I know there are thousands of Mauritians who feel exactly as you do but have not conquered their fear to talk about it openly.

Mauritians inside Mauritius are very frightened to talk about our dismal predicament as reprisals are not unknown. The fear of losing jobs and property are very real. Every year when I am in Mauritius, I find people slightly more vulnerable, reticent and in fear of the Ramgoolam regime. Our brethren have yet to conquer their own fear that Egyptians have. I am not suggesting a revolution at all but a transition to democracy because it is the ingrained regime of corruption, nepotism, cronyism and sheer blatant religion prejudice perpetuated by self-centred politicians to further their own interest. It is no longer the personalities but it is the system. A rotten system has been in existence for the last 50 years where the inside circle has amassed incredible wealth, power, influence and arrogance. This inside circle should be dismantled. We all know who the inside circle are. All permanent secretaries, hierarchy of the police force and the army, bunch of
advisors and a harem of corrupt politicians should be retired and banned from political activities. This is the top brass of our society which is corrupt to the core and cannot be rehabilitated to provide a decent public service (remember what the brave custom officer from Canada said). Our people must wake up and learn that the apple is rotten from inside outward. There is something very wrong at the heart of our system of governing and the fear of the governed. Your letter raises concerns in a reflective manner but underlines our troubles in no uncertain terms. I find your letter frank, sincere and troubling.

Fear has a disabling impact on the growth and development of a population. It kills development discourse. This same line of analysis dominates and suppresses the demand for democracy, justice, social justice and reform. People who can overcome this institutionalised fear ask for fairness openly, ask for better living conditions for their children and everybody else. Mauritius has a tsunami of fear. Working class (middle class are no better) dare not say anything out of place because they fear local politicians, agents, cronies and coler l'affiche. Last Sunday, an ordinary Mauritian complained on air Koze do mo pep that following his expose on this radio programme (TOP FM) he was visited by a local politician threatening him with secret police (NIU) raid in his house. You may not know it (I think you do) but there is a concerted but subtle institutionalised amoebic movement to instil fear into our people. Confronting fear is difficult for our people
because it affects our daily bread which is hard to secure as it is. Fear is increasingly shifting to the centre of the argument in explaining the shift in the gravity of economic growth especially our reliance on tourism with the tragic death of Michaela Harte. While the fear factor rises dramatically in our society (especially at night, self-imposed curfew), the decline in our unethical practices, selfishness and arrogance (recall what is happening at the MBC) will be even faster in the youger segment of our brittle society.

Your Reverend, I share your concerns and the solutions you propose. I believe religion is a way of life and it is about living. Politics is about living too. Therefore, I uphold religious leaders to express their views and solutions as you have rightly done. I hope and pray your open letter is seen as a contribution. My contribution is that we should help and empower our people to overcome their fear of their own elected representatives. It is time that people realise we are the boss. Our needs are important, our children's future is important and our existence must be more focussed towards enabling people and not disabling them with institutional fear. It can all be so different with a transition to fairness and better sharing of the wealth which can cause images of a decent future to flash through people's minds. This is the intangible enlightened Mauritianism that we should inculcate in our children from birth as it might take a few generations in
Mauritius to march for freedom, fairness and a new constitution to shift dynastic politics. Bit by bit, we should push the limits of enlightened Mauritianism while we hack away the ruling class which includes the capital-holding groups financing the political parties to sugjugate the wider population. Enough is enough, if not we will fall off the cliff. Forget being punished by the secret police. People have to seek a fairer world otherwise we will only be wading into muddier world of cronyism, corruption, nepotism with our young people forced into antisocial behaviour, drugs, prostitution, crimes and unethical living.

I hope your letter is a springboard for constructive actions by those responsible for shaping our society. This is not just the government but the governed too has a major responsibility. Will Mauritians rise to assume their responsibility? Time will tell. I am an eternal optimist.

Respectfully,

Taleb