EDITOR'S NOTE: THE MAURITIAN DREAM
At the doorstep of general elections in Mauritius it is very important for politicians to focus on unity as the wealth of a nation, to foster ideas that will send the country into the next era of peace and prosperity and to comply to a code of conduct that remains a pride for people. Above all, everything that is being preached today should remain the benchmark for practice tomorrow. Please find some tenets for best practices:
Duty, Honor, Country: Present times do not call for ambivalence in choice of directions. The Mauritian people is at the crossroads of continued progress. Any directional choice should be one of reason and not of emotion. One's choice should be one which reasserts unity and not division , respect to the fundamentals of not only the economy but also of society, not only of modernity but also of tradition, not only change but also of continuum. No one should cloak oneself in the garb of messiah for economic transition and economic prosperity. The vehicle of change for economic resurrection rests on the people, on every single citizen and every single family with vision to rise above sheer materialistic consideration for utilitarian happiness. Mauritius does not live by bread alone. Whilst home, clothes and bread are of prime consideration , equally important are societal conditions, norms, values, ethics, law and order, protection of the environment, the elderly, social welfare, education and so many issues that warrant internal stability within our own society. It will be simplistic to exercise a vote merely on economic considerations.
It has been a tradition for politicians to address the great Mauritian Nation during these testing times with more of the same rhetoric. Everyday you hear more of the same rhetoric. It is time to raise the level of thinking and the ways of doing. The continued bashing of those who had courage to stand for truth must stop , otherwise history will dump the offenders in the Augias stable for good and they will extracted as skeletons in the museum of the future. All citizens are patriots elected by the will of god to protect the country and they will not shirk away from that supreme responsibility. Mauritius says no to every one who joins the bashing of leaders who served this great land, irrespective of their affiliation.
The priority of today is how to better manage the economy tomorrow.The economy will be better managed by sacred union and unity of purpose. The economy will be best managed by a new wave of confidence which has been lost owing to the negativity unleashed diagonally by opinion leaders and some birds of ill omen. The economy will be best managed by an ounce of sacrifice from one and all- and ounce that will yield tons of confidence, thus opening the gateway for a new beginning.
Do not abdicate. Our duty is to honour our country. “Duty, honour and country” should remain our intestinal rally to enable us to step up courage where courage seems to have failed, to fortify faith for a better future and to strengthen hope where hope has been lost.
“Duty, honour and country”-these words will fortify us as guardians and custodians of the welfare of this nation. They will teach us more meaningfully in situations of failure, and will prompt us all to be humble in success, not to trade empty words for concrete actions, emotion for reason, and not to walk on the path of solicitude and insolent power when challenges of day to day existence rise up.
Remember - our duty is to give our country the honour it deserves. In exercising their duty citizens will not let the country melt in ignominy. The political class must, therefore, harness themselves with magnificence to champion lost causes, to face a global world where the one and only constancy is change, to stand up in storms and to rise in tempests.
For centuries this nation has defended, guarded, and protected the sacred traditions of liberty and freedom, of righteousness and justice. Voices of the immediate and greater wilderness and of the inner and outer society will continue to differ on the merits or demerits of past and present administration; our strength is being sapped by global financial crisis, by power groups grown too mighty, by decaying morals, but all these will not stop us from cherishing the guiding principles of existence, i.e,Duty, Honor, Country.
Before exercising a vote on in the next elections in Mauritius,remember to put the destiny of this great nation in the hands of the wise, of those who can sustain deepest wounds and scars, those who can find solutions on multiple fronts, those who can distinguish a ray of sunshine from a patch of clouds and those who would not let you down in times of trouble. In so doing you will rekindle Mauritius into a land of million smiles, and people will have a new twinkle in their eyes, a glow on their face and a renewed confidence for a new beginning. This is what your Mauritian Dream should be.
MOHIT MADAN, M.A Sociology
