IT is a depressing thought that 46 years after the Independence of the country the song that was aired ad nauseam over the radio and other media was this : ‘‘donn to la main, pran mo la main, la main, etc… anou batir nation mauricien’’. One would have thought that the construction of the nation would have been completed given that two generations have come since March 12,1968. While it is undeniable that progress has been achieved in infrastructure and services, the same cannot be said for the sense of belonging to a nation. True it is that the Mauritian passport is used by all Mauritians but the passport does not construct a nation by virtue of its utilitarian character. Hands have been given, hands have been taken and hands have been held together as well but the construction of the nation has not happened. Will it ever happen ? What goes into the construction of a nation is a commitment to universal values and ownership.

The electoral system with its continuing attachment to candidates having to declare their ‘community’ has perpetuated this communal division which is anti-nation building. This is why we have ministers in this ‘plaisir’ country who profess to be ministers for their community in priority to being a minister for all Mauritians. The harsh reality that we confront daily is that ministers who act in this way get away with it. Their conduct is taken as the acceptable norm when the ‘normal’ norm should be to condemn.

History will have to pass judgments on many utterances of politicians both prior and post independence. For example statements of the PMSD that ‘‘malbar nou pa oule’’ and ‘‘lanvlop nou pa oule’’ still resonate in people’s memories. The racial riots of 1968 have left deep scars and not much has been done in terms of nation-building to wipe off those memories. In more recent times statements like ‘‘sak Zako protez so montayn’’ have done immeasurable harm to the process of nationhood. Pronouncements like ‘‘pouvoir pe sap dan nou la main’’ and ‘‘intellectuellement limite’’ have not helped.

The present political environment has instilled in the minds of those who wear red and who gravitate in and around the corridors and doors of power that the country is theirs to do with it whatever they want. This approach to public life which borders on a certainty of impunity is manna to those who militate against a sense of ownership by all in the nation. This is on account of the fact that the nation is broken up into apartheid-style components. The public service belongs to one category and the private sector to another group. This is apartheid-Mauritian style.

Meritocracy, competence, equality of opportunity, integrity, pride in belonging to this nation are words emptied of all content. The general sentiment which prevails today is one of despondency and resignation as people believe that nothing will change and no one can bring changes.

The Prime Minister was right when he said that the Constitution must be overhauled and modernized. But he has a more important task and that is to assure people that they are all equal and enjoy equal rights.

To the young Mauritian who wants to escape to other climes, my appeal is this: do stay and put a stop to the export of Mauritian brain. It can be done. We can make it.