On the 12th of March 1968 at 12.00 am at the Champ de Mars, the Union Jack was hoisted down to be replaced by the four-coloured Mauritian flag - red, blue, yellow & green. Red symbolises the struggle for Independence, Blue reflects colour of the Indian Ocean, Yellow for the bright future of Mauritius & Green represents the lush vegetation of our country.
Mauritius was hence declared to be an independent nation & the Prime Ministership was handed down by Sir John Shaw Rennie to the Father of the Nation, Sir Seewoosagar Ramgoolam.
At that time, the British Empire was crumbling down & its satellite states all over the world were demanding independence. In such a difficult climate, the nation was deeply divided over the issue of Independence. Ethnic tensions were blatant. Minorities & oligarchs feared that the Hindu majority will usurp power after Independence & will throw everyone out (like in Zimbabwe).The August 1967 elections were decisive - the Independence Party (Labour, IFB & CAM) won 54% of the vote & Sir Seewoosagar Ramgoolam could continue on the path towards independence.
& would you believe it that 44% of the people had voted against independence in the decisive August 1967 elections! Even then, independence came at the price of the excision of the Chagos Archipelagos.
When Mauritius got its independence, future Nobel laureates Prof. Mead & V.S. Naipaul unequivocally declared that Mauritius was a disaster in making. Four decades later, we are now one of the most developed nations of Africa & a role model for economic success.
It required enormous courage to implement the necessary reforms that brought Mauritius to this stage today. But, Sir Seewoosagar Ramgoolam was a true visionary - free education, free healthcare, road infrastructure & the textile industry are some of his major achievements. We are a democratic country, among the least corrupt & the most developed in Africa & our multi-ethnic society lives in harmony.If we weren’t an independent country today, you wouldn’t be here reading this. I just can’t imagine in what state the country would have been…
However, we are once again facing the same problems that plagued our country in the pre-Independence era - crime, corruption, unemployment & poverty. The sugar & textile industry are no longer viable. Global food shortage & rising oil prices are threatening the population with double-digit inflation. Another economic “miracle” is a necessity. Can we realize it? I believe in the future. I believe in our nation. Yes, we can!
Long live Mauritius!
