Professor Basdeo Bissoondoyal :Fight for dignity of the masses In 1947, Basdeo, helped by Sookdeo, put up their most momentous fight to vindicate the self-respect of descendants of Indian immigrants. One of the popular events of the season for horse racing, well established in Mauritius, was called “Les courses Malabar.” The term Malabar (or western coast of Kerala, South India, from where workers, mostly Christian, came to Mauritius in the 1730s) was used derogatorily to make a laughing stock of Indo-Mauritians, especially labourers to whom the sugar magnates gave a day off to come to Champ de Mars. Basdeo and Sookdeo toured the island to explain to the people that their dignity was being trampled upon. The boycott on September 6, 1947 was a resounding success. The pejorative label “les courses malabar” is no longer used. The first major political change was introduced in 1948, entitling anybody, male or female, aged 21 years and above, who could pass a simple test (sign his/her name) in any language in use in the country, to vote. Supported by his followers and students, Basdeo contributed largely to enable Indian immigrants’ descendants to become electors through the knowledge, however elementary, of Hindi, Marathi, Tamil, Telugu and Urdu. For the first time in Mauritius, following the 1948 general elections, a majority of the elected members (11 out of 19) of national legislative body was of Indian origin. The Bissondoyals soon had their own press. Their Zamana (1948-77), or The Times, was a fortnightly in English, French and Hindi, sometimes also partly in Tamil and Marathi, which also promoted Hinduism. They had published Sangram (The Struggle) and Sainik (The Soldier).
Posted on: Thu, 26 Jun 2014 20:21:02 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015