Open Letter to the Prime Minister : Responsibility to Protect the Sons and Daughters of the Soil

Sheila Bunwaree

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Nishal Joyram’s Hunger Strike entered the 22nd day with perhaps irreversible damage done to his health. What Nishal is fighting for, the fall in fuel prices, is not a personal issue but one which can impact positively the lives of many fellow citizens who are struggling to make ends meet, particularly in these very challenging times. Persistent high fuel prices will only exacerbate the existing inflationary crisis. Nishal and some others have seen the interconnectedness. Talking to people on the ground makes one realise how difficult it has become for families to lead a decent life. Many poor and middle class families have become victims of your government’s inhumane and inappropriate policies. Some fellow citizens have said it before:  the unnecessary taxes on petroleum prices can and must be removed. No argument from the government can justify these taxes being maintained. It is the responsibility of any government to protect the sons and daughters of the soil. The right to life is a fundamental human right. When a fellow citizen such as Nishal risks his life in the name of energy and fiscal justice for all, YOU as the PM have no right to be indifferent. You, your acolytes and some others benefiting from the privileges that the state bestows on you ALL, have no right to ignore the growing inequality and poverty hitting Mauritian families.

If it was not for Jane Raggoo’s and Reaz Cuttoo’s hunger strike, the inhuman conditions and the gross injustices faced by women cleaners for years would never have been improved. We cannot thank the CTSP enough. It is their hunger strike which triggered the introduction of the minimum wage and an improvement in the quality of life of many women. An improvement which is rapidly eroding.

People do not wake up one morning and decide to go on a hunger strike.  Your response to Nishal’s hunger strike, was to say the least, shocking:

“….tou dimoun ki fer lagrev dimann enn zafer, mo bizin aksepte mwa…?  Adding insult to injury, you further asked whether Nishal wanted to enter his name in the book of records. What a shame!

The Minister of Health who, more than anyone else, should understand the implications of food deprivation on the body system, but he found nothing better to say or do than reproduce YOUR own thinking, in a slightly different manner:

“Si sak Morisien desid fer bann zafer parey, kot nou pou ale?….

Leadership is about listening, empathy, compassion, solidarity, mutual respect, ensuring justice and fairness, finding solutions together. Sometimes, it takes a fair bit of negotiating and strategising to find a win-win situation for all. But when the state refuses to do so, there is every reason to believe that a dictatorial regime has really set in.

When I visited Nishal one early morning last week, he pleaded that more people should mobilise to support him in his non violent act of political protest, so as to make YOU and your government move, and pave the way for some potential solution. Time is running out. Your non-action can have very severe repercussions on the stability of the nation. People are suffering, the multiple overlapping global crises coupled with poor governance, accentuated by persistent wastage and lavishness by some will not be tolerated any more. The country runs the risk of experiencing major turmoil if nothing is done. We must not forget that behind the pain of Nishal Joyram lies the suffering of an entire family-his loved ones as well as that of many Mauritian families. Each and every son and daughter of the soil needs to be protected. It is the responsibility of the state to do so!

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