Culture and Economy in the Indian Diaspora

Edited by Bhikhu Parekh,

Gurharpal Singh and Steven Vertovec

2003

Routledge Taylor & Francis Group

LONDON AND NEW YORK

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1 Chota Bharat, Mauritius

The myth and the reality

Vinesh Y. Hookoomsing

Preamble

For its first new millennium independence celebrations, Mauritius chose the Prime Minister

of India as its state guest. Atal Bihari Vajpayee did not pull mass crowds, as did his more

charismatic predecessors, Indira and Rajiv Gandhi, but his visit was packed with emotion and

a strong sense of achievement. A rare moment of intense feeling showed the Indian Prime

Minister in meditative mood under an ebony tree, with the Mauritian Prime Minister Navin

Ramgoolam by his side. In 1978, that tree was just a small plant that Vajpayee had sown in

the famed botanical Garden of Pamplemousses, a magnificent living legacy of the French

period. Mauritius was then known as Isle de France, the Island of France.

He was then Minister of External Affairs and was on official visit as head of the Indian

delegation attending the tenth independence celebrations of Mauritius. Young Navin

Ramgoolam was thousands of miles away studying medicine in Dublin. But his father was

there, by the side of Vajpayee: Sir Seewoosagur (SSR), Prime Minister, Father of the Nation

and symbol of Indo-Mauritian advancement, praised by his Indian guest as the “enlightened

leader”. The year before, in November 1977, Vajpayee had inaugurated an international

seminar at the Delhi India International Centre on The Other India: the Overseas Indians and

their relationship with India. In his inaugural address, he referred to the Overseas Indians as

“our sons and daughters”:

Though our sons and daughters have gone abroad to work or reside there, India will never

disown them or fail to appreciate and respect their essential loyalty to the culture and

heritage of the mother country. (Bahadoorsingh, 1979: 30)

Vajpayee was back again in Mauritius in 1995, this time as India’s Leader of the Opposition.

In the meantime, Mauritius had undergone a sea-change: SSR had been swept away from

power, and it was Sir Anerood Jugnauth, the new Prime Minister since the historical

elections of 1982, who played the host to Vajpayee. Navin Ramgoolam was back from

Dublin, and on the father’s death, had taken over the reins of the Labour Party. Like

Vajpayee, he too was at that time Leader of the Opposition, and both were biding time.

Navin Ramgoolam’s Western style - the result of more than fifteen years spent in Britain - and

his lack of command of either Hindi or Bhojpuri made him an easy target for being culturally

incorrect. And Vajpayee’s gentle reproach appeared to Jugnauth as a blessing, the latter being

convinced that his own language mastery gave him cultural legitimacy and a clear advantage on

his young challenger. Some months later, the Mauritian Supreme Court rendered a judgement

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against the Oriental languages as subjects to be considered for ranking at the highly competitive

Certificate of Primary Education examinations. Angered by the verdict, a crowd of Indian

language partisans staged an impressive demonstration at the airport on Jugnauth’s return from a

visit to India. Carried off his feet and sense of judgement, the latter dissolved the National

Assembly, used the Indian languages as a key election issue, and lost.

During the new millenium independence celebrations, Navin Ramgoolam articulated one or two

sentences in Hindi in his speeches, an effort that Vajpayee was certainly pleased to acknowledge.

Mauritius was also preparing to celebrate the birth centenary of SSR by having it coincide with

new general elections in September 20001. And the ebony tree that Atal Bihari Vajpayee had

sown in Mauritian soil twenty-two years back was already blooming with flowers and fruits. The

flowers were India’s Indira Gandhi Cultural Centre, an architectural work of art that he

inaugurated, and the projected Rabindranath Tagore Institute, whose foundation stone he laid and

cemented with words of ekta (sense of unity, of being one) addressed to the Mauritian people.

And the fruits consisted of a line of credit totalling nine million U.S dollars, an agreement for co-

operation in information technology, a Memorandum of Understanding in the field of Ocean

Science and Technology. There was also a Trade Agreement that would operate through a Joint

Committee to strengthen bilateral relations and work out strategies for trade negotiations at

regional and multilateral levels.

Culture coupled with economy creates a strong and lasting synergy between the two partners,

particularly when the benefits are mutually gratifying. Vajpayee’s inaugural address at the 1977

seminar on The Other India was not confined to the cultural dimension only. The lofty words

quoted earlier in praise of the children of overseas India were a prelude to more down to earth

considerations:

There is a great deal which can be done by the Indian community abroad to promote Indian

industry, science and technology. They could be commission agents or retailers of consumer

goods. As India has the unique experience of a rapid transition into the industrial age, it should

be possible for the Indian communities abroad to act as links in the transfer of appropriate

technology from India to other countries. There are several distinguished Indians overseas who

have the experience of several generations in international trends and industry. They could help

forge new partnerships and arrange joint ventures in these countries by importing indian capital

and expertise with local resources.(Bahadoorsingh, 1979: 31)

A few years later, in 1982, India and Mauritius signed the Avoidance of Double Taxation

Agreement. Foreign investors took advantage of it by opening offshore companies in Mauritius

and investing in India through Mauritius. As a result of this, according to a document released by

the Indian High Commission in March 2000, Mauritius now ranks among the largest foreign

investors in India. For her part, India is the third largest exporter to Mauritius after France and

South Africa, and accounts for 8 to 9 percent of the total Mauritian imports. There are at present

thirty-two India-Mauritius joint ventures, nine of which are already operational. These include

Ajanta Pharma Mauritius Ltd, Asian Paints, Arvind Overseas Ltd (denim fabrics), Crains

1 By an ironical twist of political destiny, the September 2000 elections saw the victory of a last minute opposition

alliance. It was led by Sir Aneerood Jugnauth, and was founded on a daring formula of shared prime ministership,

with Sir Aneerood Jugnauth, Prime Minister for the first 3 years and Paul Berenger his ally for the remaining 2 years

as from 2003. The historical significance of this arrangement is that for the first time a non-Hindu will become

Prime Minister of Mauritius.

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Technologies (assembly of computers), Pentafour International Mauritius Ltd (software

development and IT consulting). Indian Oil too is getting ready to enter the Mauritian market

following the agreement signed during Vajpayee’s latest visit. Last but not least, Thomas Cook,

India has already landed in Mauritius with the declared aim of leading the foreign currency

operations sector on the island.

Commenting on the cultural and economic links with India, Somduth Bhuckory states in his

paper presented at the 1977 seminar: Indians of Mauritius are fully conscious of the debt to

India, hence the reference to Mauritius as a Little India beyond the seas.

He is actually referring to himself, for he wrote a poem on that theme in 1967, entitled Mauritius

ki Shristi (The creation of Mauritius). The following extract, quoted from the English version

aptly summarises the idealised vision of Mauritius (Chota Bharat) beyond the seas:

It has come from beyond the waves

From a world of dreams,

From the lap of the Himalayas,

From the flow of the Ganges.

The prisoner that Mother India was

Had quite a miserable fate:

She had no wedding bangles in her arms

But had chains in her ankles.

The trials and tribulations of evil days

Broke her heart into pieces

And to this side came floating

A piece of that heart.

And by a decree of Fate

It began to change day by day

And in a course of time became

A little India beyond the seas.

(Bhuckory, 1988: 114-5)

“Chota Bharat, Mauritius” is in fact a recurrent theme that goes back to the turn of the 20th

century, a theme from which the emerging Hindu elite churned a myth, later an ideology, and

now perhaps a post-ethnic reality.

Chota Bharat: the historical background

To the Indian coolies who crossed the dark waters of the ocean in the early 1830’s, the place

where they landed was Mirish desh. It symbolised a land of plenty and of quick fortune, more

realistically a hope of escape from a miserable life, a place where they could find work, not

necessarily settle down, but earn and save enough money to come back home and improve the lot

of their kith and kin.

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To the Mauritian planter, the Indian coolie was just a “muscles and sinews” substitute to the

newly liberated African in the cane field. There was very little room for human consideration in

the post-abolition encounter between the French landowner and the Indian labourer. The cane

fields flourished and filled the ships with sugar destined to Europe. But in the same process,

small villages gradually replaced the old plantation camps of misery; shrines, temples and

mosques emerged in the relief of the local landscape; and the coolie variant, Mirish desh, gave

way to the Creole native name of the island.

The Indian progressively adopted the land and became part of it. But he continued to be

perceived as the alien, even though, or perhaps because, he became overnight numerically the

dominant group. Already in 1871, two thirds of the population of Mauritius was of Indian origin;

and the Indian ports of labour embarkation became part of Mauritian Creole lexical usage to

distinguish between and designate the Bombay, Madras and Calcutta Indian. Among the Indians

themselves the Hindu-Muslim divide replicated the sub-continental distinction, with some degree

of context-based adjustment. Furthermore, Northern Hindus continued to be perceived at popular

level as endyen, and Southern Hindus as Tamils and Telugus. In an attempt to avoid

fragmentation of the Hindu as a generic group reference representing 52% of the population,

current official practice has recourse to language as a specific marker to refer to Hindi-speaking,

Tamil-speaking, Telugu-speaking and Marathi-speaking Hindus.

Among the Muslims, linguistic and regional features function mainly as markers of social and

professional class distinction. The small group of merchants and traders who settled on the island

during the 19th

century originate from Gujrat and form a strong business elite. The language

distinction – Gujrati for the Muslim merchant and Bhojpuri for the Muslim coolie – is no longer

significant since both languages have largely been replaced by Urdu and Arabic as common

languages of Islamic reference.

During the late 19th

and early 20th

century, the Gujrati merchants and businessmen functioned as

the Indian elite on the island. In 1901,when Mohandas K Gandhi made a brief stop in Mauritius

on his way from South Africa to India, he was welcomed and celebrated by them in the name of

the Indian community. Local press reports of the reception given to him during his brief stay list

the presence of some Tamils among the predominantly Muslim audience.

The role and contribution of the Muslim merchants and Tamil traders is highlighted in the

Mauritius Illustrated, a glossy 450 page business reference handbook of facts, figures and

personalities of Mauritius first published in 1914:

The Mohammedans, erroneously termed Arabs, are undoubtedly the most picturesque

section of the business community of Port Louis, and the influence they are exerting in

local commerce is very considerable and continually increasing. (Macmillan, 1991: 406)

The “Madrassee Hindoos” are presented in the following terms:

The extensive interests which the Hindoos have obtained in Mauritius and the influence

they are exerting on its commerce are very noteworthy. Probably the largest local

business owned and operated by men from the great land of India is that of Messrs.

Canabady and Co, which has contributed to the welfare of the island’s export sugar

trade for about sixty years. (Macmillan, 1991: 390)

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No northern Hindu name is listed in the publication, which would imply that at the beginning of

the 20th

century no notable figure from the large Bihari group had yet emerged as part of the

world of business and trade. Made up of labourers and small planters, the group did nevertheless

constitute the power base of the slow but steady rise to political power of a new, mainly

intellectual and professional, Indian elite as from the 1930’s, culminating with the accession to

independence in 1968.

The impact of India’s independence and partition and the perspective of independent Mauritius

being dominated by the Northern Hindu majority created a typical divide-and-rule situation that

triggered a successful call for separate identity among the Muslims especially. The idea of a

common Indo-Mauritian identity was abandoned and the new independence constitution

acknowledged the existence of two distinct ethnic groups based on religion: the Hindus and the

Muslims. There still remained a close Indian language and culture link through the Hindi-Urdu-

Hindustani connection, but that too was increasingly undermined by the growing attraction

exerted as from the 1970s by the Arab world. A glaring illustration of this is given in the

language returns for the 1983 Census, when for the first time informants were allowed to include

the language of their choice. Arabic, which was not till then on the Census list, obtained a higher

score than Urdu as the ancestral language of the Mauritian Muslims.

In a similar vein, there emerged among the Tamils a temptation for a distinct identity nourished

by a number of factors. Apart from the age-old north-south divide inherited from the

subcontinent, there was the feeling that their people – at least some of them – were among the

first inhabitants of the island. They were here almost right from the beginning of the French

period in the 18th

century, they set the first imprints of Indian presence in terms of language,

culture, religion. But more seriously, there was the persistent perception that the Tamil

contribution to the Mauritian Indian heritage and to the social development of the country in

general was not given due recognition.

Then all of a sudden, all these factors converged and condensed into a collective deep-seated

sense of insult added to injustice, triggered by what seemed at first a trivial event. In 1998, the

Bank of Mauritius issued a series of banknotes which, apart from the illustrations, were identical

to the old notes in all respects except one: the old established order in which the language

inscriptions appeared on the notes – English, Tamil and Hindi – had been reversed in the case of

the latter two languages. This was interpreted as a deliberate manipulation in an attempt to

downgrade the Tamil language and heritage. It unleashed an unprecedented show of anger

expressed by mass demonstrations which forced the government to sack the Director and Deputy

Director of the Bank of Mauritius, remove the new notes from circulation and print fresh ones

with the language inscriptions reset in the original order, at the cost of some sixty million

Mauritian rupees (approx. 2 million US $).

To understand more fully the historical context of this process of Hindu-Muslim fragmentation

on the one hand, and of Tamil self-assertion on the other, it is important to underline that the

idea(l) of Chota Bharat was first evoked in the 1920s by the emerging “Hindi-speaking” Hindu

elite in reaction to the old established Franco-Mauritian colonial elite’s view of Mauritius as

Little France. In 1935, the centenary of the beginning of Indian immigration was celebrated by

members of this elite, thereby setting a clear demarcation line between the arrival of the post-

abolition Indian diaspora originating mainly from Bihar, and the presence of Indians who had

come much earlier, and mainly from the French comptoirs in South India.

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Later on, taking advantage of the new regional and international context of colonial contestation,

this same elite took the lead of the movement for constitutional change in the colony. A new

constitution came into force in 1947, which enlarged the voting qualifications to include among

other things literacy in the Indian languages listed in the census in Mauritius. The number of

Indian voters increased dramatically, so much so that when elections were held the year after, the

result was a landmark victory for the new Hindu elite. It marked the beginning of a new era with

political power shifting into the hands of the Hindu majority and economic power resting with

the Franco-Mauritian minority.

For the Muslim minority, the 1948 elections came as a shock since none of its candidates was

elected, and the future meant a separate platform and the need for a strategy of political and

economic alliances. The election of one Tamil candidate was also a signal for the adoption of

minority survival politics by the group. The trend was thus set for the elaboration of a complex

game of ethno-politics that has shaped the course of Modern Mauritius through independence

and into the 21st century.

Viewed against this background of ethnic evolution from Indian to Hindu and Muslim separate

identities with the further perspective of a potential Hindu fragmentation to make room for a

Tamil entity, the idea(l) of Chota Bharat evokes a familiar reality of perpetuating the religious

and provincial divisions inherited from the subcontinent. But viewed from within the “Hindi-

speaking” Hindu perspective, Chota Bharat appears more like an ideological construct

symbolising a diasporic reconstitution of and relation to the idealised ancestral motherland.

Mauritius

Among the Indian diaspora scattered over the world, the Indo-Mauritians – to use the more

appropriate current appellation - offer the shining profile of what looks like the most successful

overseas Indian community. Hindus and Muslims together, they represent more than two-thirds

of the population of Mauritius, a demographic reality which is by itself of considerable weight

given the size of the overall population – just over a million – and of the island: only 720 square

miles. They have played a key role in the reshaping of the social, cultural and political life of

Modern Mauritius, and have provided political leadership ever since the emergence of the new

elite in the 1930s. India, the ancestral motherland is not very far, and the same Indian Ocean

washes the shores of the subcontinent and the island.

Mauritius thus seems to possess all the necessary ingredients that would make it look like an

ideal reference within the Indian diaspora. To what extent this may be truly the case is no doubt

a matter of appreciation. But the signs of the Indo-Mauritian “miracle” – to use a much-quoted

cliché when referring to the current economic success of Mauritius – are very visible, so much so

that one is tempted to go beyond appearances. After all they may be deceptive!

This is precisely what I will attempt to do by adopting a three-fold perspective conveniently

offered by the fact that it is an island, namely:

The view from the “seaside”: the “post-card” image depicting the colourful presence of

India in Mauritius;

The view from the inside: a problem-based approach to what it means to be a Mauritian

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of Indian origin in a plural society;

The view beyond the horizon: the challenge of modernity and globalisation, and therefore

the meaning to be given to such constructs as heritage, culture, language and identity.

The view from the seaside or the post-card perspective

This is the outsider’s perspective. Light, exotic and gently superficial, it highlights the

indianness of Mauritius: shivalas, shrines and mosques all over the island; women in sarees,

salwar kameez and dazzling jewellery; film songs on radio, television and videos; shops, markets

and bazaars displaying oriental goods and styles; festivals and rituals celebrated all the year

round.

The tourist and visitor is irresistibly attracted by the tropicalised oriental flavour of Mauritius.

That is probably what the taste was like in the good old colonial days, during which the Indian

presence added colour, variety and spice to the otherwise black and white landscape. Mauritian

literature of the 19th

and early 20th

century is full of folk stereotypes depicting the Indian

labourer, cake-seller, milkman, gardener and cart-driver. They were not real flesh and blood

characters; just part of the scenery; figures that were born from the “natural” order of things and

were meant to validate the power and permanence of the French-dominated way of life.

But already at the turn of the century, there were signs that the place of the Indian within

Mauritian society was not fixed for eternity. New figures were emerging, reflected in the shift in

literature from harmless folk figures to that of the sensuous Indian woman, a symbol of

temptation and of menace to the white society and civilisation. Indeed, what the writers and

novelists of the 1930s feared the most was the Indianisation of the island.

Were they alive today, they would no doubt conclude their worst fears have come true. To the

casual observer, contemporary Mauritius may have an air of Little India. Not only in its social,

cultural and human landscape, but especially in its political and administrative set up : Indo-

Mauritians are indeed very much visible in the public sector where they tend to hold key offices –

a situation which often generates a feeling of “malaise” within the complex ethnic set up of the

society. This French word, meaning a fuzzy feeling of discomfort has developed a typically local

significance to express a mixture of socio-ethnic ill feeling, frustration and resentment.

Indo-Mauritians also tend to dominate the political power structure based on a Westminster type

of constitution which concentrates power into the hands of the Prime Minister. By tacit

convention, largely inspired from the unwritten acceptance of ethnic majority rule, it has been

taken for granted by one and all that the latter is a Hindu and among the Hindus themselves that

he should be a Vaish2.

Taken together, the various facets of the Indo-Mauritian make-up tend to show a high profile and

thus confirm the impression of an overwhelming presence. But this may be just a perception, a

construed reality or, to put it more crudely, a myth perpetuated for the sake of appearance. The

postcard image. Let us therefore have a look at the other side of the picture, towards those

2 The perspective of a non-Hindu Mauritian Prime Minister as from 2003 may be contrasted with the Trinidadian

situation where the established principle of a Black Prime Minister was successfully challenged in 1995 when a

Hindu was elected Prime Minister for the first time.

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bittersweet sugar cane fields.

The view from inside

It is there that the story started: from slavery to indenture, to independence and to present day

development within the global liberal economic system. The viewpoint from which I will

attempt to unfold the perspective from within is 1935, the centenary celebrations of the arrival of

Indian immigrants to Mauritius.

It was not by any account a massive event in terms of popular involvement, nor was it very

inspiring in terms of content and commitment. K Hazareesingh (1950: 185), who was actively

involved in its organisation, wrote later:

In India, Congress took no direct interest in the matter; and Mahatma Gandhi did not approve of

the idea. In his view a century of suffering needed no special remembrance

Tagore sent a message for the occasion and the Indian Colonial Society of Madras a delegate. But

it had important symbolic significance in the sense that it marks the beginning of a form of

Indian nationalism in Mauritius. I will call it the “elite form” on the following grounds:

The organisers were Indo-Mauritian intellectuals and professionals, some of whom had freshly

come back from British universities;

All the speeches made on that occasion were in English;

A historical account of the Indians in Mauritius, the first of its kind, was published on that

occasion. It was written in French by an Indo-Mauritian;

No reference was made to the abolition of slavery, which actually led to the beginning of

Indian immigration.

The elite nature of the emerging Indian nationalism in Mauritius is clearly illustrated by its desire

to collaborate not only with the colonial power but also with the Franco-Mauritian bourgeoisie,

which controlled Mauritian economy and society. Collaboration and compromise as practised by

the Indo-Mauritian elite from the 1930’s onward shaped the mode of integration of the Indo-

Mauritian community at large.

This sounds like a sweeping statement that could imply that there was no attempt at developing

Indian nationalism at mass level, no form of popular conflict and resistance. This was not so. In

contrast to the elitist approach, the 1940s witnessed the emergence of a mass Indian nationalist

movement whose leaders had spent their study years in India and were inspired by the philosophy

and ideals of the Mahatma, and also of Subhash Chandra Bose. Indeed, a more correct

assessment of that crucial period would no doubt show that both the elite perspective of

compromise and collaboration and the mass movement of confrontation and resistance were

present and vied with each other for political expression and leadership control of the Mauritian

Indian group.

However, in the particular colonial set up of Mauritius – a plantation society created and

dominated from its origin by the Franco-Mauritian bourgeoisie – the Western-trained elite’s

message and approach was far more acceptable. And it got through. From then on, the whole

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destiny of the Indo-Mauritian community – cultural, social, economic and political – was shaped

and controlled to a large extent by its collaborative elite.

The power structure within the society at large thus remained unchallenged and the transfer of

state power from the metropolis to the Indo-Mauritian elite was done smoothly, as a result of

which political independence was achieved without mass anti-colonial struggle.

The maintenance of the post-colonial status quo has had in my view far-reaching consequences

within the Indo-Mauritian community. For one thing, the latter tended to look towards the state –

controlled by its elite – for the maintenance of its values and interests. Instead of reinforcing and

extending its internal networking through dynamic community-based structures and

organisations, it tended to sit back and look towards the state for resources and institutional

backup.

With political independence and the emergence of Mauritian nationalism as a counter-force,

state-sponsored community values and interests – promoted under the policy of unity in diversity

– had little appeal to the rebellious young generation of the 70s. The solidarity of class, people

and nation carried more weight than the sense of ethnic belonging. The concept of

“Mauritianism”, or Mauritian nationalism, became more relevant than the official policy

recognising ethnic diversity and promoting cultural pluralism.

There was thus a kind of divorce between the state and the society at large, and particularly

between the Indo-Mauritian elite and the masses it was supposed to be connected to. But I

believe there was more to it than just the independence factor. I will offer the following

explanatory points for consideration:

The relation between state and community values and interests: state-based or state-sponsored

mechanisms are by their very nature clogged down with bureaucracy and red-tapism. They

are therefore not very appropriate for cultural dynamism and development;

These mechanisms are Western-inspired and they function according to norms of procedure

and accountability which apply to all and therefore cannot be easily manipulated;

With the democratisation and spread of education, school values have tended to supersede

home values. These school-based values generally correspond to Western norms and patterns.

Their impact on the Indo-Mauritian’s value system has yet to be determined, but it may be

safely assumed that the traditional home values have been gradually loosing their grip;

Economic development and social mobility have resulted in the development of an

increasingly urbanised Indo-Mauritian middle-class within which class values and life-styles

are typically more important than the traditional community values.

Beyond the horizon: what perspective?

The middle-class trend was accelerated in the 80s, when industrialisation swept the whole

country away in the typical spirit of liberalism and market economy. Viewed against this

background, the Indo-Mauritian destiny seems trapped between the state and the market.

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In the 70s, the elite used state leverage in its attempt to engineer the destiny of the group. But it

appears to have achieved limited success, largely because of its own limitations as a Western-

oriented collaborative elite. In the 80s, riding the new wave of market economy and liberalism, a

new figure emerged: the business entrepreneur. But the Indo-Mauritian entrepreneur’s share of

the market remained, and is still, very limited.

In fact, Mauritius is gradually moving into an “open” society, which is the price to pay for

successful modernization under a liberal economic development programme. In its way towards

the “open” society, it is being progressively integrated into the Western-dominated global

network that has little or no consideration for differences and peculiarities. The state too no

longer protects. Actually, it is using its power – sometimes forcefully, as in the late 80s and early

90s – to smooth out obstacles and facilitate integration into the global world.

To what extent then is the concept of pluralism valid and significant within the perspective of

globalisation? The issue has been raised by the Norwegian anthropologist Thomas Eriksen.

With Trinidad and Mauritius in mind, he questions the continued relevance of pluralism as a

label applied to these two societies, and offers an alternative explanation which points to what he

calls the development of the post-ethnic society. Referring to the kind of “cultural pluralism”

specific to Mauritius, Eriksen (1993: 91) argues that it is gradually becoming a form of “plurality

in life-worlds endemic to modernity”. According to him:

This implies, by definition, a form of ‘unity in diversity’ in so far as everybody is a citizen.

Systematic communication of cultural difference tends to be mediated by the state and its

agencies, the market and/or the mass media, which are the unifying, reflexive interfaces of

modernity.

Ethnicity, says Eriksen (1993:90), is changing in meaning and significance as Mauritian society

is changing. It is being replaced not necessarily by nationalism but by aspects of modern

individualism associated with industrial capitalism and the capitalist world market. There are

signs that we are heading towards the commodity society, but I am not sure whether this would

imply, as Eriksen believes (1993:185), the existence of a ‘‘cultural market’ where beliefs and

practices may be changed as easily as one changes one’s shirt”.

Language and identity: a changing landscape

To illustrate my point, I will refer to the relative significance of two important symbols of Indo-

Mauritian identity: religion and language. In the case of religion which is a more fundamental

marker, a comparison of the post-independence Census figures of 1972, 1983 and 1990 shows a

remarkable stability which clearly disproves the alarmist echoes of massive conversion that we

hear from time to time.

Table 1.1 Religion

1972 1983 1990

Total

Population

826,199 966,863 1,022,456

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Hinduism 421,707

(51,04%)

506,486

(52,38%)

534,932

(52.32%)

Islam 136,997

(16.58%)

160,130

(16.56%)

171,863

(16,81%)

Christianity 258,411

(31,38%)

290,380

(30,03%)

308,644

(30,19%)

Chinese 5,701

(0,69%)

4.598

(0,48%)

3,611

(0,35%)

Other/Not

Specified

3,383

(0,41%)

5,269

(0,54%)

3,406

(0,33%)

(Source: Mauritius Census Publication)

In contrast, the picture that comes out of the same Census returns for Indian languages shows

significant changes. Before referring to them, let me explain briefly the sociolinguistic categories

used in the Census. Until the 1990 Census, the normal practice was to distinguish between

Language of Forefathers, that is ancestral languages (AL), and Language currently spoken at

home (CL). Actual competence in and use of AL are not considered important because AL’s

main function is to identify the “Linguistic Group” to which the respondent belongs. In 1972 the

latter could only choose one AL from the pre-established list he was presented with and which

did not include Bhojpuri or Arabic, for instance. In 1983, there was no pre-established list and

the respondent was free to choose his/her AL. Furthermore, an introductory Census note

extended the status of language (already accorded to Creole) to Bhojpuri also. It must also be

pointed out that one fundamental question that used to be present in the previous Censuses was

removed from the 1983 Census, namely the ethnic community to which one belongs.

Consequently, ethnicity was determined by religion and Ancestral Language only.

The 1990 Census brought some additional and more radical changes. First, it gave the

respondent the possibility of listing two AL (or CL) on the basis of maternal/paternal distinction.

This clearly represents a far–reaching innovation, for the recognition of ancestral bilingualism

means that the concept of “Linguistic Group” established on the “one AL” criterion may now be

questioned. For the time being, the Census-based bilingual population, whether ancestral or

current, counts for about 11% of the total population, which represents a sizeable group though

still too small to significantly upset the overall picture. But then figures, especially Census

figures, are not very meaningful per se. Their importance lies rather in the trends and patterns

that they indicate3.

Another innovation brought in the 1990 Census was the re-introduction of the Literacy Language

(LL) category – Languages read and written – which existed in the 1952 Census but was dropped

thereafter. There is no simple or standard definition of literacy competence. The one used in the

Census defines Literacy Language as one in which “the person can, with understanding, both

read and write a simple statement in his or her everyday life.”

The sociolinguistic landscape that emerges from the juxtaposition of the three language

categories (AL, CL, LL) is rich and revealing, specially when we look at it from the perspective

of the Indian Languages. In the tables that follow, I have included Creole for the sake of

3 The changes introduced in the 1990 Census have been maintained in the 2000 Census questionnaire. The new

Census report, to be published in 2002, should normally reconfirm the sociolinguistic trends observed.

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reference and comparison. It is the major common language of Mauritius and its constant gain of

speakers reflects and accounts for the losses continuously suffered by the Indian languages.

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Table 1.2 Evolution of Ancestral (AL) and Current Language (CL), 1972-1990 -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

1972 1983 1990

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Total Population 826,199 966,863 1,022,456

…………………………………………………………………………………………………..

Creole AL 272,975 280,377 345,802

(33.0%) (29.0%) (33.8%)

CL 428,427 521,950 618,226

(51.8%) (54.0%) (60.5%)

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Hindi AL 320,881 208,450 38,142

(38.8%) (21.6%) (3.7%)

CL 262,191 111,134 12,845

(31.8%) (11.5%) (1.2%)

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Bhojpuri AL - 180,983 343,798

(18.7%) (33.6%)

CL - 147,050 201,616

(20.4%) (19.7%)

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Urdu AL 71,668 55,347 45,274

(8.7%) (5.7%) (4.4%)

CL 23,470 23,572 6,804

(2.8%) (2.4%) (0.7%)

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Arabic AL - 68,033 1,686

(7.0%) (0.2%)

CL - 1,813 280

(0.2%) (0.03%)

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Tamil AL 56,757 66,154 47,946

(6.9%) (6.8%) (4.7%)

CL 29,094 35,646 8,002

(3.5%) (3.7%) (0.8%)

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Telegu AL 24,233 25,619 21,027

(2.9%) (2.7%) (2.05%)

CL 17,634 15,364 6,437

(2.1%) (1.6%) (0.6%)

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Marathi AL 16,553 20,412 17,730

(2.0%) (2.1%) (1.7%)

CL 12,036 12,420 7,535

(1.5%) (1.3%) (0.7%)

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Gujrati

AL 2,028 1,707 2,181

(0.2%) (0.2%) (0.2%)

CL 403 531 290

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0.05%) (0.05%) (0.03%)

…………………………………………………………………………………………………..

(Source: Mauritius Census Publication.)

A cursory examination of the above data indicates a steady decline of the standard Indian

languages. Hindi for example has been almost totally displaced by Bhojpuri as AL and CL. This

no doubt reflects historical and sociolinguistic truth, but it also illustrates a very significant

change in language attitude. Bhojpuri was traditionally looked down upon as the low language

with Hindi fulfilling all the functions of the high language. Hindi is no doubt still the prestige

language of reference, but the very existence of Bhojpuri as well as its role and relevance have

been forcefully emphasised. (There is actually a close parallel between the Hindi-Bhojpuri and

the French-Creole diglossic pairs in Mauritius. The latter has undergone considerable re-

adjustment since the 70s and it also has to a large extent set the trend for Hindi-Bhojpuri re-

adjustment in the 80s).

The Hindi-Bhojpuri shift may also be attributed to what I would call the impact of modernity.

Hindi and the values associated with it used to be acquired through the traditional community

network of baithkas and socio-cultural associations. Now it is taught in the formal context of the

modern school. The baithkas no longer exist or function as such. Hindi has almost completely

lost its status of a traditional ancestral language – a function now performed by Bhojpuri – but

the loss has been compensated by its newly acquired status of literacy language to which I will

refer later.

The same observation would apply to Urdu, the second major standard Indian language of

Mauritius, except that in the case of Urdu, there has been a more dramatic change. Traditionally

the main reference language of the Indo-Mauritian Muslims, Urdu was displaced by Arabic in the

1983 Census, a phenomenon which can only be understood by reference to the geopolitical

context which was then prevailing in the world, more particularly in the Middle East. This

explanation is confirmed by the virtual disappearance of Arabic in the 1990 returns, but then

Urdu too keeps a very low profile. Since the Muslim population of Mauritius has not

diminished, one is tempted to conclude that the concept of ancestral language is no longer

applicable to it and that the language traditionally associated with Islam in Mauritius no longer

functions as a marker of ethnic identity.

In the case of the minor standard Indian languages – Tamil, Telegu, Marathi (I will not consider

Gujrathi, which has now become a largely residual language of reference) – the trend already

observed seems to indicate a sharp decline between 1983 and 1990. A possible explanation

points towards a shift in favour of Creole, or bilingualism with Creole, but not Bhojpuri, in spite

of the latter’s historical and cultural claim as a link language among Indo-Mauritians during the

19th and early 20th century.

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Table 1.3 Bilingualism: Bhojpuri and another Indian language

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Ancestral Current

Bilingualism Bilingualism

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Bhoj + Hindi 32,917 (3.2%) 20,976 (2.0%)

Bhoj + Urdu 3,553 (0.3%) 603 (0.06%)

Bhoj + Tam-Tel-Mar 1,366 (0.1%) 351 (0.03%)

Bhoj + Other Indian L 163 23

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

----------

Total 37,999 (3.6%) 21,953 (2.09%)

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

(Source: Mauritiuis Census Publication.)

Table 1.4 Bilingualism: Creole and an Indian language

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Ancestral Current

Bilingualism Bilingualism

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Creole + Hindi 2,281 (0.2%) 3,426 (0.3%)

Creole + Bhoj 34,356 (3.4%) 48,574 (4.7%)

Creole + Urdu 10,116 (1.0%) 6,478 (0.6%)

Creole + Tamil 5,981 (0.6%) 5,312 (0.5%)

Creole + Telegu 1,163 (0.1%) 1,797 (0.2%)

Creole + Marathi 1,088 (0.1%) 1,779 (0.2%)

Creole + Other Indian Languages 1,207 (0.1%) 1,701 (0.2%)

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ --------

Total 56,192 (5.5%) 69,067 (6.8%)

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

(Source: 1990 Census Report)

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As could be expected, the Bhojpuri-Hindi pair is dominant in Table 3. Similarly the Bhojpuri-

Urdu ancestral pair reflects a historical/cultural connection. But a comparison with Table 4

reveals a striking feature: it is Creole, rather that Bhojpuri, which emerges as the common

component of any bilingual combination with an Indian language. More surprisingly, this applies

not only to current but even to ancestral bilingualism. Once again, it is not the figures as such

that count but the pattern that they reveal. The old shift from Bhojpuri to Creole is thus

confirmed by the pattern of bilingual AL and CL combinations. Does this phenomenon reflect an

internal evolution within the Indo-Mauritian community? If so it would explain to some extent

the losses observed earlier. Or is it a reflection of the bilingualism inherent to at least part of the

mixed family context of Mauritius? Whatever the explanation, the ancestral bilingual concept, if

it is maintained in the next Census, should have a significant bearing on the reshaping of the

linguistic and cultural landscape.

For one thing, it will affect the traditional role and function of Indian languages in Mauritius.

Already, with the growing impact of the school and the media, the community-based mode of

acquisition and transmission of standard Indian languages has virtually disappeared. Literacy in

Indian languages only means traditional literacy acquired through non-formal modes and within

the community. It belongs to the past. Literacy now means the school and the learning of

English and French. The Indian languages are also present in the school, but they have to be

connected to the European languages.

Table 1.5 Literacy: Languages read and written

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Total Population (aged 12 and over): 785,063

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Oriental languages* 24,257 (3.1%)

European languages 409,396 (52.1%)

European and Oriental languages 169,723(21.6%)

Creole 28,632 (3.6%)

Bhojpuri 2,938 (0.4%)

Creole and Bhojpuri 4,138 (0.5%)

None 144,762 (18.4%)

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

*Oriental languages = Indian, Arabic, Chinese

(Source: 1990 Census Report)

In other words, the school and the European languages are henceforth crucial to the maintenance

of the Indian languages. This fact is highlighted in the recommendations of the Select

Committee on Oriental languages set up by the Government in 1991. In line with these

recommendations, the Oriental languages - that is, Indian, Arabic and Chinese languages - should

have counted, as from 1995, for the ranking of pupils taking the terminal primary examinations

and their selection to the high performing secondary schools. But following an adverse Supreme

Court judgement, and a subsequent reversal of this judgement by the British Privy Council (the

ultimate appeals court in the Mauritian legal and judiciary system), these recommendations

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should in principle be implemented as from 20014.

While being a historical landmark in the promotion of Indian languages within the school system,

these recommendations also emphasise the importance of the European languages and the need

to master them. According to the report, the formula proposed “will maintain the importance of

the two other important languages, i.e. English and French, which along with Mathematics will

remain compulsory. In other words, the student offering an Oriental language should

necessarily pass in English and French to qualify for ranking purposes” (p 60)

Conclusion

Religion and language are the most tangible markers of cultural identity. But, like all other

cultural attributes, they are not absolute symbols. This may not always apply to religion, which

is characterised by a greater degree of permanence and stability. In the case of language,

however, its significance and value are very often influenced by social, economic and political

factors.

I have argued that our traditional language beliefs and categories no longer have the same content

and meaning as we move into modernity. The inclusion of new and additional language

information in the latest population Census could indicate that a point has been reached which

requires that the society takes stock of the changes taking place within it as it moves ahead.

Likewise, the need to create institutional mechanisms through legislation - the Select

Committee’s report referred to above is a good example - underlines once again the role of the

state in the field of language and social engineering in the complex context of Mauritius. With

the extension of the ranking and selection function to the Indian languages, the latter may have

now acquired a new value-added role as instruments of access to the best secondary schools - the

“Star schools” - in the country5.

I mentioned in the beginning that the changes that took place during the late 19th and the first

half of the 20th century - basically, the social, cultural and political rise to power of the

Mauritians of Indian origin - had a bearing on the system even if they did not challenge its

foundations. The system became more flexible and elastic. Later, under mass pressure for

political, social and cultural transformation, the elite opted for compromise and adjustment. This

has been more or less the pattern of change and evolution followed by modern Mauritius. It may

be described as the politics of consensus and gradualism.

Economically, sugar, the agricultural backbone of Mauritian society, has been progressively

giving way to industry and tourism, which are clearly the more dynamic, profitable and future-

oriented sectors of the economy. Industrialisation has developed a keen awareness of the value

and importance of the Western linguistic and cultural heritage. Tourism has led to the

development of a sophisticated infrastructure to cater for the taste and comfort of Western

clientèle. It has also encouraged the country to preserve and promote its cultural diversity as a

tourist-appealing commodity. The result has been a soft composite version of the various

cultures cultivated as part of the sun-sand-and-sea package but which, interestingly, is also

4 They have in fact been shelved, pending an acceptable comprehensive reform of the education system.

5 The whole issue of Oriental languages at school is under review following the change of government in September

2000 and the subsequent preparation of a new reform proposal.

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appealing to the more and more Westernised average Mauritian irrespective of his ethnic

background. Little India beyond the seas - the seaside postcard image - makes everybody feel

good.

Postscript

In the global world context cultural uniformity may be viewed either as an asset or a threat. The

debate has been going on for some time in post-colonial circles. Then the Creole world of island

societies discovered that their short history of human, cultural and social creolisation contained

the basic ingredients for an advanced conceptual understanding of the cultural process

accompanying globalisation. The proponents of the Créolité movement in the French Caribbean

for example argue that the Old World civilisations are going through a process of cultural

creolisation accelerated by technological modernity and modern migration.

Mauritius too as a creation of colonisation belongs to the New World, more particularly to its

Creole component. But it has always maintained that creolisation could not embrace the totality

of its post-slavery society for various reasons: the contractual status and numerical strength of the

Indian coolies, the return possibility, the proximity of the homeland and, last but not least, the

fact that they successfully transferred and adjusted their cultural and religious practices and

systems. The creolisation process was thus neutralised to a significant extent by the

reconstitution of the ancestral social and cultural matrix. The result was that Mauritius developed

into an original mix of Creole and ancestral society that has yet to be studied in depth.

The official cultural policy of the country is summarised in the familiar formula of unity in

diversity. In its early application it meant cultivating the inherited East-West diversity while

promoting national unity. Its current application may be seen as a further refinement which seeks

to give legitimacy and expression to the mosaic of specific cultural identities covered by the

broader reference categories. The new millennium government has thus chosen to celebrate

diversity by adding Tamil, Telugu and Marathi cultural centres to the existing state sponsored

Indian, Islamic and African-Creole cultural centres. It has also decided to set up a Mauritian

cultural centre, a project which goes beyond the concept of national unity and aims at the idea(l)

of Mauritian plural identity. The roots/routes of origin will hopefully cross-fertilise and graft on

those of the new homeland.

Somduth Bhukory’s poem, which I quoted earlier, expresses a deep-rooted attachment to the

great ancestral land. It was composed in 1967, on the eve of independence. Two years later, a

seminar on the Indian diaspora , probably the first of its kind, was held in Delhi. The statement

that follows comes from a paper on Mauritius, presented by a participant from India:

It would be wrong to consider Mauritius any longer the “Little India beyond the seas”, as it

would to consider it “Isle de France”. Mauritians of any origin are now Mauritians, singularly

and finally, and their country is Mauritius. (Madan N Sauldie, 1971: 307)

In a recent invitation to Mauritians settled abroad to come and invest in the country, the

Mauritian Prime Minister addressed them as PMO: People of Mauritian Origin. India for her part

has always encouraged Mauritians of Indian origin to invest in India. As for the Mauritians

themselves, they are increasingly conscious of the advantages of being culturally plural in a

world set to be global.

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References and further reading

Allen, R. Creoles, Indian immigrants and the restructuring of society and

economy in Mauritius, 1767-1885. Ph.D. thesis, 1983, University

of Illinois.

Bahadursingh, I. J. (ed.) The Other India: The Overseas Indians and their

relationship with India. Arnold-Heinemann: Delhi, 1979.

Beejadhur, A. Les Indiens à L’Ile Maurice, Port Louis: Mauritius, 1935.

Benedict, B. Indians in a plural society, H.M.S.O: London, 1961.

Benedict, B. Mauritius: Problems of a plural society, Pall Mall: London, 1965.

Bissoondoyal, U. Promises to keep, EOI / Wiley Eastern Ltd: N. Delhi, 1992.

Bissoondoyal, U. (ed.) Indians overseas: The Mauritian experience, M.G.I:

Mauritius, 1984.

Bhuckory, S. “Indians in Mauritius”, in Bahadursingh, I. J. (ed.), 1979.

Bhukory, S. Hindi in Mauritius, Editions de l’Océan Indien: Mauritius 1988,

2nd

ed. (1st ed., Royal Printing: Mauritius, 1967).

Central Statistical Office. Population Census of Mauritius, (1972, 1983, 1990), Mauritius.

Emrith, M. The History of Muslims in Mauritius, Editions Le

Printemps: Mauritius, 1979.

Eriksen, T. H. Us and them in modern societies, Scandinavian University Press:

Oslo, 1993.

Eriksen, T. H. Communicating cultural difference and identity: ethnicity and

nationalism in Mauritius, Occasional papers in Social

Anthropology, University of Oslo, 1990.

Gupta, A. (ed.) Indians Abroad: Asia and Africa, Orient Longman: Delhi, 1971.

Hazareesingh, K. History of Indians in Mauritius, General Printing: Mauritius, 1950.

Hookoomsing,V.Y “Preserving pluralism in the context of development and

modernisation: The case of Mauritius with particular reference to

the Indo-Mauritians”, International conference on The

Maintenance of Indian languages and culture abroad, 5-9 January

1994, CIIL, Mysore.

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Hookoomsingh, V. Y “Langue et identité ethnique: les langues ancestrales à Maurice”,

Journal of Mauritian Studies, No. 2, Vol 1, 1986.

Hookoomsing, V.Y. “Creole and the language situation in Mauritius”, in Annamalai, E,

Jernudd, B & Rubin, J (eds.), Language

Planning: Proceedings of an Institute, C.I.I.L: Mysore, 1986.

Macmillan, A Mauritius Illustrated, Les Editions du Pacifique: Tahiti, 1991, 2nd

ed. (W. H. & Collingridge: London, 1914, 1st ed.).

Mauritius National

Assembly. Report of the Select Committee on the Certificate of Primary

Education/Oriental languages, Mauritius: 1993.

Sauldie, M. N. “Indians in Mauritius”, in Gupta, A. (ed.), 1979.

Tinker, H. “Mauritius: Cultural marginalism and political control”, African

Affairs, Vol.76, 1977.

Vajpayee, A. B. “Inaugural Address”, in Bahadursingh, I. J. (ed.), 1979.