Anwar Buchoo (Blog)

Ena dimoun mank rol dans sa pei la !

Tout problème ki ena dans sa pei moris la, bizin ena ene zafer rélizion ki rent en jeu !

Fran tou, bane socioculturels sa pei la (tou rélizions, pa ziss ene !) mari mank rol. ena dimoun p mort san manzer/ou ek la drog (tou rélizions enkor ene foi !), mai aucain sa bane socio-sipaki-moloyo la pa pou fer naryen. zot program, invite PM dan fonction, gagne privilez pou zot ek zot ti clik, fer ene ta tapaz, gagne couvertir media ek apres ene poil na pena dan le concret !

Si ene touriss vine moris, li a croir morisien mari relizieu ek sa kantiter mouvement relizieuz ena dan sa zil la. mai pa pou autan ki crime ou delinquence p diminier. ena bane homme relizieu (couma zot apel zot !) fight pou bane zafer nonsense net ena coup, fer rier tou. vraimem bane socio-sipaki-moloyo ti bizin apel plito "communalo-politik" !

(Extrait de lexpress.mu d'aujourd'hui, ci-après)

Un front commun hindou pour protester contre le restaurant McDonald’s à Phoenix

L’ensemble des mouvements socioculturels hindous de l’île se réunit à Phoenix à 11h30 ce mardi 25 janvier. L’objectif s’organiser pour empêcher l’ouverture d’un restaurant McDonald’s à Jumbo Phoenix.

Hare Rama Hare Krishna passe à l’offensive. Elle réunit ce matin l’ensemble des associations hindoues de l’île pour dire publiquement son opposition à l’ouverture d’un restaurant McDonald’s face à son centre, à Phoenix.
Le recours à un front commun hindou était envisagé dès fin décembre. Mais la direction de la branche locale de l’International Society for Krishna Consciousness (Iskcon) voulait avant tout discuter avec le promoteur du projet afin qu’une solution soit trouvée.

Il est inconcevable pour les fidèles que le fumet de boeuf parvienne jusqu’à leur temple alors qu’ils sont végétaliens. De plus, les écritures saintes hindoues décrivent la vache comme un animal sacré.

Le mouvement dit s’être adressé à la filiale du groupe Rogers - propriétaire du centre commercial de Phoenix - qui gère le site, ForeSite, le promoteur du restaurant n’ayant pas, ajoutent-ils, répondu à leurs sollicitations pour des discussions..
Une rencontre était à l’agenda vendredi dernier mais ForeSite ne s’y est pas fait représenter. ForeSite dit étudier le dossier avec ses consultants pour avoir une idée sur «les implications» du projet.

«Nous avons suivi toutes les procédures pour avoir le permis de construire le bâtiment qu’on a ensuite loué à McDonald’s. On est même allé au-delà des requirements. Le centre commercial a publié des notices dans les journaux comme le stipule la loi et on avait même installé un panneau sur le site», a expliqué Sanjiv Mihdidin, le directeur de ForeSite à lexpress.mu.

«Je ne vois pas où est le mal. Légalement, il n’y a aucun souci. Un voisin nous a écrit, on est en train de discuter avec nos consultants pour décider quoi répondre», a-t-il ajouté. Le restaurant de 250 couverts devant ouvrir ses portes à la mi-février, Hare Rama Hare Krishna ne veut pas prendre le risque de se retrouver devant le fait accompli.

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Post electoral satisfaction in Mauritius

Now that the election 2010 in Mauritius is over, I can express my full satisfaction of this felicitous outcome.

I'm very happy that Corruption, Communalism and Casteism prevailed anew. I call it the "3Cs Law". Be it from the Labour Party or MMM or MSM, they all applied this winning formula in a very satisfactory manner.

I am very glad for my country today that we still commend the "3Cs Law". You know, we make our ancestors really proud. When we were brought onto this beautiful island, we were intravenously administered a dose of Corruption, Communalism and Casteism with half-life of 500 years (into our blood). This makes me feel more positive about the future of our beloved country which is Mauritius. At least, we don't have to bother for the upcoming 20 generations; we cannot be safer than that.

Beloved country of ours, may God help thee.

Disguised caste system among Mauritian Muslims

I wanted to post for so long on this sensitive topic and here I am, finally. So what really is casteism? In general terms, it describes the hierarchical arrangement of individuals into divisions of power and wealth within a society. This exists among many religions.

Although it appears that in Mauritius there are lesser manifestations from such Muslim groups, they still do exist. Here I’m referencing to groups that call themselves “Sunni-Surtee”, “Mehman” and so on. Ok, to understand the origin of these groups, we should go back in time (a little bit).

At the beginning, there was a group of traders who came to Mauritius, from north-west of India. This Muslim group is divided in two: the Surtees (from Surat) and the Mehmans (from Kutch). Both of them are from the state Gujarat. Although being a minority, they were influential and economically powerful communities to be settled in Port-Louis. Unlike other Muslims, they did not come here under contract. They were “free”.

Up to now, everything seems more or less normal.

Moreover, they considered themselves high-class and were highly endogamous (up to the point of marrying only with spouse from their town in India). They did not marry with Muslims of indentured labor background (the “Calcutteea”).

So, why (in our modern Mauritian society) do these Muslims (some, not generalising here, of course) continue to adhere and use such names to designate themselves? Can’t they be plain and simple Muslims like others? Can’t they marry other Muslims outside their groups (though I must admit this is happening slowly nowadays)?

They have been here for a long time now (more than 5 generations I must say), but why do the young “members” are still so excited to call themselves “Sunni-Surtee” or “Mehman”? Come on seriously, you still consider yourselves to be high-class? You must face it (one day I hope so) that you are Mauritian Muslims, who, as a matter of fact, don’t speak Gujarati but Creole!

I’m not against any of these groups (and I’ve got many relatives in these groups). Simply, you just need to realise that your ancestors left their respective towns because they understood that they would earn much money in Mauritius, then. Otherwise, if they were really satisfied with their towns/cultures/socio-economic conditions, they would never have left for Mauritius.

So, please bear in mind that Mauritius is the country you need to be proud of. Instead of being within your closed sectarian circuit, break through it and mix up with others! All together as one we will fight sectarianism/casteism (disguised or not)! And God knows best.