Africa-Press – Mauritius. It is a multi-faceted constituency that has experienced a fairly substantial migration from other parts of the country. The contrast is striking in terms of development between the upscale neighborhoods and the neighboring suburbs. This region has produced Members of Parliament who have marked the history of the country.
How can we forget the brave Yvon St Guillaume who defied the boycott slogan of his PMSD party during the first independence day at the Champs de Mars or the beautiful speeches of the scholar Maurice Lesage who intoxicated his audience?
This constituency also saw the elusive Heeralall Bhugaloo who resigned from Parliament after serving as Minister of Education for only a few weeks before giving way to Sir Kher Jagatsingh.
This constituency has also been the scene of political violence: Rampersad Surath, Labor activist, died assassinated by the thugs of a political party, in the struggle for independence. Today, a street in Belle-Rose has been dedicated to his memory.
The event that has remained etched in the collective memory of first-generation activists was undoubtedly the tear gas fired by the police to disperse the activists at the Saint Jean roundabout during the demonstration in anti-Alexandra — a baptism of fire for these ‘angry young men’.
Then there was the stoning of the house of Mayor Oumansunkar Hawaldar, which testified to the unprecedented violence that reigned there at this pivotal time.
Mrs. Shakuntala Hawaldar and her small children had escaped narrowly but they had been terrified. Then there was the conference at the Town Hall of the Municipality which ended in blood sausage.
Chairs flew in the air and there was indescribable chaos. If public squares could talk, the story of Belle-Rose/Quatre-Bornes would be told to us. Place Jules Koenig, Place Taxi de La Louise and Bazar Belle-Rose have witnessed important events.
The Milan, BDC and Rio cinemas have disappeared from our landscape. These mentioned public squares made the crowds run for the big days. Place Taxi de La Louise has seen the rise and decline of politicians.
Place Jules Koenig has often been flooded by a human tide on various major political occasions that have marked our history. We especially remember this decisive meeting at Bazar Belle-Rose on a Friday afternoon.
Ramduth Jaddoo, Minister of Education, barely got off the plane, went directly to Belle-Rose, and swore loyalty to his party on a truck body in front of a compact crowd.
But the rooster had crowed barely three times before he had abandoned his party to throw himself into the arms of the MSM – a nascent party, during the great split of 1983.
Or the tears of Paul Bérenger for Sheila Bappoo during the proclamation of the election results in front of a compact crowd. Quatre-Bornes, also known as the City of Flowers, is also the cradle of militancy.
The College of London has been the center of ideological sessions every Sunday. The philosophies of great thinkers like Karl Marx, Lenin, Mao and Frantz Fanon were discussed in depth and dissected with sustained interest.
Films on The Cultural Revolution in China, May 68, Cuba and the invasion of Czechoslovakia were shown on the big screen. Paradoxically: Quatre-Bornes, known as the Temple of Militants, has never been able to elect its leader three times in a row and, moreover, not even during a municipal election.
He must have sought refuge elsewhere in a green pasture at Stanley/Rose-Hill. “How many hundreds of flowers are blooming,” said Mao. Then came disappointments, political decadence and disillusionment…
Several of our Grand Tribunes and anonymous political operatives have made their last home at Saint John’s Cemetery after leaving indelible footprints behind.
As for Sir Gaëtan Duval, he had an epitaph inscribed on his vault: “I am not dead but I am pretending”. May they all rest in peace! As for us, may the fight continue for a better Mauritius!
For More News And Analysis About Mauritius Follow Africa-Press
