As you are aware I have just arrived from Paris where I was attending a meeting of the Executive Board of Unesco. I must say that I have come here not only with pleasure but I have come here to fulfil a most pleasant duty and to participate in a rather modest function but which I am sure has considerable historic importance. This morning we are gathered to launch the first ever published collection of our Prime Minister's speeches.
I have had the privilege of going through many of the Prime Minister's speeches and what is more, I have had the good fortune of listening to many of these speeches when they were originally made. If I may be personal for a moment, I must also say that I have had the singular privilege of having been associated with the Prime Minister for the last twenty years or so and this association has permitted me to understand and appreciate one of the finest political minds of the Third World.
It is indeed a happy coincidence that the launching of this book is taking place in London on a piece of land which happens to be Mauritian territory. Born out of the soil of sufferings of Mauritius, Prime Minister Ramgoolam came over to Britain where his mind was fashioned by British Universities and the great traditions of British polity. What is significant indeed is the fact that although Prime Minister Ramgoolam imbibed the British Political traditions of fairplay, free discussion and open debate he has never cut his roots which have sunk deep into the Mauritian way of life, diverse and multi-faceted as it is. On the contrary his training in Britain deepened his interests in the plight of the common man and strenghthened his determination to raise the Mauritian proletariat out of the depths of politically and socially marginal living.
In a way Prime Minister Ramgoolam was helping a "wind of change" in Mauritian politics, the same "wind of change" which Sir Harold Macmillan, former British Prime Minister who is happily present today, wanted the people of Southern Africa to see for themselves. The "wind of change", a phrase coined by Sir Harold Macmillan, captures the new and hopeful mood of the twentieth century and has raised the hopes of millions and millions of people in the developing world especially in those areas which are afflicted by the evils of underdevelopment. And Prime Minister Ramgoolam in his own way has seen to it that the "wind of change" has embraced the whole of Mauritius within its sweep. But there is much more than that. Prime Minister Ramgoolam has ensured that the "wind of change" did not develop into gales and gusts which are more apt to destroy than to build. He has succeeded in mastering the winds of change and in taming them; he also has harnessed the energy inherent in those winds of change and utilised them to create a new nation out of various communities who had been taught to hate each other. Prime Minister Ramgoolam has also laid the foundations of our society in such a way that we Mauritians can develop the creative faculties of our young emergent nation.
I feel that the message of Prime Minister Ramgoolam has always been that it is not enough for a people to develop and progress materially but that it must so move forward that it can develop the faculty of re-creating itself. In the main, this is what this book contains and I am hoping that future generations of Mauritians will not miss its message. This is a case where the message is so much more important than the medium.
Copyright Succession Keharsingh Jagatsingh
I have had the privilege of going through many of the Prime Minister's speeches and what is more, I have had the good fortune of listening to many of these speeches when they were originally made. If I may be personal for a moment, I must also say that I have had the singular privilege of having been associated with the Prime Minister for the last twenty years or so and this association has permitted me to understand and appreciate one of the finest political minds of the Third World.
It is indeed a happy coincidence that the launching of this book is taking place in London on a piece of land which happens to be Mauritian territory. Born out of the soil of sufferings of Mauritius, Prime Minister Ramgoolam came over to Britain where his mind was fashioned by British Universities and the great traditions of British polity. What is significant indeed is the fact that although Prime Minister Ramgoolam imbibed the British Political traditions of fairplay, free discussion and open debate he has never cut his roots which have sunk deep into the Mauritian way of life, diverse and multi-faceted as it is. On the contrary his training in Britain deepened his interests in the plight of the common man and strenghthened his determination to raise the Mauritian proletariat out of the depths of politically and socially marginal living.
In a way Prime Minister Ramgoolam was helping a "wind of change" in Mauritian politics, the same "wind of change" which Sir Harold Macmillan, former British Prime Minister who is happily present today, wanted the people of Southern Africa to see for themselves. The "wind of change", a phrase coined by Sir Harold Macmillan, captures the new and hopeful mood of the twentieth century and has raised the hopes of millions and millions of people in the developing world especially in those areas which are afflicted by the evils of underdevelopment. And Prime Minister Ramgoolam in his own way has seen to it that the "wind of change" has embraced the whole of Mauritius within its sweep. But there is much more than that. Prime Minister Ramgoolam has ensured that the "wind of change" did not develop into gales and gusts which are more apt to destroy than to build. He has succeeded in mastering the winds of change and in taming them; he also has harnessed the energy inherent in those winds of change and utilised them to create a new nation out of various communities who had been taught to hate each other. Prime Minister Ramgoolam has also laid the foundations of our society in such a way that we Mauritians can develop the creative faculties of our young emergent nation.
I feel that the message of Prime Minister Ramgoolam has always been that it is not enough for a people to develop and progress materially but that it must so move forward that it can develop the faculty of re-creating itself. In the main, this is what this book contains and I am hoping that future generations of Mauritians will not miss its message. This is a case where the message is so much more important than the medium.
Speech at the launching of Selected Speeches of Sir Seewoosagur Ramgoolam, Mauritius High Commission, London, 8th May 1979.
Copyright Succession Keharsingh Jagatsingh
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