Shakeel Mohamed's latest initiative

Shakeel Mohamed's very latest initiative shocked. The Minister of Lands and Housing shocked people by intervening with the University of Mauritius so that exams, which were to take place last Thursday, were postponed. The reason given to justify this dismissal: the celebration of the Eid Ul Adha festival on the same day, of which Muslim students would have been deprived of participating in the planned exams. We are, therefore, in a country where a minister can obtain from the Vice Chancellor of the national university the postponement of national exams to satisfy a group of students. A minister who, in this circumstance, behaved more like the spokesperson for students belonging to a specific community, than as an elected official representing all voters. The minister publicly congratulated himself on the university's “open-mindedness” and indicated that in the future it “will adopt a policy aimed at avoiding holding exams during religious holidays ". The minister also invited other educational institutions to follow this approach, in order to promote “more inclusion and respect for cultural and religious diversity in the educational system. » Does the minister realize that he has just opened a Pandora's box into which all kinds of representatives, certified or self-proclaimed, of religious or socio-cultural associations will rush, who will clamor to celebrate their holidays, postponements of exams under the pretext – which will become a precedent – that students from their community will not be able to celebrate them? By acceding to the Minister's request, does the Vice Chancellor realize that, from now on, the school calendar will have to be established so that it does not coincide with any cultural or religious festival? Which will be a real Chinese headache given the number of religious and cultural festivals celebrated in Mauritius. We risk finding ourselves in a situation where there are more referrals than reviews. Do the two protagonists of this dismissal realize that they have installed a stick of dynamite that others will be happy to light later? As Internet users have rightly pointed out: “This type of decision divides the nation instead of building it. It legitimizes the idea that citizens belong first to their community, and only then to the nation. »Shakeel Mohamed's latest initiative shocked because he had more accustomed Mauritians to a speech advocating the defense of Mauritianism against communalism, that of the unity of the nation against sectarian divisions. He was particularly virulent in denouncing communalism, of which he said he was one of the victims on several occasions. Especially when he was named leader of the Oppos