Do you know what the biggest fallacy of all is? It is found in our national anthem. ?As one people, as one nation?? You know the empty words we all learnt by heart as children? But guess what? There are other things that we learnt by heart, whether consciously or not; that it is all about ?us? and ?them.?

Fair enough, this originated from a sense of insecurity and the legacy of downtrodden ancestors but is there any future in such thoughts and principles nowadays? Everybody is paying the consequences of this, including and specially those who thrive on such shameful principles for their political survival.

Paul Bérenger was not invited to the Arya Sabha to celebrate Divali. Shocking? I think it is. He is, after all, the prime minister of this country. The excuse that only ?Hindus? are invited does not hold water because, as far as I know, Attorney General Emmanuel Leung Shing is not a ?Hindu? nor is Labour deputy-leader Rachid Beebeejaun. So what is up?

There is a perception that Bérenger has become a threat to ?Hindu? unity. That now that he is in power, he must go by all means because he has become a danger to the ?majority.? I honestly don?t know how far ?Hindus? at large have adhered to this theory but we cannot deny that this is what is being said and demonstrated by people here and there. The Arya Samaj function being the latest in date.

If anything, Paul Bérenger is paying the price of his ?divide and rule? tactics. The man has failed to ever see Mauritius ?as one people, as one nation? and he is seen today as the enemy of ?Hindus?. Unfair as this might be, the prime minister has had this coming since day one. As far as ?Hindus? are concerned, they only have themselves to blame for their insecurity feelings of late.

I do not care what people say about the sorry plight of the immigrants and their descendants. We know this and we owe it to ourselves and history to remember what those who contributed to make this country what it is went through. This is not a reason to live in the past and refuse to open up to others. To refuse to come out of the ghetto.

We are in danger of taking a dangerous trend - again. When people feel threatened - rightly or wrongly - they tend to see danger everywhere. Right now, if rumours are to be believed, the source of all the problems of Hindus in this country is Paul Bérenger. Let us be serious for one minute. Communalism is not the answer to every problem. As a matter of fact, it should never be an answer? Full stop.

Maybe I was wrong to think that the way was forward and not actually backwards. Isn?t it time to let go of all past frustrations? Of the persecution syndrome? We are no longer down-trodden. We are a free nation and our lives are ours to make or break.

If we have a duty today, it is not to our ancestors. It is to this country. It is to our future, it is to our children. We have to understand this if we are to get anywhere. Bérenger is learning it the hard way. Let?s hope we don?t make the same mistake.