by Anand MOHEEPUTH

23rd February 2006 ? 70th anniversary of Labour Party

The foundation of democracy in Britain, it is said, was laid in 1381 with the peasants? revolt. A mob of angry peasants of Essex marched on London protesting against the poll tax levied on the rich and poor alike to finance a war expedition mounted by the king. That outcry also served as an opportunity for the peasants to push forward their demands. They wanted, besides the quashing of taxes, that an end be put to the ?villainage? system and be given the right to rent land at four pence an acre. Led by John Ball and Wat Tyler, the peasants on their way to London were setting fire to buildings and destroying tax registers. King Richard II, seeing the vociferous mob at his bedroom door, found himself in a situation where he had to bow to the demands of the peasants. When the uprising petered out, the king went about executing the ringleaders and reneging on all the promises, stating that these were made under duress. The atmosphere was thick with tension. King Richard, fearing another mass rebellion, was forced to stand by his promises. In a way, he institutionalized the concessions. Those concessional principles became acquired rights and the people locked them in before they could drift away. As Daron Acemoglu and James A.Robinson, two American scholars, have pointed out in their book Economic origins of Dictatorship and Democracy, the ruling class and elites? solution to rebellions staged by the masses resides not in confrontation or repression but in adopting a conciliatory posture and accepting concessions by way of appeasement which ultimately go towards the creation of an important element: democracy.

In Mauritius, it was the mass agitation whipped up in 1936, culminating in the shooting of labourers, that carved out the path to democracy. The mobilsation of workers was spear-headed by Dr Maurice Curé, leader of the Labour party, who toured the island, holding public meetings and claiming reforms.

In fact, it was Maurice Curé?s defeat at the general election of January 1936 in the district of Plaines Wilhems that was to change the course of history. An embittered Curé thought of giving up politics. ?C?est fini, j?enterre ma carrière politique,? he said holding a glass of champagne in the hand. But his supporters were not of this mind. They wanted him to champion their cause. Curé then realized that forming a political organisation could best defend the cause of the workers. He launched, on 23rd February 1936, the Labour party which was to create waves in the placid water of Mauritian politics. Curé pegged his agitational plan on the overall improvement of the working conditions of the labourers and artisans.

Curé?s incisive countrywide campaign saw the Indian labourers known to be docile now becoming defiant. This sudden change of attitude took the aristocratic Governor, Sir Bede Clifford, by surprise. In fact, British colonial policy with regard to Mauritius was always to keep Indian loyalty to British rule. For example, when the Action Libérale of Eugène Laurent was urging Indians to register as voters, the Governor in 1910, Sir Cavendish Boyle, wrote to Lord Crewe, the Secretary of State, alerting him of the danger in getting Indians interested in politics. The shooting in 1937 resulting in the loss of human lives and prevailing general unrest left Sir Bede with no option than to institute a Commission of inquiry as a face saving device.

But rebels had to be punished one way or the other. That?s why they appear for a brief period of time on the scene and are somehow got rid of. This happened to Curé. King Richard II, for example, punished the surviving ringleaders of the revolt of 1381 by sending them to the gallows. Sir Bede Clifford too resorted to punishment of some sorts. He placed the leader of the Labour party under house arrest. The frail looking Emmanuel Anquetil who joined the Labour party some time after its formation was exiled to isolated Rodrigues in a calculated move to weaken his moral fibre and warn others of the fate awaiting them.

When the report of the Hooper commission was out, there was a glow of satisfaction. Most of the proposals made by the Labour party were taken into account. In accepting the recommendations of the Hooper commission, Sir Bede Clifford yielded to the demands of the Labour party. King Richard did so in 1381 to the claims of the peasants. Paradoxically, Sir Bede Clifford?s family had been used to living in the royal entourage for centuries. His ancestry, Clifford, a French nobleman, accompanied William, duke of Normandy, in the invasion of England in 1066 when King Harold was defeated at the battle of Hastings in south England.

The coming into existence of laws promulgating trade unionism in 1938, the creation of a Labour department to regulate wages and working conditions, the nominations of workers? representatives in the Council, became a reality and could not be taken back. These steps led to the opening up of the political firmament and set the path for constitutional reforms in 1945 and the general election of 1948 was a landmark as it entirely changed the political landscape.

But then, Sir Bede had to settle scores with the leader of the Labour party who, it is said, was ?hounded? day and night. The persecution was so acute that his medical practice fell. As Daron Acemoglu and James Robinson have pointed out, the problem with rebels is that they find it hard to sustain a revolt because the ruling class settled in for appeasement by making concessions and throwing rebels off gear as the government did, for example, in accepting the recommendations of the Hooper commission. Because of the harassment he was subjected to, and also because new players had started grazing in his pasture, thus weakening his power base, Curé gave up the leadership of the party in 1941. A personal triumph it was indeed for the Governor who was able to cut to size Curé but could he wipe out the Labour party?

Like in Britain in 1381, democracy took its roots in Mauritius not by the rhetoric of political stalwarts but by the fire and brimstone pressure exerted by estates? labourers and artisans rallied round the Labour party in 1936.