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Beekrumsing Ramlallah, the freedom fighter
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Beekrumsing Ramlallah, the freedom fighter
He battled on all fronts but the final one was in the press. The prime minister, Navin Ramgoolam, hailed him as a ?nation-builder who should be remembered? at the ceremony last Tuesday at Mapou SSS, which now bears the name of Beekrumsing Ramlallah. This teacher, journalist, MP and Labour minister of the 60s is notorious for his fight for the freedom of the press as founder and chief editor of the weekly Mauritius Times.
This ?unreasonable? man, as Prof Jugdish Manrakhan called him, because he ?always expected the world to adapt and not the other way round?, was the great grandchild of an Indian immigrant, the grandson and son of small planters, born in 1915 in Long Mountain. In 1954, he resigned from his teaching post and founded the Mauritius Times to promote socialism, the Hindu conscience and culture as well as progressive ideas. As journalist and politician, he was at the forefront of the fight for independence with his close friends SSR, SVR and Kher Jagatsingh. As MP and minister, his suggestions and motions gave rise to many institutions in the newly independent Mauritius..
But he left active politics in 1976 to devote himself to his weekly. In spite of his friendship and close ties with the Labour Party, he ferociously defended his independence, whatever the price. In 1983, he founded the Mauritius Union of Journalists and became its first president.
As most senior member of the press, he did not hesitate to lead a protest in 1984, despite his failing health, with his colleagues against the government?s intention to vote repressive measures to gag the press. He was even arrested with his colleagues and detained for a few hours. His fight for justice and specially for the freedom of the press is unanimously recognised. He was, until the end, a man of substance who spoke his mind against all odds without fear or favour.
<B>M.C.L
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