On 12 December 1946 Sookdeo Bissoondoyal organized a procession of bullock carts in the streets of Port Louis to protest against the arrival of white South African tourists. It was his way of drawing the attention of the public to the policy of apartheid, which most Mauritians had not even heard of at that time. He was arrested and prosecuted. During his trial he said: ?I, in common with all cultured men, was greatly vexed that dark complexioned people were openly insulted in South Africa.? That he would be found guilty was a foregone conclusion and this protest earned him his first term of imprisonment. A few days later Emmanuel Anquetil died. Sookdeo had started to write for Anquetil?s paper ?Le Peuple Mauricien?. But he continued to fight for the dignity of the black people in South Africa, asking Mauritians to boycott South African goods.

In 1947 another battle was fought for the dignity of man. The last horse racing day of the season was called ?les courses malbar?. It was a derogatory term used to describe how Indian labourers, granted a special leave on that occasion, would make a spectacle of themselves when they came down to Port Louis to attend these races. Basdeo and Sookdeo Bissoondoyal toured the island to explain to people of Indian origin why they should boycott these races. It was the most popular horse racing day of the season, even more popular than the ?Maiden? in those days. The boycott was a huge success and eventually ?les courses malbar? disappeared from the horse racing calendar. The fight for dignity had crossed another milestone.

These two events underlined the fact that the Jan Andolan movement of Basdeo and later the Independent Forword Bloc of Sookdeo were fighting for the dignity of man and not for power. In fact on two occasions Sookdeo was offered the post of prime minister but refused it with the comment ?Vaut mieux mange pistache?. Basdeo also refused to become President of the Republic when Harish Boodhoo proposed it to him in 1982.

The three brothers ? Soogrim, Basdeo and Sookdeo ? had all joined the teaching profession , and they came to believe that it is through education that people will get their dignity, and through dignity their rights and a better future. Basdeo left for India in 1933 and Soogrim, the torch bearer, died at the young age of 35 in 1939. Sookdeo resigned from the government teaching post after 22 years of service because he realized that he could not fight for justice whilst holding a government job. But it was not easy. He gave private tuition to provide for the material needs of the joint family, which at one time consisted of 15 members, leaving Basdeo free to carry out his work of educating the Hindu masses. Many of the students could not afford to pay even the modest fees and the fact that he was imprisoned on four occasions, just like Basdeo, did not make it easy to rely on a constant flow of income.

It should however be recorded here that Basdeo and Sookdeo had the unflinching support of thousands of ordinary men and women who did not ask for anything in return. This army of volunteers was the backbone of the Jan Andolan and the IFB and their unflinching commitment could not be measured in monetary terms. At the same time they had the courageous support of Dr Edgar Millien, who, through his paper L?Oeuvre, was fighting for freedom and democracy. Guy Rozemont and Sookdeo Bissoondoyal were also together at that time and held a mammoth meeting at the Jardin de la Compagnie in 1946. For the 1948 general election Sookdeo asked the Port Louis electorate , again through stickers displayed on bullock carts, to vote for Rozemont and Millien.

The new Constitution which came into force at the 1948 general election gave the right to vote to adults who could write their names in English, French or an oriental language. Basdeo had asked his followers to open hundreds of Hindi schools to teach adults the basics of Hindi whilst his companions Abdool Wahab Foondun, Permal Soobrayen and Mootoocoomaren Sangeelee were busy promoting the study of Urdu and Tamil. The Arya Samaj also worked towards the same objective.

The 1948 election saw the emergence of a majority of elected members of Indian origin. This was not to the liking of the oligarchy and the British Governor. Traditionally the Governor would shake hands with the new members of the Legislative Council. But the fact that the Governor remained seated and was limply shaking hands with the new batch of elected members prompted Sookdeo to refuse to shake hands with him, preferring to join his hands in the ?Namaste? style of the Indian form of greeting.

The Governor and his entourage did not forget this snub and took revenge at the first opportunity. The vice president, who was in the Chair, denied the floor to Sookdeo, who walked out making some comments. This prompted his suspension from the House. Guy Rozemont, Jules Joenig, Guy Forget and Dr Millien came to his defence, with Guy Rozemont presenting a motion of censure against the vice president and Guy Forget bluntly pointing out that he had seen Sookdeo stand up four times without being given the floor. Once Sookdeo was suspended, carried out of the House because he remained seated, and thrown on the pavement near the municipality of Port Louis. Not content with that treatment the authorities prosecuted him for vagrancy! On another occasion the Governor left the House when Rozemont started to speak in French. Sookdeo, who used to speak in English, then spoke in French to protest against this attitude.

His actions, in and out of the Council, which later became the Legislative Assembly, and after Independence the National Assembly, were always to fight for dignity and against injustice. At the same time his mission was to educate the people. His public meetings, always very well attended, were to make the masses aware of the struggles for justice and freedom that had taken place in Mauritius and elsewhere, particularly India, U.K. and France. He made names like Remy Ollier, Jacmin and Labonte become household names. Names which were tucked away in oblivion by leaders who wanted themselves to be remembered, just as today. Just as Dr Maurice Cure, the founder of the Labour Party, who was forgotten by his successors and died in poverty. He stood as a candidate in a bye-election in Grand Port ? Savanne to fill the seat made vacant by the death of Philippe Rozemont in 1955. He had the support of Sookdeo Bissoondoyal, whom he called ?l?homme au grand coeur? and wrote his memoirs in ?Zamana?, the bi-monthly organ of the Bissoondoyal brothers. Sookdeo constantly rebelled against authoritarianism and the spirit of ?dominere?. He had suggested to the MMM to put up the mother of Paul Bérenger as candidate at the Triolet bye-election in 1970 as a sign of solidarity with Paul Bérenger and the other leaders of the MMM who were imprisoned at that time. This did not happen for one reason or another, but he campaigned for the MMM candidate, Dev Virahsawmy, who won a landslide victory.

He toured Mauritius to ask for a Royal Commission on the Police, and later for a high-powered tribunal to deal with cases of injustice and corruption at even the highest levels. He had in mind an office like that of the Ombudsman in Sweden. This office was enshrined in the Constitution, but unfortunately with diluted powers. He had many friends in the public service who gave him invaluable information. One of them was Rene Noyau who remained a very close friend till his death. He used to come home every Saturday afternoon and had long discussions over cups of tea. He wrote ?Le Proces Bissoondoyal?, describing the prosecution and imprisonment of Basdeo in 1944. He was one of the first genuine Africanists writing in French and Kreol under the pen name of Jean Erenne.

Living in an age in which mahatma Gandhi had shown how to uphold the true values of religious faith, Sookdeo tabled a motion asking for all religious bodies to be financed on the same basis as the Christian Churches were. His sober speech on that occasion was acclaimed by all the members and the motion was unanimously carried. But he also had a fearless character and it was appropriate that he named his political party after the Forword Bloc of Subhash Chandra Bose, the fearless Indian patriot. It was this fearlessness that made Sookdeo stand up for the Muslims of Chemin Grenier against the Hindus of Chamouny when he was convinced of the soundness of their cause.

He campaigned for primary schools to be opened throughout the island when children had to travel long distances and there was a shift system in many schools. Bikramsingh Ramlallah had also campaigned for the same objective. He also campaigned for adult suffrage, old age pensions and for subsidies on rice and edible oil. He thanked the Governor ?from the bottom of my heart? when a new item, the old age pension, appeared in the Estimates.

<I>..) He had suggested to the MMM to put up the mother of Paul Bérenger as candidate at the Triolet bye-election in 1970 as a sign of solidarity with Paul Bérenger and the other leaders of the MMM who were imprisoned at that time.»</I>

Although Sookdeo Bissoondoyal and Dr Seewoosagur Ramgoolam had different views and methods in the fight for a better future for Mauritius and Mauritians ? the head on fight and the soft approach ? the ultimate battle for the independence of Mauritius brought them together. At the Constitutional Conference held in London in 1965 the example of the election of the IFB candidate Abdool Wahab Foondun in a predominantly Hindu constituency was used to prevent the imposition of separate communal electoral rolls in Mauritius. At the conclusion of the Conference Dr K.Hazareesingh went to congratulate Dr Ramgoolam. But Dr Ramgoolam, showing his magnanimity at that moment in history, asked him to congratulate Sookdeo instead, adding: ?He deserves a statue in gold for his contribution?.

Dr Navin Ramgoolam once told me that he was with his father when the results of the 1976 general elections were being broadcast. Sookdeo failed to get elected in Rose Belle. Far from being jubilant SSR prophetically said: ?Next time it will be my turn.? After his death the new state secondary school in Rose Belle was named after him. Sir Kher Jagatsingh, the Minister of Education at that time, insisted that the naming ceremony be held on his birthday, 25 December, in spite of the fact that the rector, Daniel Koenig, had said that he would not be able to attend on Christmas Day.

The Port Louis municipal council, run by the MMM, renamed Place d?Armes as Place Sookdeo Bissoondoyal and his statue, donated by Ramnath Jeetah, stands on that Square facing that of Basdeo on the Basdeo Bissoondoyal Esplanade. The Esplanade was named after Basdeo by Sir Anerood Jugnauth after turning down the suggestion that it be named after himself. This statue also was donated by Ramnath Jeetah. Maybe Basdeo and Sookdeo continue to talk and discuss as they used to over dinner, finishing it with pistaches grillées.

By Surendra BISSOONDOYAL