Cultural Diversity in Mauritius: Myth or Reality?

Many people tend to dab the “Mauritian culture,” as a homogenous one. Some deny the cultural diversity in the island evolving harmoniously. In this regard, unity and diversity are interchangeable words. Constituting of ethnic groups and world religions like Christianity, Buddhism, Islam, co-existing with Hinduism and myriad spoken languages, the island’s people avow and practice different faiths which are reflected in our customs, rituals, norms, and festivals. Despite the contrasting way of life, the citizens remain essentially united. As Mauritians, we love to say that Mauritius is a twinkling model of unity in diversity. But then, we tend to do a lot of things which can only undermine the unity of this country.

Unfortunately, diversity is used by many opportunistic politicians for disruptive purposes. After 45 years of independence, ethnicity remains the stratifying factor. Multicultural policies through funding religious groups are considered as empowering minority communities to voice out. In reality such policies have empowered not individuals but their "leaders" who owe their status and influence mainly to their affiliation with the government which benefits in its turn by manipulating the population and projecting their conventional image to the public through such platforms. At the 473rd anniversary of Maharana Pratab Singh and the creation of the Indian state of Rajasthan on Sunday 19th May 2013 at Indira Gandhi Cultural Centre, Phoenix the Prime Minister asserted that “Diversity should not be divisive. We are from different parts of India, but we are in the same boat. We should not make any difference between us," as reported by the newspaper Le Défi Quotidien.

As a remedy, several solicit a secular state- a clear separation between religion and the state, which honestly, is not really the case in Mauritius who has lived an enigmatic development of its political history since the pronouncement of the United Nations, on the case furnished by