THE ROLE OF PRINT MEDIA in the Indian independence struggle is most noteworthy. With the help of publications such as the Comrade, New India and Commonwealth, and Al-Hilal, freedom fighters were able to spread political awareness, expose colonial economic exploitation, united diverse regional populations, and mobilize the masses for major movements. Mahatma Gandhi's own publications like Harijan and Young India too played an important role in propagating the leader’s ideology and to make the masses aware of their plights under the British administration. However, even before the freedom struggle caught momentum in India, Mahatma Gandhi inspired the call for independence in another British Colony at that time, Mauritius, with the help of a newspaper called Hindusthani.
Forty-six years before India gained independence, in 1901, 38-year-old Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi was en route to India from South Africa, when his ship docked on the island nation of Mauritius, a British colony at that time. Camping in the country for 18 days, Gandhi saw the deplorable state of Indians who were forced to slave away as indentured labourers in sugarcane plantations. The leader, witnessing the plight of Indian migrant workers in the country, sought to ensure civil rights for them.
Six years later, in 1907, Gandhi sent a friend of his, the Baroda Barrister Manilal Doctor, to highlight the plight of the Indian migrant labour community. Manilal launched a newspaper named Hindusthani — which was probably the only Hindi-language newspaper to be published outside of India.
Through his concentrated efforts, Manilal was able to bring in a popular awakening of the rights of the Indian labor community in Mauritius. Being a Barrister by profession, he began practicing law in the country and represented Indians in the court. Manilal then founded the weekly newspaper Hindusthani, which was initially published in English and Gujarati. However, witnessing how the majority of the Indian migrant community conversed via the Bhojpuri dialect, the newspaper also started a Hindu edition.
In his book ‘Mauritius: Indian Culture and Media’, television journalist Sarvesh Tiwari revealed how the Gandhi-backed Hindusthani newspaper was able to inspire Seewoosagur Ramgoolam — the man who led the freedom struggle in Mauritius in 1935 and went to become the country’s first Prime Minister. Ramgoolam was himself a migrant laborer of Indian origin.
In the early 1900s, Hindusthani began to be printed in Port Louis, competing with French newspapers that dominated the Mauritius media at that time. Over time, following the arrival of Hindusthani, a dozen other Hindi language newspapers too began publication in the country.
Taking inspiration from Hindusthani and the rising wave of Hindi journalism, the Indian migrant labor community joined in Mauritius’ freedom struggle against the Britishers in huge numbers. The newspaper and its content reunited the Indian workers, giving them the courage to rise against their oppressors and participate in the freedom movement.
Hindusthani and the other Indian-language journalism didn't just report on political awakening, they helped cause it.
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Gandhi’s principles and Indian culture had such an impact on this country that even after so many years of independence, the spirit of Indianness is visible in every field in Mauritius. Such was the impact of the Indian spirit in Mauritius, that President Prithvirajsing Roopun famously remarked: “If we call India ‘mother’ then Mauritius is the ‘son’…a reason why people who have settled here for ages wish to visit Uttar Pradesh and Bihar to explore their roots.”
Colonial-era sugarcane plantations in Mauritius were primarily operated and manned by indentured laborers, which the Britishers mainly sourced from India — another one of its colonies at that time. Mauritius which saw a huge migration of Indian laborers from Eastern Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, mostly coming from the Bhojpuri speaking belt of North India.
For almost 100 years, in between 1834-1923, around 4.50 lakh Indian laborers were brought into Mauritius to work as contractual workers. While 1.5 lakh returned to India at the end of their contract, the rest of the laborers settled in the island, which had a sizable Indian population and a small overall population
Author Sarvesh Tiwari also recounts the history and significant events of Mauritius in his writings. His book also includes his interactions with the local population and his experiences from numerous visits to Mauritius over the course of 30 years.
(Edited by Ritik Singh)
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